Neill Craven

 
 

About Neill

Name: R. J. Neill Craven

Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Education: BSc (Honours)

School: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Major: Applied Mathematics and Computer Science

Occupation: Principal Consultant, CravenWorks Consulting



Contact Neill

Email: ncraven@cravenworks.com


Mobile:

+1 416 258 4139


Mailing Address:

6674 Snow Goose Lanes

Mississauga, Ontario L5N 5H8


 
 
Personal Profile Mr. Craven has over 35 years experience in the telecommunications and computer industries. His management experience and extensive practical knowledge make him a highly regarded and competent professional, experienced in the design, planning, implementation, and support of major integrated networks. SYNOPSIS January 1997
CravenWorks Consulting
Principal Consultant and Partner September 1991 - January 1997
The PSC Group
Senior Network Architect December 1981- September 1991
Unitel Communications Inc.
Supervisor, Message Switching Design August 1977 - December 1981 Consolidated Computer Inc. Group Leader March 1976 - July 1977 ACTRA Insurance & Retirement Plan Programmer/Analyst May 1974 - March 1976 Bell-Northern Research (BNR) Scientific Staff EDUCATION 1974
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (Honours) PUBLICATIONS/SEMINARS PAPERS The Use of Standards in the Interconnection and Implementation of Message Services presented at the Canadian Interest Group on Open Systems (CIGOS) seminar in 1989 OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE #1755) Certified Cisco Systems Instructor (CCSI # 93014) Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP) WORK HISTORY CravenWorks Consulting (January 1997 to present) CravenWorks Consulting specializes in all aspects of network implementation including design, audit, and training. Currently CravenWorks Consulting is emphasizing its unified communications expertise. As Principal Consultant, Mr. Craven’s key responsibilities involve providing high-quality solutions to meet a wide range of client’s telecommunications requirements. As a founding Partner of CravenWorks Consulting, Mr. Craven is responsible for its business definition and development. Beginning in 1998 and through his continuing affiliation with Global Knowledge Networks, Inc.as a computer systems analyst and instructor focusing on the Cisco training programme, Mr. Craven has been providing advanced mentoring and tutoring for Global Knowledge Network customers who are acquiring the requisite knowledge to design, implement, and operate their company’s computer networks more efficiently and effectively, or who are preparing to take advanced certification examinations. During his affiliation with Global Knowledge, Mr. Craven has maintained his instructor certifications (first achieved in 1993) and has added several certifications in the areas of security, voice integration, unified communications, and network management. Through his association with Global Knowledge, Mr. Craven has contributed directly to the evolution of the Cisco training curriculum. For instance, he participated as one of the principal designers and authors of a recent version of the Cisco Voice over IP course. Also, he was selected to participate in the internal Cisco ASE training programme; his focus was unified communications. Independently, Mr. Craven has assisted a number of clients achieve their internetworking requirements. In particular, he has been involved in helping clients design and implement secure, high performance, efficient, and resilient voice and data internetworks incorporating many of the state-of-the-art technologies such as Quality of Service (QOS), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). Privately, Mr. Craven is preparing for additional advanced certifications at the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) level including voice and security . These certifications will complement his current Routing and Switching CCIE. The PSC Group International Corporation (September 1991 to January 1997) The PSC Group provided consulting, educational and systems engineering/integration services. PSC specialized in communications and distributed information systems with a particular emphasis on the application of Open Systems technology. While with PSC as a Senior Network Architect, Mr. Craven performed a cost-benefit analysis of the remote access and local area network (LAN) based telecommunications alternatives for a major government agency completed a study of wireless local area network opportunities for a large telecommunications carrier completed a detailed cost-benefit analysis of design options for a large Canadian financial institution prepared and presented a course on behalf of a major computer vendor. The course involved the principles of Message Handling Systems (X.400) and Directory (X.500). compiled a complete set of technical manuals for a Message Handling System-based product for a major vendor of telecommunications equipment provided technical leadership and acted as design authority for complex requests for proposal (RFP) responses provided technical support on various contracts obtained instructor certification from Cisco Systems, Inc for several Cisco Systems courses, including Introduction to Cisco Router Configuration (ICRC) (which he helped to develop for Cisco Systems, Inc.), Advanced Cisco Router Configuration (ACRC), Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT), Cisco Internetwork Design (CID), CiscoPro Sales Training, and CiscoPro Support Training prepared or customized numerous courses then presented them to audiences internationally developed sales and technical training material for a major telecommunications vendor drew on his experience and knowledge to advise several major clients on a range of issues including network design, migration, integration, management, naming and addressing, performance, and planning UNITEL COMMUNICATIONS INC. (formerly CNCP Telecommunications, now part of MTS AllStream) Unitel Communications Inc. was a provider of data, voice, and message communication services. Services included Telex, FasPac (providing packet switched data services), and Infotex a collection of messaging services including communicating word processors, Teletex, and electronic mail. Unitel was deeply involved in the evolution of new data communication services and the standardization of these services internationally. This was particularly evident in the evolution of the Unitel message services. Mr. Craven held two positions within Unitel. These are detailed under the separate headings Manager and Senior Systems Analyst. Manager, Message Switching Design (Unitel Communications Inc.) February 1983 to September 1991 The Message Switching Design group had the mandate to plan and implement, and provide on-going technical direction to and support for all computer based message and value added services (examples: Infotex service, Computer-based Message Switching System, Public Message Service, private message networks). Also, the group mandate included, at times, network management systems to provide monitoring, alarm, and test facilities in support of the operation of systems and services. During his more than eight years as Manager, Message Switching Design (a position designated as part of the senior management team), Mr. Craven’s general and specific responsibilities were to supervise and assess the performance of a staff of up to 9 engineers and computer specialists; maintain technical and financial control over capital projects amounting to more than $15 million during the period of employment with Unitel prepare, track, and account for an operating budget participate in special studies and task forces especially dealing with message services and office automation strategy provide technical support to other engineering groups provide technical support to other departments (especially Marketing and Sales) perform cost justifications perform and consult on profitability analyses develop service descriptions negotiate contract terms ensure technical integrity of work performed by staff provide guidance both technically and fiscally; and act as the authority on architecture During this phase of his career at Unitel, Mr. Craven participated in several major completed projects. These projects included implementation of Unitel's Dialcom service a public electronic mail service which represents a significant component of the Unitel office automation services implementation of Unitel's Message Handling Facility (MHF) a facility which allows interworking amongst many different communications services implementation of Unitel's enhanced facsimile services (FacsRoutePlus and FacsRoute Store and Forward) offering value added facsimile services for both facsimile and electronic mail users Other activities of the group (in which Mr. Craven participated directly) included rollout of the Dialcom X.400 service implementation of enhancements such as mailbox services for FacsRoute In addition to supervisory functions, Mr. Craven was actively involved in international standards activities. For example, he attended meetings within the International Consultative Committee on Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT) regarding Message Handling Systems (X.400), Directory Systems (X.500), and Facsimile PAD (X.5, X.38, X.39). He represented Unitel at CCITT Study Group VII (which is responsible for all X-Series Recommendations). Also, he was the Unitel representative to the Canadian Technical Committee on Open Systems (CAC SC21) and Text and Office Systems (CAC SC18). Senior Systems Analyst (Unitel Communications Inc. December 1981 to February 1983) During this period, Mr. Craven was Engineering Project Coordinator for the Infotex Service. The primary role of a Project Coordinator was to guarantee the technical and financial integrity of a project. This was accomplished through the development and administration of a project plan. It was also the responsibility of the project Coordinator to schedule and budget resources within the Network Services Department. It was, therefore, Mr. Craven’s responsibility as Project Coordinator to control the development and integration of Infotex. In addition to the management of the project plan, Mr. Craven's responsibilities included determining system requirements preparing specifications (requirement and functional) preparing and administering a development contract determining and procuring the necessary hardware During the project, he also studied and recommended network facilities evaluated proposals for office automation products CONSOLIDATED COMPUTER INC.(CCI) (August 1977 - December 1981) Consolidated Computer Inc. (CCI) designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed data entry and small business systems. CCI was purchased by NABU Manufacturing in early 1982. During his four and a half years at CCI, Mr. Craven held the positions Support Specialist, Group Leader (Falcon Group), and Group Leader (Development Support). ACTRA INSURANCE and RETIREMENT PLAN (March 1976 - July 1977) The ACTRA Insurance and Retirement Plan maintains a data base of all members of the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) for the dual purpose of maintaining medical and retirement benefits records, and general membership support. Mr. Craven’s position with ACTRA was that of Programmer/Analyst. BELL-NORTHERN RESEARCH (BNR) (May 1974 - March 1976) Bell-Northern Research (BNR) is the research and development arm of Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. BNR, by the nature of its parent companies, specializes in telecommunications. During his employment with BNR, Mr. Craven was a Member of the Scientific Staff. STRENGTHS AND EXPERTISE DATA COMMUNICATIONS /STANDARDS ITU/T Message Handling Systems (X.400 Series), Directory Systems (X.500 Series), Teletex (F.200, F.201, T.60, T.61, T.62, T.70, T.90), X.3, X.21, X.25, X.28,X.29, Telex, Facsimile (T.4, T.30, X.5, X.38, X.39), ISDN and others ISO Open Systems Interconnection (also in ITU/T X.200 Series), Abstract Syntax Notation and Encoding (ASN.1), Office Document Architecture (ODA), Office Document Interchange Format (ODIF, routing Internet “TCP/IP” architecture and many of its protocols including Telnet, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Simple Network Management Protocol (SMNP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), Domain Name System (DNS), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Protocol, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) X/Open Application Program Interfaces (Message Transfer, Message Access, Message Store, Directory Services, OSI Object Management) IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA), 360/20 (HASP Multileaving), 3270, 2780, 3780 Apple AppleTalk architecture and protocols Novell Novell communications architecture including Internet Packet Exchange (IPX), Service Advertising Protocol (SAP), Routing Information Protocol (IPX RIP), NetWare Link Services Protocol (NLSP) Banyan Virtual Network System (VINES) architecture and protocols Other Local-area and wide-area network protocols and standards including Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Token Ring (IEEE 802.5), Fiber (Copper) Data Distributed Interface (FDDI/CDDI), X.25, Frame Relay, Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Neill_Craven_files/Resume.

Curriculum Vitae