Gavin Murray Project Manager M&G Investments 2012-2015. My achievements at M&G, the projects I delivered

1. G A V I N M U R R AY
P R O J E C T M A N A G E R
M & G I N V E S T M E N T S
J A N 2 0 1 2 – A P R 2 0 1 5

2. SUMMARY
• A Project Manager (contract) within M&G’s Business Change department for 3+ years from Jan 2012 to Apr 2015
• Managed £10m of projects across IS, BC, Risk, Fixed Income, Equities, Finance and Group Operations
• Project delivery and deployment using M&G’s adoption of Agile SCRUM and PRINCE2 best practice methods and tools
• Collaborated closely with IS and BC Senior Management Teams and demanding business stakeholders up to C level
• Trusted to lead large strategic, business critical and complex initiatives requiring a close hands-on and involved approach
• Responsibility end-to-end from business case, solution & design, build & test and implementation to benefits realisation
• Accountability for all project activities including planning, costs, resource, risks & issues, project boards, 3rd party contracts and purchasing
• Matrix management of internal & external teams, onshore & offshore, 3rd party vendors & suppliers and consultancies
• Drove a £4m Corporate Data Warehouse / Data Platform initiative, part of a Strategic Programme delivering IBOR
• Delivered a crucial £2.4m refresh of the in-house developed Batch & Data and STP Integration Platform, a critical business services layer across
Front, Middle & Back Office domains
• Led an Agile transformation implementing tools, processes, behaviours & team structures resulting in increased productivity and improved
quality
• Delivered a project to embed the writing and running of automated tests into team structures and processes
• Implemented a major upgrade to Markit Wall Street Office enhancing business capability and eliminating operational risk
• Upgraded a critical Back Office asset management solution (Quasar) addressing operational risk and supportability issues
• Led a Group Finance management accounting system (Hyperion) review, re-design & upgrade addressing stability & performance issues and
enabling a crucial Finance programme to meet regulation and enhanced functionality requirements
• Upgraded the Risk Analytics system Algorithmics addressing performance and capacity limitations to enhance support of the business
• Managed mandatory upgrades to SWIFT, the Corporate Actions system and Integration Platform to maintain compliance with financial message
standards
• Enhanced the Corporate Actions system CAMS to address functional issues, remove operational risk and provide business enhancements

3. PROJECTS
D E L I V E R E D T H E F O L L O W I N G P R O J E C T S

4. CORPORATE DATA WAREHOUSE PROJECT
• A £4m project to design, build & implement a new data platform to provide a central record of
governed, quality assured & verified data relating fund assets with their core corporate data attributes
• Consisted of a Data Warehouse for historic reporting, Operational Data Store for near real-time &
historical data to operational systems, data quality tools & monitoring, dashboards, alerting & data
correction capability
• Built to replace the legacy Data Platform with a scalable & flexible solution to enable efficient future
change & foundation for the IS Strategy and pre-requisite for IBOR (Investment Book of Records)
• A complex project with many demanding stakeholders and part of the Group Operations Strategic
Programme
• Sponsored by head of Data Management Team, data prioritised for Fixed Income & Equities
investment specialist requirements, technology driven by IS to build future strategic capability
• I successfully led (at request of Group IS Director) an aggressive 3 month time boxed project to build a
thin end-to-end slice to ratify the solution, provide a blueprint of resource requirements, best practices
and development templates and support the business case before managing the full build project
• Worked closely with a specialist external consultancy, lead architects & developers to ratify &
formalise the solution following the thin slice build whilst planning the project
• Managed as project team of 20+ to deliver the core solution in 12 months to the point where a Scrum
team where running 2 week sprints with releases of more data into production
• Developed in-house using Java, Spring Batch & Data, Oracle db, Business Objects, WebLogic Server,

5. DATA DICTIONARY PROJECT
• A project to select a metadata management tool to implement as a Technical Data
Dictionary and to provide a proposal of the Operating and Ownership Models
• To enable faster delivery of change by improving the understanding of data within the
organisation
• By rich visual representation showing the flow and transition of business data from source
to target
• Managed build of a high level in-house proof of concept as part of the new data platform
thin slice
• I was asked to pick up the management of this full project after it had stalled and failed to
deliver
• I managed a specialist data consultancy working with internal teams and stakeholders to
select and recommend a suitable product to the Project Board
• Collaborated with stakeholders across all change functions including Architecture,
Development, Test, Business Analysis, Application Support and Data Management
• Managed workshops for requirements, scope and objectives, demonstrations &
recommendations
• From an initial list of 25 products evaluated, a short list was demonstrated, Ab Initio

6. INTEGRATION PLATFORM REFRESH PROJECT
• A high-profile £2.4m aggressive 11 month project to upgrade & migrate the Batch & Data and
STP Integration Platform, a critical business services layer to transform & transfer data between
core internal & external systems across multiple domains
• A re-write of the platform application code, replacement of hardware & middle layer software
• Led a 40+ team of System & Business Analysts, Developers (London & China), Testers,
Application Support, business SME and IT disciplines
• A complex delivery, required hands-on matrix management, had to accommodate changes from
other projects, impacted Front, Middle & Back Office domains, required extensive & complex
testing
• Designed & built a strategic infrastructure, replaced legacy hardware layer (integration AZUL
Vega appliances & Sun Solaris with HP Blade technology & RedHat Enterprise Linux), upgraded
application server with WebLogic Server 12c, replaced WebLogic integration framework with
Spring framework
• Solution consisted of in & out of container adapters developed using Java Spring Batch, Spring
Data, Oracle & XML dbs. More than 1 million lines of code re-written
• Implemented an automated testing framework (FitNesse) of processes, tools & behaviours into
the SDLC
• Systems impacted; Fidessa Buy Side LatentZero, accounting platform (FODB), Quasar (BO trade

7. APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT PROJECT
• A 14 month £800k project to improve productivity across IS & Business Change by
implementing tools, processes, behaviours & team structures enabling agility &
collaboration & removing waste
• Implemented new lightweight tools more capable of supporting an Agile approach to software
delivery
• Jira, Stash, Git, Source Tree, Crowd, Confluence, Jenkins, Zephyr & Jama as an integrated
solution
• Delivered using internal teams, external consultants, vendors/integration partners and
trainers
• Extended one-click automated release throughout development teams + 3rd party vendor apps
• Delivered Agile training across IS & BC resulting in a significant number of Certified Scrum
Masters
• Teams now deliver software & change using Agile Scrum including some significant projects
• Implemented Enterprise Requirements (Jama) & Test Management (Zephyr) tools, provided
holistic view of all work in one place replacing thousands of documents, provided effective
metrics & reporting
• Confluence enabled teams to collaborate & share information effectively & quickly reducing
waste

8. PLATFORM VISION FOUNDATION PROJECT
• Successfully led (at request of Group IS Director) an aggressive 3 month time boxed project to
build a thin end-to-end slice of a proposed replacement strategic Data Platform and Data
Warehouse solution
• Key to address scalability & flexibility, data quality & control, change demand and visibility
challenges
• An important enabler for regulatory & business projects requiring data warehouse capability
across Fixed Income, Equities, Risk, Finance & Group Operations including AIFMD and IBOR
initiatives
• Managed a team of Data & Technical Architects, Developers, Business Intelligence Analysts, Data
Management specialists and IT disciplines
• Consulted with a specialist consultancy to ratify choice of technology and decision to build not
buy
• Successfully built a working prototype that validated & proved the proposed architecture and
provided a blueprint including resource requirements, best practices and development templates
for delivery
• Technologies included Java, Spring Data & Batch, Oracle db, SQL, WebLogic, MQ,
BusinessObjects and Jira
• Worked with senior management to produce a business case for the full build and delivery

9. AUTOMATED TESTING PROJECT
• A £500k 15 month project to embed the writing and running of automated tests into the team
structures and processes within IS development SDLC process
• Automated tests provide early detection of defects when it is cheaper to fix, drives up
development quality and reduces the proportion of defects found later when the impact is more
costly
• After successfully using automated tests to speed up the Integration Platform Refresh project I
produced a business case to secure funding to run a project to implement a framework across IS
development
• Integrated tools & processes to automate the testing of developed code removing the need to
carry out expensive & time consuming manual testing enabling an Agile approach to
development & testing
• Implemented FitNesse, SpecFlow, Selenium and White testing tools & frameworks
• Across all 3 development areas - Integration (Java), RAD (MS technologies), FODB (Oracle &
PL/SQL)
• Covered unit, functional and non-functional, adaptor and full end-to-end system testing
• Consulted with external specialists to provide best practice discipline knowledge
• Integrated external consultancy into RAD development to teach & implement Test Driven
Development

10. FINANCE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM (HYPERION) PROJECTS
• Led a Group Finance management accounting system (Hyperion) review, re-design & upgrade to
address stability & performance issues and provide functionality for a strategic solution to
enable a crucial programme to meet regulation (FINREP & COREP), implement a new Chart of
Accounts, staff reorganisation & integrate with the core Accounting System (Sun)
• Engaged an Oracle EPM specialist consultancy putting a contract in place for ongoing
support & consultancy to address a lack of ongoing specialist skills and knowledge requirement
• Implemented a quick tactical solution to address immediate performance & user
productivity issues, undertook a review & implemented software enhancements, addressed
stability issues, enabled Finance to migrate to Windows 7 with the rest of the business
• Planned a separate project to deliver a strategic solution to meet the long term goals of the
business
• Evaluated virtual and physical infrastructure options against required performance benchmarks
working with specialist, Finance & IT teams and head of Application Support to agree solution
• This was a complicated process with 3 stakeholders all with conflicting requirements
• Built new strategic infrastructure providing Production, Development & Test environments and a
business continuity solution to address on-going operational risk
• Implemented Oracle Hyperion EPM solution, Hyperion Planning, Essbase, Financial Data quality
Management (FDM) and Hyperion Profitability & Cost Management (HPCM)

11. WALL STREET OFFICE UPGRADE PROJECT
• A project to deliver a major upgrade to the existing version of Markit Wall Street Office for Fixed
Income to address ongoing supportability issues & requirements, removing operational risk and
provide new business functionality
• Implemented new version onto a new strategic virtual infrastructure replacing legacy physical
layer
• Provisioned a Disaster Recovery solution removing operational risk & implemented a test
environment to enable ability to test future updates and configuration options
• New version required business process changes to be implemented
• Added new WSO Fax & Data modules to improve automation of loan administration processes
and pre-checked data quality, improved productivity and removed risks of using manual
processes
• Added WSO Security module to improve user and role management security & functionality
• This enabled the segregation of portfolios enabling Private Finance teams to use the same
instance removing the need to 2 separate systems, provided cost savings
• Managed vendor, IS, business and IT technical teams

12. ALGORITHMICS UPGRADE PROJECT
• A major upgrade to Algorithmics (ALGO) used by the Risk Team to provide a wide variety of Risk,
Exposure and Value at Risk reports & information to fund & senior management and regulatory
bodies
• To address serious performance & capacity limitations impacting ability to support the business,
product launches, regulatory drivers, investment strategies into new markets/asset classes & new
instruments
• Managed application vendor carrying out work off & on-site working closely with internal teams
• Upgraded to a version that supported 64-bit processing, improved capacity & performance and
addressed future scalability, supportability and functionality concerns
• Implemented Algo One 4.7.1, Scenario Builder 4.7.1 and Algo Reporting Application 2.5.7
• Migrated Algo database from Oracle to Oracle 11g, removed operational risk maintaining
supportability
• Built a new version of an in-house developed Inflation Swap DLM compiled to support 64 bit
processing
• Built new 64-bit hardware infrastructure addressing performance & limitations of 32-bit
architecture
• Resulted in a 20% speed increase in the overnight Algo Batch
• Enabled enhanced exotic pricing functionality through scripting and automation

13. QUASAR UPGRADE PROJECT
• Software & infrastructure migration of a business critical Back Office Asset Management solution
• A system providing trade settlement and custodian communication covering full trade lifecycle,
asset servicing, cash management & ledgers at company & fund levels. Also the prime
accounting & pricing engine for M&G Retail funds
• Migrated software layer (Quasar & Caché) from an unsupported version to address operational
risk
• Replaced legacy infrastructure hardware & operating system with a strategic Hewlett Packard
Blades running RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and RedHat Enterprise Virtualisation (RHEV)
solution
• Provided a business continuity solution removing operational risk in event of a catastrophic
failure
• Increased capacity to provide more development & testing instances, enabled increased change
capability
• Implemented Caché replication technology, Caché Shadow Journaling (database shadowing),
with RedHat space efficient snaps to replace Veritas as the Disaster Recovery replication solution
• Improved client security, implemented SSH vs Telnet (PuTTy vs TeemTalk) as client front end,
aligned with strategic goals & standardising with other systems Global One and Biton
• Replaced FTP with SFTP meeting IRM and strategic solution ensuring strong security and best

14. SWIFT & CORPORATE ACTIONS UPGRADE PROJECTS
• Managed annual upgrades to SWIFT Alliance & CAMS ensuring compliance with annual SWIFT
message standards and to provide new business functionality and address operational risk
• The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ("SWIFT") enables global
financial institutions to send & receive information about financial transactions
• Corporate Action Management System (CAMS) is a workflow system to manage Corporate
Action events, Fund Manager decisions, Custodian notifications, uses SWIFT messages
• Fixed Notification of early deadline EARD removing risk of Fund Managers missing opportunity
to elect early and forfeit the early decision fee’s associated with EARD events raised in the OIN
200 issue
• Added Security Id and Security Description to the re-dispatch email in CAMS
• Fixed a number of functionality issues in CAMS to support a Windows 7 rollout
• Undertook impact analysis and development to the Batch & Data / STP Integration Layer, BDSL
Stock upgrade changes required in Stock settlement messages going through BDSL Stock –
MT541, MT543
• Involved liaising with all organisations SWIFT messages were sent to & received from ensuring
required internal changes/development supported their changes, involved testing with all parties
• SWIFT Alliance Server & Workstation upgraded , CAMS Server & client upgraded to a version
4.01

15. MQ, INFORMATICA & BITON UPGRADE PROJECTS
• MQ – Upgraded IBM WebSphere Message Queue (MQ) and built new infrastructure to remove
the risks associated with running an unsupported version and aging hardware
• A vital & key component to the Integration Platform used by the majority of core systems and
applications, Cash & Equities/Fixed Income & Stocklending STP processing, Instrument T&Cs
updates from GoldenSource & FODB, Equilend Customer Interface application, Screens
providing MI & Worklist functionality, overnight Batch providing end & start of day positions,
Corporate Actions, GoldenSource, Equilend, GlobalOne, LatentZero, thinkFolio, SWIFT
• A complex project requiring a lot of change, testing and coordination across internal & external
systems
• Informatica – Upgraded to a supported version of Informatica PowerCenter, migrated to
strategic infrastructure technology strategy, migrated repository & database to Oracle 11g
• A critical ETL tool used within by the Integration Platform to Extract, Translate & Load data to &
from Risk Analytics, CRM, Stock Lending Trade Information & IFID systems
• Biton – Upgraded an Investment Management application providing fully integrated Front to
Back Office solutions via a multi asset & currency Portfolio Management System used within
M&G to supplement bond analytical data & provide additional Fixed Income reporting
functionality, valuation of Private Finance debt, calculation of yields & durations for certain asset
types, provision of portfolio cash flows to UKIO actuaries, credit default data for UKIO actuaries
and support of FSA reporting requirements