PROFILE OF BRIAN NORRIS
Senior Systems Consultant
OVERVIEW
Mr. Brian Norris has over 35 years experience in the information
processing industry with success in all levels of systems development. He
possesses excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, and works well with
all levels of users. Brian has been
working with Microsoft Access and
Visual Basic for eight years, over
ten years with Cognos Powerhouse and RDB, and 15 years working with VMS and
OpenVMS, with over 7 years Vax FORTRAN and PL/I experience.
Currently Brian is
under ongoing contracts with both Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Ministry
of Fisheries maintaining and enhancing (and re-writing) VMS Powerhouse and
MS-Access database systems, and VAX BASIC.
Other current assignments include systems and database support and
development at Victoria Shipyards and Odyssey Health and Fitness Centres. Technical skills for these positions
include, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft SQL Server, VAX
Powerhouse, Basic, FORTRAN and
PL/1, Oracle RDB.
Other projects
include Systems Manager for Versatile
Pacific Shipyards Inc. (VPSI), MIS, Financial, and Payroll departments,
estimating, Job Controls systems, VAX Fortran, PL/I, Cobol, Basic multi-user
networked systems, Systems Manager for Stena Line ferries in Victoria,
adapting, enhancing and maintaining their mainframe on-line reservation and
financial system written in VAX PL/I. He is also the Systems Developer for the BC
Government’s Animal Health Laboratory at the Abbotsford Agriculture Centre’s
Veterinary Laboratory as a mainframe database system, and also created a data
warehousing system to move that data from the VMS system into Windows based
Access system. Lately he designed and developed a MS Access database system used by the BC Government Plant
Diagnostic Laboratory to records submission data and maintain Accounts
Receivable, and is in progress re-engineering the Abbotsford Vetlab mainframe
Powerhouse system into MS-Access programs against Oracle data. Since first beginnings in DP, Quality
Assurance and User/Software Testing has always been involved in these many
different disciplines.
Brian’s vast
experience includes project management, systems analysis & design, systems development &
maintenance, User Acceptance Testing, DP management, program specification,
design, coding & development, software and hardware support, Quality
Assurance, course development, training, technical writing, and documentation.
TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE
|
·
Hardware: |
·
VAX 785s, ICL 2900 and 2980 mainframes, IBM 370s
mainframes, Mini TI 990s, and PCs |
|
·
Operating Systems and Networks: |
·
Windows NT, 9x and 3.x, DOS, Novell, DEC VAX VMS
& Networks |
|
·
Programming Languages & DBMS: |
·
Powerhouse, MS Access, MS Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server, Oracle/VAX RDB, Open VMS,
FORTRAN, PL/1, COBOL, dBase, FoxPro, BASIC, Pascal, Assembler, MS SQL Server, Access Basic |
APPLICATION EXPERIENCE
|
·
PC Networks and Database, ·
VAX PowerHouse Database,
·
Shipping Reservation System, ·
Management Information Systems, ·
Financial and Accounting, ·
Stores
and Inventory control, |
·
Banking, ·
Interactive Graphic Seismic and Mapping, ·
Software Design and Development, ·
Quality Assurance and Testing, ·
Data Security, ·
Problem
Control and Resolution |
SELECTED ASSIGNMENTS
System
Development
Ministry of Fisheries, Systems and Data
Management Unit Courtenay: responsible for the modifications
and enhancements of the BC Commercial Fish Licensing System (BCFLS) and the
Aquaculture Licensing System ALRAS, on the government mainframes in VAX
Powerhouse and VAX Basic. These systems
maintain Licensing data, and all their financial billing requirements with AR.
Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries, Veterinary Laboratory, Abbotsford:
responsible for the maintenance and enhancements for the VAX-based PowerHouse
VETLAB system. Also did all of the Year
2000 changes and testing to ensure compliance for this system. Also maintains
the MS-Access data warehousing system which the VAX system exports data to for
easier reporting.
Canadian Red Cross
Design and development
of Red Cross Medical Equipment Loan Service system for centralized
administration and management capabilities.
Using latest 3-tier design, Active Server Pages (ASP) and ActiveX with
one central SQL Server database, and simple access across the regular Internet,
allows easy expansion and ultimate connectivity, the Visual Basic program
incorporates the proprietary Dragon 4.0 ActiveX component from Webwaresi.
This system is
currently in beta testing in Victoria, to replace a deskbound DBaseIII system.
Odyssey Health & Fitness Club
Designing and
developing a scheduling and billing system in MS Access/Visual Basic running on
Windows 9x. This system handles membership registration, attendance records,
fitness trainer appointments, scheduling, billing and payments. The billing and
payments module handles bank orders using direct payment reconciliation. This
system also connects with a card scanner and verifies payment and records
attendance of customers.
Ministry of Education, Skills and Training
Programmer/Analyst
for the Student Financial Assistance System (SFAS). Technical
skills for this position include Oracle RDB, Microsoft Access, VAX Powerhouse
and VAX PL/1.
Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd
Designer and
developer of labour and materials reporting and management system, on networked
PCs using an MS-Access database. This is an MS Access, MS Visual Basic system
that Brian developed and has maintained over the past four years. This system
now runs all of the management information systems for the entire shipyard
including A/R, Payroll, A/P, Time keeping and Billing.
Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries,
Animal Health Centre Veterinary Laboratory, Abbotsford; project leader
developing VAX PowerHouse VETLAB system: case reception and tracking, reporting,
invoicing, GL, AR etc. Also developed a
data warehousing system to export this data into PC MS-Access database for
easier user reporting and analysis. Plant Diagnostic Laboratory MS-Access
database collecting and reporting plant submission and diagnosis data, with AR.
Responsible for Year 2000 upgrade of these systems.
Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries, Systems and
Data Management Unit Courtenay: maintaining Commercial Fish
Licensing System and Aquaculture Licensing System, on the government mainframes
in VAX Powerhouse and VAX Basic. These
systems maintain Licensing data, and all their financial billing requirements
with AR. Responsible for Year 2000 upgrade of both of these systems.
BC Stena Line Ltd.; Ferry Reservation System;
System Development Manager: 100+ on-line terminals, allocation, reservation,
reporting, invoicing, statistics, GL, AP etc., VAX PL/I multi user system.
Versatile
Pacific Shipyards Inc. (VPSI); Systems Manager, MIS, Financial, Payroll,
Estimating, Job Controls systems, VAX Fortran, Cobol, Basic multi-user
networked systems.
PSW3
Financial Services Corporation; System Architect in San Mateo, CA – On-line
bill payment system. In this position Brian was responsible for Access and
Visual Basic development, QA and Systems Testing.
Geophysical Services Inc. (GSI), Calgary; VAX
Manager: Seismic Interactive Mapping graphics system, VAX and IBM mainframes,
all FORTRAN programs. Responsible for managing TI990 front-end computers
pre-processing JCL for job submission to the IBM MVS mainframes, and FORTRAN
programming support. Also VAX FORTRAN
programming for interactive Graphic Mapping system on VAX 785, producing
seismic maps and printouts – with responsibility for Quality Assurance and user
software testing.
British Ministry of Defense (MOD); Operations Team Leader: software
development and Quality Assurance, on-line bureau system, serving all British
Home Counties: ICL 2980 mainframes.
British Customs & Excise - London Airport Cargo
Excise System (LACES), Heathrow,
London; Systems Installation Manager: database system software development
and Quality Assurance, systems testing, ICL mainframe systems.
UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA); Systems
Installation Manager: Financial and Job Control system, ICL mainframes:
QA and User Acceptance Testing.
Royal Air Force (RAF); Operations Development
Manager, Worldwide
Stores control and allocation system, ICL mainframes: QA and User Acceptance
Testing.
Swiss Bank, Midland Bank, GPO - Systems
Installation Manager for ICL: QA and User Acceptance Testing.
Quality
Assurance
·
Manager, Systems Quality Assurance and User Acceptance Testing
at International Computers Ltd. (ICL), London, England.
Technical
Documentation
·
User Manual for Clearing House Interbank Processing System;
British banks' overnight cheque processing, clearing, posting system.
Brian has been in the data processing industry since 1963,
experience includes:
Consultant,
ULTIMATE Computer Services, systems design and development (10 years).
Senior
Consultant for Ministry of Forests, Inventory Branch (2 years)
- assisting in the systems support of VAX and PC
equipment.
Senior
Consultant for Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (10 years)
- Developing a Veterinary Laboratory and
Accounting System in PowerHouse on VAX computer, with ongoing support, and
Plant Laboratory MS-Access system on PC network.
System
Development Manager, BC Stena Line, Victoria, (2 years).
- Ferry Reservation system with 100+ terminals
on three DEC Micro VAX.
- Program design and development, system and
software maintenance and support.
- DP management.
Data
Processing Manager, Versatile Pacific Shipyards, Victoria, (3 years), DEC
Micro VAX, PCs.
- Software support and training,
- Program design, development and
implementation, and Management support.
·
Data Processing
Manager,
Geophysical Services, Calgary (3 years). IBM 370s, VAX 785s, TI 990s.
- Seismic gas and oil exploration software
support and DP management.
DP
Consultant, own small consultancy group: Operability (5 years) - in
England.
- Specializing in ICL 2900 systems
- Project management, planning, installation,
implementation and customizing,
- Problem control and resolution, general
consultancy.
- Customers included: Marks & Spencer,
Heinz, Swiss Bank, United Friendly Insurance and ICL.
DPM for ICL, on
Ministry of Defense "Bureau West" (4 years). Dual ICL 2980 mainframe
computers.
-
Computing services to MOD users in SW England, and RAF running
stores & supplies.
-
Design, installation, consultancy, training, QA system and user
acceptance testing and proving.
Consultant
with ICL, (6 years). Customers
included: Midland Bank, UK Atomic Energy Authority, GIRO Post Office Bank.
Quality
Assurance, LEO Computers (5 years), testing hardware/software, designing
& implementing test programs.
Teaching
·
Malaspina College, Duncan, B.C.; various CE courses for PCs.
PC
Experience
·
Design and development PC network database systems: Access,
SQL, VB.
·
Corporate PC Support, Graphic Workstations
·
Extensive use and development work on office PC
·
Batch Log-Scaling.Grading system (B.E.Wilson, Duncan, B.C.).
REFERENCES
Geoff
Del Grande
Odyssey Health & Fitness
2841 Quesnel Street
Victoria, BC V8T 4W9
Phone: (250) 386-2000
Malcolm
Barker
Victoria Shipyards Ltd.
825 Admirals Road
Victoria, B.C. V9A 2P1
Phone: (250) 380-1602
Dr.
Ron Lewis
Animal Health Centre
Abbotsford Agriculture Centre
1767 Angus Campbell Road
Abbotsford, B.C. V3G
2M3
Phone: 1-800-661-9903
Alan
Bullen
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries
Information Systems Branch
2nd Floor, 1405 Douglas Street
Victoria, B.C.
Phone: (250) 356-5003