Geoffrey Morris
Business Computing Coach

Want to use your computer for business but it just gets too confusing to make any sense? Do you want someone to show you the way to do something simply and as quickly as possible? I do that. Simple, in business language you understand.

Do you need to handle email better? Make a newsletter? Make sure your data is safe? Set up your bookkeeping tools so you and your book keeper can get to it? Never done something before and you want to know if and how to do it with a computer?

I can help you figure it out and make it happen better, cheaper and faster. I am an expert in most of the aspects of business computing, and I can help you avoid the mistakes that cut into other people's profits. Not only that, but in cases where they can get it done cheaper, I can steer you to the right experts to do the work at a fair price and make sure it gets done right.

I coach you to acheive your business goals using your computer. I can get you unstuck and working. We start out by understanding what you want to do in your business, how much you want to spend, and the relative importance of this need for your business. Then I show you how to do it, if necessary working with you to set it up and then training you so you understand it and can do it yourself after we are done.

This is key. I help you help yourself. I am a coach. When you have a need that requires an expert's regular attention, I will find the right computer service company to step in and help you with the routine work, explain to you how to ensure that they continue to do the right job, make sure the first engagements run correctly, and then we are done.

• Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 1979 - 1982 BSc. Geology with emphasis in numerical analysis

• Linn-Benton Community College, Albany, Oregon, 1978 - 1979

• Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, 1973 - 1974

• Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, 1971 - 1973

Dozens of friends and associates who are small business owners have shared their problems with me over the years. I have been able to help them beyond their expectations. Many times they've told me that they wished I would "just start coaching or something".... so that's what I'm doing.

Over the years I've done some heavy lifting. Here's my big resume of experience. It sounds daunting, but really, I can make this pretty simple for you....

IT Operational Excellence

• Incorporated Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) & Information Technology Infrastructure Framework Library (ITIL) best practices into all aspects of IT test lab operations, validated operational concepts in actual operational environments.

• Worked with MOF team to use the lab to validate the latest online operational guidance on the Microsoft TechNet website.

• Organized lab to reliably and repeatedly deliver several simultaneous testing environments emulating complex corporate IT network and server implementations using virtual servers. Reduced costs while improving functionality and service levels.

Program Management

• Led numerous software development project teams, creating commercial software products, documentation and internal IT infrastructure & business application services.

• Coordinated strategies among multiple programs, customer requirement gathering, establishing sponsor needs, budget management, schedule, staffing, success metrics, risk management, and evangelism.

Project Management

• Implemented formal project management practices within 2 companies. Transformed consulting practices from time based to deliverables based estimation, bidding, and billing, resulting in retention of multiple customer accounts, enhancing market credibility with new accounts, and increased profitability of the overall delivery process of custom software projects.

Product Management

• Established new inbound & outbound marketing strategy for IT consulting business partners. Included success metrics and improved internal awareness of team products to improve marketing effectiveness.

Management

• 10 years management experience, from small teams to managing managers, up to 35 heads.

• Managed budgets from proposals through execution under multiple systems.

• Collaborative, deliverables-based style. Known for upgrading staff skill levels in place, retaining and improving staff and morale.

Software Quality Assurance and Testing

• Established integrated source management, bug tracking and automated regression testing infrastructures in 2 companies, from inception through maintenance and subsequent optimization phases. Resulted in demonstrable and quantifiable improvements in quality metrics (bugs/lines of code, recurring bugs, disaster recovery readiness, etc.)

• Originated Software as a Service (SaaS) testing methodologies including end-to-end load and performance test architectures, tools and component troubleshooting frameworks. Led teams to apply them to FDA regulated data acquisition systems, large scale web stores, back end infrastructures for manufacturing application projects.

• Managed & mentored test & QA engineers embedded in rapid development teams to efficiently design testability and maintainability concepts into new software systems to realize long term savings in sustained engineering efforts over the business lifespan of the software.

Systems and Data Analysis and Design

• Led development and comprehensive testing of storage, transformations and representations of geological data to be used for interactive oil & gas discovery.

• Modeled in various Object Oriented representations along with structured data analysis for database integration.

Job History

Microsoft, 2000 - 2007 * Software Test Manager, Program Manager, Partner Marketing Manager

Red Sky Interactive, 1997 - 2000 * Director of Quality Assurance

Landmark Graphics Corporation (now a division of Halliburton), 1987 - 1997 * Customer Support Geophysicist, Product Manager, Program Manager, Second Tier Customer Support Manager

Amoco Production Company, 1982 - 1986 * Petroleum Exploration Geophysicist