Rick Hekkenberg

Leading IT and digital transformation strategies, managing infrastructure, ensuring business continuity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Overseeing IT operations, ensuring alignment with strategic business goals.
• Driving automation and process improvements to enhance operational efficiency.
• Managing IT teams, fostering a proactive, innovative work culture.
• Implementing cybersecurity measures to mitigate risks, enhance resilience.
• Engaging with stakeholders to deliver technology-driven business solutions.
• Leading development teams onsite and outsourced/augmented to drive innovation, efficiency.
• Identifying, capitalizing on opportunities for change, improvements aligned with business values, strategy, ROI.
• Hands-on involvement in development, ensuring technical excellence, alignment with business needs.

Key Achievements:

• Played key role in Micropress's growth, contributing to year-over-year turnover increase of ~18% through IT innovations, strategic leadership.
• Spearheaded creation of business intelligence solutions to improve data-driven decision-making, operational insights.
• Developed bespoke CRM system, streamlining workflows, enhancing customer engagement.
• Integrated AI into sales workflows to improve customer service.
• Digitalized factory operations at Micropress, removing paper-based systems and integrating real-time data within the print production MIS.

The primary point of contact relating to IT infrastructure and services spanning two sites. Accountable for delivering end-to-end solutions while championing strategic initiatives for the design and installation of new infrastructures and reporting on operational developments to stakeholders.

IT Management and Hands-on Technical:

• IT Service Management operating to ITIL standards
• Reviewing and Implementing Organizational Efficiencies
• Change Management
• Management of IT infrastructure (2x sites)
• Writing up Commercial/Business Proposals for Senior Management Team/Directors
• Planning of DR and Management of Data
• GDPR (data centralization, encryption and security)
• Cyber Essentials implementation, Infrastructure Security
  Remote Access, Network infrastructure Design
• Demotion and migration from physical to high availability virtual servers
• Overseeing IT support and direct report for IT support analyst
• Report Witting, Analytics and Business Intelligence
• Forward Planning and Project Management

Managed IT infrastructure and support services for 1,800+ users across multiple sites.

Key contributions:

• Collaborated with school leadership to align IT infrastructure projects with academic goals and operational needs, improving efficiency and reducing downtime.
• Delivered IT solutions that enhanced business operations while mitigating risks related to system performance, availability, and security.
• Spearheaded vendor negotiations and implemented SLAs to optimize service delivery, ensuring business continuity and improving cost management.
• Led change management initiatives that aligned IT services with the evolving needs of the school, ensuring compliance with ITIL frameworks.
• Lead a team of 4 IT technicians.