Network Hardware Standardization Project– Created hardware standardization in Texas market by consolidating down to three Cisco models from seven. Standardization strategy also eliminated unnecessary/redundant maintenance contracts along with reduction in spares inventory. Hardware standardization eliminated $560K of operating/capital expenses over a 5 yr. period.
Corporate Network Realignment Project– Project was created to implement updated configuration standards, cabling standards, remove redundant servers and implement new wireless hardware. Network team completed all 83 sites within Texas footprint within 14 months. Completion of project conformed network services to new standards, added wireless for employees and eliminated a total of 12 Windows and billing system servers. When company performed division consolidation two years after project completion Texas region was already ahead when other markets were just initiating this project.
Service Consolidation and Decommissioning Project– Replaced all VPN tunnels with metro circuits throughout Texas footprint. This project not only increased network uptime and stability but also reduced risk regarding PCI-DSS auditing. Another portion of this project was the consolidation of three DMZ segments into one. The consolidation effort reduced administrative operations, auditing time and risks in regards to PCI-DSS.
Wireless Sensor Deployment Project– Project was focused on the installation of wireless sensors at all enterprise sites for compliance purposes. Installation of the devices throughout footprint resulted in quarterly savings of $15K and 3 weeks of resource time quarterly. The completion of this project also simplified annual auditing process by providing a single report versus multiple documents to the auditors.
PCI-DSS Network Operations Alignment– Project was performed to align all network devices to meet PCI-DSS requirements. Project resulted in all devices were using centralized TACACS+ authentication, centralized syslog servers, port security enabled in open accessible areas, standard corporate NTP servers and IPS installation in DMZ segment. Project objectives simplified annual auditing process by meeting general requirements and using configuration standards.
Customer Service Improvement– Project was created to provide better service to internal customers. Analysis was done by targeting service problems, tracking service requests and monitoring incident response time. Results from analysis prompted device configuration adjustments, ticket handling procedures, incident handling procedures and better coordination with external teams on reporting problems. Results of initiative reduce ticket count by 80% and improved work flow to better utilize limited resources between daily operations and projects.
Policy and Annual Auditing Form Creation– Created standard security policies to meet PCI-DSS requirements. Also created standardized forms to document PCI-DSS related data required for annual auditing process. Due to simplicity and functionality forms were used by other market to submit local market data. Standardization of documentation and diagrams along with other tasks performed received positive feedback from external auditors.
PCI-DSS Management Lead-Texas Market- Assigned by the Director of Engineering to lead annual PCI remediation and oversee all items relating to the Texas market. Performed weekly review of reporting systems, assisted other managers with device remediation and worked with corporate compliance team to remove false positives entries.
MAXX Initiative– Project involved upgrading the core routers at 35 hub locations within the San Antonio metro area. The success of this project was centered around the coordination of multiple teams, hardware setup and proper testing procedures. Project was completed ahead of schedule and no customers were impacting the hardware migration.
Region-8 Network– Designed and installed one of the first hybrid fiber/wireless networks in the country. Network interconnected 84 schools by WiMAX wireless and long haul fiber across the Northeast Texas area. Network supported Internet connectivity with firewall protection along with voice, video, data and WLAN for educational purposes.
Credit Union Network Design– Redesigned credit union network to scale up to 200 sites with disaster recovery strategy services. New network increased stability, provided WAN redundancy, standardized configurations, increased security baseline and simplified daily administration. Once project was completed the organization could sustain a business impacting event and would be capable of recovering with alternative services in a short period.
School District Network Implementation– Engineered and implemented new network for the entire school district. Project involved replacing all hardware across all sites, new ip addressing for growth with more efficient use of IP addressing, standardized VLAN scheme, hardware redundancy and support for voice and video services. During the project district personnel were trained in order to understand the new network and be capable of performing daily administration actions.
Phillip Neil Borne 