Holger G. - IAM expert / architect for preparing and supporting the IAM-PAM implementation

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Sagard, Germany

Experience

Oct 2021 - Present

3 years 11 months

IAM expert / architect for preparing and supporting the IAM-PAM implementation

Media company

Supported preparation and execution of an IAM-PAM project.
Guided the IAM-PAM project from requirements evaluation through product selection to solution implementation using the following approach:
Step 1 from October to December 2021: IAM-PAM requirements engineering.
Initiated project planning for IAM-PAM requirements engineering.
Analyzed the organization's IAM maturity level.
Created an IAM-PAM service catalog as the basis for the requirements catalog.
Conducted an IAM-PAM SWOT analysis (fit-gap to maturity level).
Documented IAM-PAM requirements as the basis for a technical concept including a roadmap for the next steps in realizing the overall project.
Step 2 from January to December 2022: IAM product selection.
Initiated project planning for IAM product selection.
Created and agreed the IAM specification document as the basis for the product selection process.
Prepared and agreed tender documents for a two-stage selection procedure with an IAM service description, PoC plan and evaluation catalog.
Supported the selection process in the tender, including PoC execution, vendor evaluation and preparation of a decision paper for product selection.
Step 3 from January 2023 to today: IAM implementation.
Initiated project planning for IAM implementation in a multi-phase model.
Created and agreed the functional specification for IAM implementation.
Aligned on enterprise architecture for the target IAM platform in the company.
Planned migration to consolidate ID providers and phase out legacy systems.
Supported test preparation and implementation of individual IAM function blocks and processes.

Jun 2021 - May 2022

1 year

IAM expert for analyzing, evaluating and preparing the IAM project

Energy supplier

Analysis and preparation of an IAM project.
Evaluated and prepared the IAM project in two phases:
Phase 1 from June to December 2021: IAM maturity analysis and project assessment.
Initiated project planning for the IAM project.
Analyzed the organization's IAM maturity level.
Created an IAM service catalog as the basis for the requirements catalog.
Conducted an IAM SWOT analysis (fit-gap to maturity level).
Created a summary document of IAM requirements as the basis for an IAM technical concept.
Developed a longlist of possible IAM solutions.
Phase 2 from January to June 2022: IAM feasibility study to further prepare a tender.
Documented IAM requirements: IAM technical concept (specification) as the basis for later implementation and for the selection process of required IAM solution(s).
Planned and prepared for QG2 approval (product selection process).
Conducted a cost analysis for further IAM deployment.

Sep 2020 - Nov 2020

3 months

IAM expert for analyzing, conducting and evaluating the IAM workshop

Municipal data center

Workshop to evaluate topics for an IAM project.
Identified and initially captured requirements for selecting, procuring and using a central IAM solution for internal operations and delivering IAM services to the data center's customers.
Planned and conducted the workshop in an on-site slot and additional online session.
Defined goals for using a central IAM solution and identified topics to consider, and initially captured organizational and technical requirements. The result provides a template for conducting a comprehensive IAM feasibility study.
Created an outcome document with a detailed overview of the following aspects:
Goals, topics and requirements for IAM deployment.
Possible IAM architectures for use in the data center, considering providing IAM services for the internal business units (and their employees) of the data center and external customers and partners.
Special attention to compliance with current rules (adherence to codes of conduct, laws and regulations) when handling personal data.
Proposed an approach model for further evaluation and implementation of the IAM project:
Detailed approach in the IAM feasibility study, which prepares for the product selection process with a PoC plan and a shortlist of possible IAM solutions.
Outlook on the technical execution of the selection process and a general implementation model for IAM.

Jul 2020 - Dec 2020

6 months

IAM expert for analyzing and conducting the IAM feasibility study

Media industry

IAM feasibility study to prepare a product selection.
Created an IAM feasibility study to prepare product selection for an international media company.
Project planning for the overall project from an IAM maturity analysis to a shortlist of possible IAM products.
Planned and conducted interviews with relevant business units to determine the organization's current IAM maturity level.
Captured requirements for using a central IAM solution in a hybrid scenario that connects both the group's central cloud services and the necessary local IT systems of individual countries.
Created a technical concept for a group-wide IAM solution and generated a longlist of possible IAM products based on this.
Prepared the IAM service description for the two-stage product selection process (tender + PoC) with a criteria catalog and a corresponding evaluation matrix for the considered products.
Reduced the IAM longlist to a shortlist based on the IAM service description.
Developed a guide for conducting the selection process based on the results of the IAM feasibility study.

Jun 2020 - Sep 2020

4 months

IAM expert for analyzing and conducting the IAM study

Municipal utility

IAM feasibility study to prepare a product selection.
Created an IAM feasibility study to assess feasibility and prepare for product selection for the municipal utility of a large city (approx. 320,000 inhabitants).
Planned and conducted interviews with relevant business units for an initial analysis of Identity & Access Management for customer access of the utility group.
Captured topics and requirements for a central portal solution (including smartphone app) for registration and authentication of the utility group's (end) customers and partners.
Developed an outcome document with an overview of requirements for a central IAM solution for the utility with focus on:
Requirements for the business organization,
Requirements for the IT organization,
Requirements for process and data security (compliance and IT security).
Created a longlist of possible IAM products for further evaluation for product selection and provided recommendations for next steps.

Aug 2019 - Present

6 years 1 month

Sagard, Germany

Senior Consultant IT-Automation + Identity & Access Management

Freelancer

Evaluation, project planning and management, especially architecture for IAM and SSO selection processes and implementations.
Designing and conducting assessments on IT Automation.
Project planning and support for IT Automation topics.
Role and process modeling for IAM and IT Automation.
Pre-sales support.
Designing and delivering training on IAM & SSO topics.

Apr 2019 - Jul 2019

4 months

IAM Expert for Analyzing and Conducting the IAM Study

Mechanical Engineering

IAM study for product selection as part of a carve-out.
Creating an IAM study to prepare product selection for a mechanical engineering company in a carve-out from the parent group.
Planning and carrying out an IAM maturity analysis of the group's existing IAM functions and gathering requirements for the future IAM in the standalone company.
Deriving the IAM minimum requirements based on the analyses and considering compliance requirements in the future independent organization.
Preparing the IAM requirements specification and a long list of potential IAM vendors.

Mar 2019 - Sep 2019

7 months

IAM Expert for Solution Analysis and Architecture

Steel / Heavy Industry

IAM strategy roadmap and technical concept.
Developing an IAM roadmap for implementing SailPoint (IdM) and Ping Identity (AM) for a steel manufacturing company that will act independently from its parent group.
IAM maturity and SWOT analysis of existing IAM functions and further requirements.
Deriving the IAM roadmap from the analysis results.
Preparing the requirements specification to support RFI and RFP for selecting an IAM provider.
Creating the IAM technical concept.
Final presentation.

Jun 2018 - Apr 2020

1 year 11 months

IAM Solution Architect

IT Aviation Company

IAM implementation.
Design and technical coordination for implementing bi-Cube IAM in one installation to increase the automation level in user and access management:
Aligning organizational and technical requirements in a heterogeneous IT environment with the client project team and the IAM vendor specialists.
IAM process analysis and design for implementation in the client environment.
Analyzing IAM target systems and designing the interfaces.
Approach for analyzing and modeling a basic and business role model, role risk analysis, and role lifecycle processes.
Approach for testing, acceptance, and rollout of IAM functions and interfaces.

Jun 2018 - Apr 2019

11 months

Project Manager on the Vendor Side

Mechanical Engineering

IAM implementation.
Project planning and coordination for implementing Omada IAM in an installation across 3 locations/sites within a corporate structure to increase the automation level in user and access management:
Planning and coordinating the necessary actions using agile methodology.
Aligning requirements in a heterogeneous IT environment with the client project team, the vendor's internal staff, and other external IAM specialists.
Budget planning for implementing the requirements for re-budgeting.
Monitoring cost and time budgets with bi-weekly status updates.
Providing a template for an authorization concept for IAM operations.
Point of contact for the client's project management in case of issues or escalations.

Jan 2018 - Mar 2020

2 years 3 months

Project Manager and Principal Consultant for implementing Automation Roadmap measures for ITO

IT aviation company

Implementing the Automation Roadmap for IT Operations.
Planning and executing measures from the Automation Roadmap for IT Operations to increase automation levels and relieve operations staff.
Evaluating technologies and tools to implement self-services with automation for installing new workstations (AP) and software in various PoCs for workflow automation and deploying a company-wide self-service portal.
Project proposal including cost-effectiveness analysis for implementing and company-wide rollout of self-services.
Project planning and management following PMI methodology for automating workstation (AP) and software installation with ordering through a self-service portal, implemented in phases involving multiple suppliers.
Coordinating measures from the Automation Roadmap with a parallel project for implementing an IAM system, supporting IAM architecture.

Aug 2017 - Dec 2017

5 months

Project Manager and Principal Consultant for developing the Automation Roadmap for ITO

IT aviation company

Automation roadmap for IT Operations.
Conducting an operations automation assessment, defining the automation target state and roadmap with a prioritized action plan to improve IT automation levels in operations.
Planning and leading the project according to PMI methodology.
Planning, conducting, and documenting interviews and analyses during the automation assessment.
Assessing the current automation level in ITO against a standard criteria catalog.
Defining the automation target state and developing recommendations with priorities to improve the automation level in ITO.
Aligning technically and organizationally with ongoing activities for implementing Identity & Access Management, Secure IT, and PoC client provisioning.
Developing the automation roadmap with a big-picture automation architecture, network plan, timeline, and clarifying requirements for the prioritized measures along with their qualitative benefit assessment.
Providing regular project status updates and presenting interim and final results.

Jul 2017 - Jul 2019

2 years 1 month

Hamburg, Germany

Principal Consultant IT Automation

aomation GmbH

Designing and conducting IT automation assessments.
Project planning and oversight for IT automation topics, project leadership.
Evaluating, planning, and leading IAM and SSO projects.
Pre-sales support.
Designing and delivering internal training on IT automation, IAM, and SSO topics.

Mar 2016 - May 2017

1 year 3 months

Subproject Manager (SPM) QA and Operational Handover in the Migration LEP – JBoss project (March 2016 – October 2016); QA

Insurance companies

Migration of LEP – JBoss / automated application platform (AAP).
Consolidating data center platforms into a future-proof platform (LEP) using open source products while introducing a new toolchain (pipeline) for Java development to implement Continuous Delivery (CD).
Planning and leading the subproject according to PMI and agile principles.
Planning, executing, and documenting QA measures in HP Quality Center.
Organizing and executing QA measures for reviewing and approving concept documents.
Defining and controlling quality criteria for the implementation, acceptance, and operational handover of the Linux Enterprise Platform (LEP) and the CD pipeline.
Planning and supporting QA measures for migrating applications to the new platform and Java development line.
Risk management.

Aug 2014 - Mar 2016

1 year 8 months

Vendor-side Project Manager, PMO, and IAM Architect

Large Real Estate Construction and Management Company

RBAC-LP2.
Re-engineering an existing IAM implementation with Omada/FIM to replace current IT maintenance tools for user management, consolidating and largely automating maintenance processes, implementing new automated provisioning interfaces, and establishing a forward-looking role and permission model in IAM.
Project planning and management according to PRINCE2 principles.
Aligning requirements in a heterogeneous IT environment with the client's specialist departments, considering an existing Omada/FIM implementation.
Drafting solution descriptions for required adjustments and conducting reviews with the client, especially outlining the target processes and IAM architecture.
Budget planning for implementing requirements in subsequent budget adjustments.
Monitoring cost and time budgets with weekly status updates.
Coordinating activities for implementing software adjustments.
Leading project activities to support implementation, including regular risk assessment, updating the PM board, and providing input for LA presentations.
Designing and conducting interviews for role analysis and preparing for role design.
Point of contact for the client's project management for issues and escalations.

May 2014 - Jun 2017

3 years 2 months

Hamburg, Germany

Senior System Consultant

direkt gruppe

Designing and conducting internal training sessions on IAM & SSO.
Project-based personnel responsibility, coordinating staff assignments with line management.
Supporting pre-sales.
Evaluating, planning, and leading IAM and SSO projects.

Sep 2013 - Mar 2014

7 months

Vendor-side project manager

Versicherungen

Implementing password self-service.
Reducing help desk costs for 'forgot password' by providing a user self-service password reset for ADS (Windows) and RACF as a portal feature in the bi-Cube IAM environment.
Aligning requirements in a heterogeneous IT environment with the client's business unit and the group's IT service provider.
Drafting solution descriptions for required software adjustments and reviewing them with the client.
Budget planning for implementing software requirements and supporting the proposal creation.
Leading and coordinating activities to implement software adjustments and support the deployment, serving as the main contact for the client's project management on issues or escalations.

Apr 2013 - Apr 2014

1 year 1 month

Rostock, Germany

General Project Manager

iSM Secu Sys AG

Responsible for leading all client projects and contract implementations:
Multi-project management, coaching project managers on client projects, and overall project controlling.
Evaluating and designing IDM and SSO system implementations.
Supporting pre-sales.
Planning and leading IAM projects.
Implementing and consolidating role and process models according to the organization's rule set.
Operational responsibility for incident and problem management.
Acting as escalation point.
Project-based personnel responsibility, coordinating staff assignments with line management.

Sep 2011 - Dec 2013

2 years 4 months

Vendor-side project manager, IAM architect

Mechanical engineering

Migrating from Sun IDM to bi-Cube IAM.
Gradually replacing Sun IDM with bi-Cube IAM, connecting new IAM target systems like SAP and database user stores, introducing a business role model and process automation step by step, and deactivating Sun IDM for active provisioning (the system then only serves reporting).
Evaluating and designing the IAM migration in workshops and a proof of concept.
Budget planning for the implementation project.
Planning and leading the project in a two-phase plan.
Modeling organization, roles, and processes.
Aligning necessary change requests with the client and classifying these software adjustments as standard product updates or custom extensions.
Supporting testing and acceptance of each functional block and documentation, and supporting the productive bi-Cube rollout.

Feb 2011 - Sep 2012

1 year 8 months

Vendor-side project manager, system architect

Logistics, transportation

Implementing a centrally managed single sign-on.
Improving usability for daily logins to various IT systems while increasing access security and reducing service center costs for 'password resets'.
Evaluating bi-Cube SSO deployment in workshops and leading the proof of concept.
Creating the deployment concept and budget planning.
Planning and leading the project following PMI methodology.
Modeling organization, roles, and processes.
Supporting testing and acceptance of each functional block, and assisting with the rollout.
Designing and agreeing on SLAs for operating the system in managed services.
Conceptual preparation for implementation phase 2.

Feb 2010 - Feb 2013

3 years 1 month

Project Management on the Vendor Side, IAM & SSO Architect

Automotive Industry

IAM for the dealer network - SSO for headquarters.
Subproject 1: Deployment of the bi-Cube IAM system for about 700 independent sales units (dealer network) with about 13,000 employees and the central service units.
Subproject 2: Deployment of Single Sign-On (bi-Cube SSO) for the central service organization with about 350 employees, featuring highly secure access to SSO resources with biometrics.
Evaluation and design of the IAM and SSO use in workshops and PoC (prototype).
Project and budget planning for the implementation according to PMI methodology, split into two subprojects.
Organization, role, and process modeling.
Coordination of necessary software adjustments with the client and classification of these adjustments as standard or custom extensions.
Support for test preparation, testing, and acceptance in individual functional blocks.
Documentation.
Project management and coordination:
Subproject 1 (divided into 2 phases): project management.
Subproject 2: coordination/coaching of the project managers (internal and external).
Project controlling.
Point of contact for the client's project management in case of issues or escalations.

Apr 2008 - May 2009

1 year 2 months

Project Management on the Vendor Side, IAM Architect

Banks

Introduction of the central IdM system bi-Cube.
Extensive automation of access rights assignment through standardized processes and the use of a role model, creation of a central query file for assigning IT permissions to auditors and internal audit.
Analysis of the administrative processes for managing IT permissions.
Analysis and solution design for the automatic integration of the IdM target systems, including recording the necessary change requests for software adjustments.
Organization, role, and process modeling in compliance with the relevant BaFin requirements.
Support for test preparation for the acceptance test with the client and for documentation.
Budget and project planning according to PMI, project controlling.
Conducting the acceptance tests.

Sep 2006 - May 2007

9 months

Project Management on the Vendor Side, IAM Architect

Energy Industry

bi-Cube IAM for querying existing IT permissions.
Creation of a central overview of all existing permissions (data from the previous day) with the ability to audit. Implementation of an approval process for access to critical customer data by matching existing permissions and commissioning the assignment of permissions in the target systems with support from an automated workflow engine.
Analysis of the systems that must provide data to the IAM for the central overview, as well as their maintenance processes.
Analysis and solution description for automatically connecting these systems for regular data synchronization.
Analysis and description of the process models in the IAM required for approving critical customer data in the connected systems.
Definition of the reports needed for auditing permission data.
Budget and project planning, project controlling.
In-house training of the client's staff.
Conducting the acceptance tests.

Sep 2006 - Oct 2006

2 months

Project Management on the Vendor Side, IAM & SSO Architect

Banks / Savings Banks

Evaluation of bi-Cube IAM.
Evaluation of the IT administration processes for introducing an IdM and SSO system in a PoC.
Analysis of the use of role and process models for IdM in the context of the organization's rules and BaFin requirements, including the HR processes for maintaining/delivering personal master data and the main applications with their own user management.
Analysis of SSO usage in the client's environment, especially the procedures/functions for password management.
Development of an implementation proposal and presentation of the PoC results with a decision template for the IT board.

Jul 2004 - Apr 2013

8 years 10 months

Rostock, Germany

Managing Director Projects & Operations

iSM GmbH

Head of the business unit for customer projects and support:
Multi-project management.
Project planning and management for evaluating and implementing IdM and SSO systems, including design and execution.
Consolidation of role and process models in the context of the organization's/company's rules.
Design and delivery of training on IAM & SSO.
Pre-sales support.
Establishment of customer support with controlling according to maintenance contracts and SLAs for managed services.
Acting head of the QA/Test department.
Operational responsibility for incident and problem management.
Escalation point.
Disciplinary personnel responsibility.

Mar 2003 - Jun 2008

5 years 4 months

Project Coordinator, Supplier-side Project Manager, IAM Architect

Insurance

Reorganization of administration processes.
Introduction of the central user and access rights management bi-Cube IAM for about 15,000 employees with tenant separation:
Phase 1 (2003 - 2005): Management of internal and external employees and field staff, approach to role modeling.
Phase 2 (2006 - 2007): Access rights management for ADS and RACF and a data hub for a central Notes DB.
Phase 3 (2008): Process automation.
Analysis of process flows and workflows in the different group companies (tenants) for automatic, uniform granting of access rights to internal and external employees.
Creation of functional designs for each implementation phase in coordination with the group's IT service provider and the relevant departments, including group audit, IT security, HR departments of the group companies, and user administration.
Budget planning, coordination of software adjustments.
Support for testing, documentation, and go-live in each phase.

Apr 2001 - Mar 2006

5 years

Supplier-side Project Manager, IAM & SSO Architect, Web Applications Development Lead

Telecommunications

Central user management and SSO.
Central management of all users and their access rights with bi-Cube IAM.
Phase 1 (04/2001 – 06/2003): Use of roles, automated processes, and manual requests for access rights management.
Phase 2 (10/2005 – 03/2006): Deployment of a Single Sign-On (bi-Cube SSO) based on the IAM data.
Analysis of the use of role and process models for IdM in the context of the organization's policies, including review of HR processes for maintaining/delivering personal master data and the main applications with their own user management.
Implementation of a central IAM system in the initial setup, including coordination of data deliveries for org and HR data with the responsible technicians.
Coordination of interfaces for the IAM target systems as a requirement for technical implementation.
Design of a workflow system for identity and provisioning processes.
Design of automated workflow processes for requesting and approving access to secure areas.
Design and introduction of an integrated SSO with implementation in the ongoing IdM operation.
Budget planning for each task block.
Coordination of software adjustments, both extensions in the product standard and customer-specific additions.
Support for testing and documentation, handover/acceptance of each work package, support for go-live of individual components/functions.

Apr 2000 - Mar 2001

1 year

Test Lead, Test Management Architecture

Banks

Test lead for software development projects.
Introduction of a test tool to support software testing; use of the tool for testing in-house developments for online banking.
Concept for introducing the Test Director tool to plan, execute, and document software tests.
Management of software testing for development projects in online banking with the rollout of the new test tool.

Mar 1999 - May 1999

3 months

Developer

Logistics, Port Operations

BauControl.
Porting an existing property management system to MS Access 97 with redesigned reports.
Migration of existing code to MS Access 97 with adjustments and extensions according to client requirements.
Redesign of the GUI for data entry and maintenance.
Extensive redesign and addition of existing analyses/reports.
Component testing, delivery of the system for integration and acceptance testing in the department, bug fixes.
Creation of program documentation.

Sep 1998 - Jun 2004

5 years 10 months

Rostock, Germany

Project Engineer for Development, Testing, and Implementation; additional role as Head of Web Development & QA (April 2001 –

iSM GmbH

Development of software for MS Access, VBA, and ASP.
Designing and introducing test methodologies and test tools in customer environments.
Testing and implementation of IAM software in customer projects.
Project coordination and gradual takeover of project management as the supplier's representative in customer projects.
Project-related personnel responsibility.
Additionally, from April 2001 as Head of Web Development & QA:
Leading the web development and QA/testing teams.
Building and developing the area for programming web applications for the IAM product.
Building and developing the QA/testing area and the required processes for requirements and error management and CCM.
Designing and introducing corresponding tools for order and version control, test and error management, and a download center as a portal solution to support implementation projects and ongoing customer contracts.
Operational responsibility for incident and problem management.
Disciplinary personnel responsibility.

Summary

Expert knowledge in Identity & Access Management (IAM) & Single Sign-On (SSO): market analysis for strategic and operational software solutions in the IAM & SSO field for product selection for implementation projects
Analysis, conceptual design and project planning and management of IAM and SSO topics
Role and process modeling for IAM / SSO
Use of IAM systems considering regulatory requirements and standards such as the BSI methodology for IAM in IT baseline protection, RBAC, BaFin, GDPR or OZG
Design and delivery of training on IAM & SSO topics
IT automation: concept, planning and execution of automation assessments for IT operations with an assessment of the current level of automation
Development of an automation roadmap with target vision and a prioritized action plan including a qualitative effort/benefit analysis of the measures
Project planning and management for the implementation of automation measures
IT project management: project management according to PMI, PRINCE2 or agile methods (Scrum)
Conducting requirement workshops
Planning and solution design of the implementation phase
Implementation of complex software rollouts and IT infrastructure measures
Handling project crises (status quo analysis, goal definition, conflict management, stakeholder management, corrective actions, outcome review)
Extensive experience in test and quality management for development and infrastructure projects
IT service management: analysis and modeling of process and role models for ITSM
Definition of services including service level agreements and operational level agreements with business units
Analysis, review and adjustment of agreed service level agreements
Cost control of agreed services
Quality control of documentation (service, operations, security and process manuals)
Management and escalation in incident and problem management
Monitoring and reporting of services as a basis for continuous service improvement
Customer support and product support
Strong communication skills
Team leadership
Facilitation and presentation techniques
High customer, service and result orientation
Extensive experience in planning processes and organizational structures
Analytical thinking and structured way of working