Theo Liakouras - Project Manager, Consultant

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Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Experience

Jan 2023 - Present

2 years 7 months

Project Manager, Consultant

Umicore

Project: AC 365 – Migration from SharePoint on‐Prem to SharePoint Online.
Migrated on-premises SharePoint sites to SharePoint Online.
Led project execution, including planning, coordination, and communication.
Advised the client on governance, security, and data protection.
Prepared project documents, including project charter, project plan, communication strategy plan, risk and mitigation plan, and scope documents for relevant departments.
Analyzed manual processes and developed automated solutions.
Used tools and methods: Agile project management, requirements analysis, governance, identity & access management, IT security, documentation, Azure DevOps, SharePoint Online, process automation.

Aug 2022 - May 2023

10 months

Business Analyst in B2B Invoicing Team

REWE

Project: Development of a new wholesale invoicing platform to replace the old host system.
Built a new invoicing environment for the B2B customer segment, replacing the legacy Cobol and DB2 system.
Created user stories to replace the old system.
Translated and prioritized B2B customer requirements into user stories.
Established a patch management process to meet corporate security requirements.
Handled Jira tickets, especially analysis tickets for operational error diagnosis.
Used tools and methods: Agile project management, requirements analysis, accounting, process design, error analysis, Atlassian Jira, Confluence, Office 365, Teams, Scrum, Kanban.

Feb 2022 - Jun 2022

5 months

Infrastructure Consultant – Project Manager – Service Provider Manager (ITIL 4)

Hoya Surgical Optics

Project: Consolidation and optimization of global IT infrastructure and introduction of ITSM.
The client wanted to build and integrate a global IT team and infrastructure in a hybrid environment. At the same time, ITSM was to be introduced via Atlassian Jira Service Management and all service contracts reviewed and optimized.
Conducted IT infrastructure analysis of sites in America, Europe, and Asia.
Reviewed and consolidated service contracts, initially achieving a 30% cost reduction.
Advised the client on global ITSM rollout and setup of Jira Service Management – introduced standard processes and tools.
Designed a GDPR-compliant cloud infrastructure in Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, and Azure Active Directory.
Negotiated SLAs with service providers on data residency.
Implemented service contracts according to EU standard contract clauses.
Used tools and methods: Agile project management, requirements analysis, contract management, provider management, stakeholder management, process design, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Atlassian Jira Service Management, Jira, Confluence, Office 365, Teams, Planner, Kanban.

Dec 2021 - Mar 2022

4 months

Project Coordinator

Restaurant Franchise

Project: Proof of Concept – Employee Management Software.
Conducted a proof of concept at 5 franchise locations to verify if the chosen software solution could replace the current system and become a standard for this and other franchises in the group.
Held interviews to gather expectations from participating restaurants.
Created a project roadmap to run the proof of concept.
Developed various tests to check the application against requirements.
Collaborated with the software provider to make adjustments.
Used tools and methods: Agile project management, requirements analysis, provider management, stakeholder management, process design, Office 365, Teams, Planner, Kanban.

Mar 2021 - Dec 2021

10 months

Technical Consultant

Universal Investment

Project: KAIT compliance review.
Reviewed in-house applications against KAIT regulations and internal policies. Supported documentation of operation manuals, creation of processes per company guidelines, and DevOps adoption.
Analyzed and assessed company policies for KAIT compliance.
Identified risks and proposed solutions to the client to mitigate impact.
Created an action plan prioritized by financial, customer, and regulatory risks.
Provided several operation manuals for internally developed software.
Developed workshops for awareness and provided training materials based on feedback.
Built a Power App to guide KAIT-compliant document creation.
Used tools and methods: Azure, Azure DevOps, KAIT, ISO27001, GDPR, technical documentation, requirements management, BPM, data flow diagrams, process diagrams, risk and gap analysis, workshops, Visio 365, Microsoft 365, Power Apps, Power Automate.

Jul 2020 - Dec 2020

6 months

Hybrid

Consultant – Project Manager

Metrikos GmbH

Project: Migrate Microsoft SBS 2011 environment to a hybrid solution with Microsoft 365 and Windows Server 2019.
Upgraded an outdated, unsupported environment to a hybrid setup using Microsoft 365 and an on-prem Windows Server 2019. Migrated local Exchange Server to Exchange Online and updated SQL Anywhere database to the latest version.
Successfully migrated client domain and data to the new environment, removing unnecessary components and policies.
Created Power Automate flows to automate manual processes and reduce error rates.
Migrated SQL Anywhere v12 to v17 and optimized it.
Updated operational applications to the latest versions.
Analyzed and optimized support contracts.
Used tools and methods: Microsoft Server SBS2011, Windows Server 2019, Microsoft 365, Power Platform, SAP Sybase v17, Active Directory, Exchange Online, process optimization and setup.

Feb 2020 - Present

5 years 6 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Freelance IT Consultant and Business Owner

TL- Theo Liakouras IT Solutions

Introduced software solutions.
Developed solutions for highly complex issues, enabling clients to resolve them with minimal business impact.
Guided and advised clients on process adjustments and implementation of KAIT requirements, GDPR, and ISO 27001.
Helped small businesses stay operational during the pandemic and lockdowns by using Microsoft 365 technologies.

Feb 2020 - Oct 2020

9 months

Business Analyst

Allianz Global Investors

Responsible for two main projects:
Project: Infrastructure harmonization between local and global entity (Feb 2020 – Oct 2020)
Migration project to harmonize the IT infrastructure of the Italian entity according to global company standards. The main challenge was the heterogeneous infrastructure provided and managed partly by third parties and partly by the global company.
Categorized and grouped applications, services, and BMAs based on received data and information.
Broke the project into subprojects and set priorities.
Created and validated multiple mini proofs of concept.
Defined, planned, and executed project milestones.
Completed the Milan user migration and validated functionality of all applications in the global infrastructure 4 months ahead of schedule.
Used tools and methods: ITIL, Azure, Windows 10, Lotus Notes 8, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, networking, firewalls, service design, workflow design, impact analysis, stakeholder management, file & security management, project management & implementation.
Project: Proof of Concept – Business Managed Applications (BMA) – KAIT compliance analysis (Jul 2020 – Oct 2020)
Feasibility study to determine the effort needed to adapt critical BMAs to upcoming KAIT regulations. Assisted in creating requirement documentation and an implementation plan.
Developed questionnaires based on internal guidelines and conducted interviews with department heads and end users.
Performed a gap analysis against KAIT requirements.
Reviewed cloud providers’ KAIT compliance and SLAs.
Presented solution approaches and created execution/cost plans.
Used tools and methods: Confluence, Jira, Azure Cloud, Microsoft 365, Azure DevOps, Visual Studio Code, BPMN, XMind, KAIT, Excel 365.

Jul 2018 - Dec 2019

1 year 6 months

Project Manager & Scrum Master

adesso AG

Scrum Master for an eleven-member geographically distributed team within a SAFe release train.
Coached the team and client on agile values.
Supported the client in digital transformation/agile transition and building a constructive feedback culture.
Assisted the client with requirement definition, user story creation, user journey development, and persona creation.
Planned and facilitated Scrum ceremonies.
Led client projects in the financial industry.
Prepared reports, metrics, and project documentation.
Used tools and methods: ITIL, Scrum, SAFe, Kanban, Lean, stakeholder management, project management & implementation, user stories, retrospectives, persona creation, user journey, coaching, iterative software development, MVP.

Oct 2017 - Jun 2018

9 months

Sabbatical

Jan 2017 - Sep 2017

9 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Operations Manager Germany (Interim)

Epiq Systems Germany GmbH

Senior staff member for the German branch with full signing authority.
Led and managed nine employees both technically and disciplinarily.
Managed requirements and operations of eDiscovery projects.
Handled provider management and SLA management.
Built an open team culture in the German office with process and communication structures.
Implemented and enforced occupational safety and data protection laws.
Optimized processes and workflows following lean principles.
Used tools and methods: ITIL, Scrum, SAFe, Kanban, Lean, stakeholder management, project management & implementation, user stories, retrospectives, persona creation, user journey, coaching, iterative software development, MVP.

Jun 2013 - Sep 2016

3 years 4 months

Germany

IT Manager Germany

Herbert Smith Freehills Germany

Jan 2013 - May 2013

5 months

IT Traineeship

VDK e.V.

Sep 2009 - Dec 2012

3 years 4 months

IT Senior Analyst

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Jan 2007 - Aug 2009

2 years 8 months

Self-Employed Consultant

nCons IT-Beratung

Jun 2004 - Aug 2009

5 years 3 months

Germany

Information Systems Specialist & Operations Manager Assistant DACH Region

Tahitian Noni International Deutschland

Summary

Theo Liakouras is a freelance IT specialist with more than 21 years of experience. He uses his accumulated knowledge and experience with his clients to complete projects successfully, remove business obstacles and optimize processes to increase delivered value.

His expertise includes business process analysis and optimization, classic and agile project methodologies, implementation of new software and infrastructure solutions, establishing branches of international companies in the DACH region, and implementing data protection and regulatory policies in IT.

Languages

German

Native

Greek

Native

English

Native

Spanish

Elementary

Education

Apr 2000 - Mar 2002