Welcome to the home page of Chris Grossmeier
Well, you're here, and it must be for a reason. My guess
is that you are here to learn more about me or to just
pick my brain for information. In either case, I hope I
can offer whatever it is that you are looking for.
One note, new photos can be found here...
Take a look around. I have some good information here.
As you browse, be aware that the top layer of pages are
just about me. You will have to dig into a topic if
you would like to get more information, links, or files
that I may have to offer. Remember, this site is first
and foremost a personal information site and second, a
resource for information related to my interests.
So, dig in! I hope this fills your curiosities about
myself and gives you a deeper understanding into the
professional life of Chris Grossmeier.
Background
Well, lets start from the top. This should give you an
understanding of how I acquired such a diverse background.
In the past 10 years I have accomplish a long list of diverse
experiences. Some were brief and of great value while others only
served as a stepping-stone to greater things. Some of these
experiences include:
- Lead Architect for national consulting practice at a fortune 500 company.
- Architected mainframe elimination strategy for Fortune 1000 companies.
- Consolidated IT Infrastructure for Fortune 100 organization with millions of $$$ in savings!
- Assisted in creating one of the worlds largest B2B marketplaces
- Provided strategy and business development consulting to Fortune 100 companies
- Network Analyst for Fortune 500 company
- Created and implemented corporate asset management system
- Started a CDROM development company in spare time
- Created shareware CDROM's for the Bulletin Board System Community
- Created shareware for Satellite users to use with PC's
- Worked as a graphic designer for a publishing company
- Created my first corporate web site in January 1994
- Create web sites for 10 radio stations in the Twin Cities
- Established and managed a Web Design Company
- Partnered in creating one of the largest ISP's in the Midwest
- Managed the web design department for ISP
- Was involved in the creation of over 300 web sites in under 4 years
- Created a web site that create personal web pages for over 40,000 users
- Left to become a consultant for a Microsoft Solutions Partner
- Created an elaborate eCommerce site for a Multi-National client by myself in less than 3 months
- Worked for a 'Big 5' consulting firm
- Created WAP enabled web sites
- Recent interests in Wireless PDA's, Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), Cryptography, and JAVA
- Piloted bidirectional satellite Internet access for Starband.
This list keeps going, but I only wanted to hit on the items
that really showed the broadest range of experiences that I've
experienced in the past 10 years. When I look back, I see that
I was able to stay on the bleeding edge of technology. I guess
I was driven by a desire to know how things work and to have my
hands in whatever was considered the latest and greatest
technologies. What can I say? I was an early adopter.
E-Business / E-Commerce
I've been fortunate enough to work on many E-Business and E-Commerce initiatives in the past 6 years. My first experiences were credit card transactions through a Point of Sale (POS) device for a project for VISA International in 1994. For VISA, I assisted in establishing the VISA Rewards call centers and managed the network operations at Carlson Companies in Minneapolis, MN. After that, I moved into Internet based transaction with Internet Application development and web design. Quickly, the sites became more elaborate and mission critical to the organizations.
My first major e-Commerce project was to create a subscription based portal that allowed members of a Multi-Level-Marketing company to sell products, web pages, and personal dial-up/email accounts to friends and family. The system was designed to manage all the account details as well as serve up the personal web pages of the subscribers. We had one month to scope, architect, develop and test the entire system. A fellow co-worker and I created the entire system from scratch in 28 days by working an insane number of hours. We completed the site testing just in time for the customer's largest annual trade show. We signed up 1000 members in our first 2 days of activity and created over 30,000 web pages in the first month. Looking back, it would have been nice if someone offered a complete commerce suite like the products that are available today.
Next was John Deere's Homelite site. This was the proving ground for my development experience and really focused on security and stability across the site. John Deere had entirely duplicate environments for testing all the systems through the entire content life cycle. This was my first site that utilized encrypted storage and was built entirely with Microsoft Site Server 2.
After that, I was involved in several large site including: NetRadio, Emerald First Financial(now out of business), Vida Healthcare(also out of business), Best Buy, and Borsheim Jewelers for Warren Buffet. I also participated in the ZDNet Bake-Off, which was an evaluation of e-Commerce suites as to how they stacked up against each other. I was involved in creating the Microsoft Site Server 4.0 entry in the contest.
Next, my experience moved into Business-to-Employee (B2E) and advanced Business-to-Business (B2B) development. I have expanded to other technologies including Ariba Marketplace, ATG Dynamo, Vignette, and Broadvision. I have focused more on architecture and planning capacity and less on the actual code development side of the process. In the process, my exposure to the customer transitioned from the IT staff to senior and executive management.
I have expanded again into new areas of consulting. I have put a large emphasis on business integration, business processes, and IT Operations within an enterprise. I have worked with clients to plan the elimination of mainframes and the consolidation of servers and datacenters. I have ventured into business automation and enterprise security.
Where am I going next? I cannot say. I just hope it is a uniquely new concept utilizing the latest technologies, latest business paradigms and is like nothing anyone else has done before.
Consulting
I have been consulting for a living since 1991. Professionally, I've consulted for US Internet Corp, Rainier Technology (Now HP), PricewaterhouseCoopers (Now IBM Global Services) and Unisys. Each has been a stepping-stone for the other. US Internet focused on local Twin Cities Internet business development and some minor national development. Rainier really opened the door the professional development and consulting services. There, I served as a Senior Developer and later Architect for the eCommerce practice. My involvement was much broader than just development. I soon was involved in sales development, planning, and strategy work for the clients prior to our development projects. This sharpened my consulting skills and exposed me to higher levels of professionalism and responsibilities that would later be required in my career.
Previously, I was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It was one of the 'Big 5' consulting firms with global presence until IBM Global Services acquired it in 2002. PwC expanded my experience with business development and strategic planning. At PwC, I served as a Principal Consultant and traveled to where ever the work was. While working for PwC, I worked in New York, NY, St. Petersburg, FL, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, and Minneapolis, MN. I worked in the eMarkets practice and had been fortunate enough to always have work in the slow economy. At PwC, I was able to create corporate business plans and participate in the initial rounds of funding for new startups.
A great example of the type of projects that I was on is Transora. On April 5th, 2000, our team seeded the idea with 80 of the worlds Consumer Product Industry executives to create a B2B exchange. In less than 30 days, we had created a full business for a Global B2B Marketplace. That business plan was then used to generate over $238 Million in funding. By June 5, 2000, we had completed our funding and had signed on 49 of the worlds larges consumer packaged goods companies. It was an amazing amount of work in only 60 days. I will always look back and consider it the height of the "Dot Com" boom.
Today, I work for Unisys. I am currently the Lead Architect for the Technical Consulting Services and work out of the Twin Cities. I spend much of my time performing management consulting and high-level technical architectures for Fortune 100 to Fortune 1000 companies. I provide much of the technical assessments of organizations and business strategy about around the implementation of new technologies. I am fortunate enough to work with technologies as diverse as the Unisys ES7000 Servers to products such as the many Microsoft suites, SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle.
Past Projects
I'm only going to run down a list of some of the major projects
that I've participated in over the past 6 years. Most projects
were 3 to 6 months, while a few lasted up to 1 year.
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| Client: |
Guidant / Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc
| | Project: |
Enterprise Consolidation Services
| | Roles: |
Enterprise Architect
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| Client: |
PiperJaffray
| | Project: |
Mainframe Elimination, Active directory, Portal Services, Enterprise Consolidation Services
| | Roles: |
Enterprise Architect
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| Client: |
Schwan's Food Services
| | Project: |
Mainframe Elimination, Business Integration
| | Roles: |
Enterprise Architect
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| Client: |
TIES
| | Project: |
Educational Portal Development
| | Roles: |
Project Mgmr, Architect, Developer
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| Client: |
Carlson Companies Inc.
| | Project: |
Enterprise Consolidation Services
| | Roles: |
Enterprise Architect
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| Client: |
Harmon Auto Glass
| | Project: |
Enterprise Consolidation Services
| | Roles: |
Enterprise Architect
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| Client: | Transora |
| Project: | B2B Marketplace |
| Roles: | Architect / Developer |
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| Client: | Best Buy |
| Project: | eCommerce Portal |
| Roles: | Developer / Designer |
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| Client: | Emerald First Financial |
| Project: | Financial Lending Portal |
| Roles: | Project Manager / Developer |
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| Client: | Medtronic |
| Project: | Patient Portal |
| Roles: | Strategy |
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| Client: | Borsheim Jewelers |
| Project: | eCommerce Portal |
| Roles: | Architect / Developer |
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| Client: | Hennepin Technical College |
| Project: | Web Presence |
| Roles: | Project Manager / Developer / Designer |
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| Client: | John Deere |
| Project: | Homelite - eCommerce |
| Roles: | Developer / Design |
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| Client: | Fisher-Rosemount |
| Project: | eCommerce Portal |
| Roles: | Architect / Developer |
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| Client: | NetRadio |
| Project: | CDPoint - eCommerce |
| Roles: | Architect / Developer |
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| Client: | The Peoples Network |
| Project: | Portal / eCommerce |
| Roles: | Architect / Developer / Design |
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| Client: | Vida Healthcare |
| Project: | Cancer Patient Portal |
| Roles: | Project Manager / Developer |
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Graphic Design
Part of being an Internet Developer involves graphic design. I was fortunate to have a background with graphic design before getting into Web Development. This background has been invaluable in creating professional interfaces for some of the projects that I have been on.
In additional for application and site interfaces, I enjoy just fiddling with Photoshop and creating backgrounds for my desktop. Most of these interfaces are only displayed for a few days before I feel the need to change it again. As most people are aware, design is a very subjective area where depending on the mood, a person can like or dislike a particular look. I find that I am rarely satisfied with my design work and there is always room for improvement.
Below you will find several thumbnails and links to some of the backgrounds that I have created.
(Sorry, I couldn't decide which ones I wanted to put online... I never like my own work enough to share with others. It can always be better in my mind.)
User Interfaces
I've been fortunate enough to get a broad range of experience
related to Internet and application development. One of the
most rewarding aspects has been related to User Interface.
People tend to remember the interface and can easily associate
a memorable site to a well-designed interface. When I mention
some of the sites and applications that I've created, I
highlight the sites where I created the UI first. Most of my
friends and family are not interested in the databases or how
some complex application formats the data that is presented to
them in real-time. They all want to see my work. This is
where I bring up my creative developments.
Some of the sites that I like to talk about include the old
Cafe 105.7 FM in Minneapolis. This was my first commercial
web design project. This started the wave of radio station
development, which included KDWB FM, KFAN, KOOL 108 FM, Cities
97, and K102. I also had the pleasure of designing TV Heaven
41, a local public access channel. All of these sites have
since changed design, but many people I encounter still
remember when these sites were first launched. Other early
sites included The Peoples Network and Hennepin Technical
College.
Other forms of User Interface include replacing the Windows
2000/98 shell with my own User Interfaces. I've been an
avid user of programs such as DesktopX, WindowBlinds, and
the StarDock Suite of windows
shell enhancements for a while now. I have also started
changing interfaces for the PocketPC using WISBar and
Dashboard.
I'll post a collection of my 'skinned' interfaces in the near
future.
Application Skins
Applications
Pretty much everything that you see here was created
with Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, and
HomeSite.
If you want to know what I use for most of my client
sites, I use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. I also use a
vast array of applications to deliver the complete
product.
This is the short list of the products that I have used
and have become quite skilled with... (don't laugh, this IS
the short list)
MICROSOFT PRODUCTS
SiteServer
Commerce Server
BizTalk Server
Internet Information Server (IIS)
eMbedded Visual C++ 3.0 for PocketPC
eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 for PocketPC
Windows CE 3.0 (PocketPC)
Visual SourceSafe
Visual Basic / VB.NET
Exchange 5.5/200/2003
Active Directory Services
Windows NT Server 4.0
Windows 2000 Server
SQL Server 7.0
SQL Server 2000
Proxy Server
Project 2000
Office 2000/XP/2003 Professional
Visio 2000/2003
Front Page
OTHER PRODUCTS
Interwoven TeamSite
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Image Ready
Adobe Go Live
Adobe Acrobat Exchange
Adobe Illustrator
NetObjects Fusion
Macromedia Dreamweaver
Macromedia Fireworks
Macromedia Flash
Allaire Cold Fusion
Allaire HomeSite
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)
LANGUAGES/SCRIPTS/ETC
Visual Basic / Visual Basic .NET
Visual C++/C#
VBScript / VBA / Active Server Pages (ASP)
JavaScript and JScript
Java
HTML and DHTML
XML/XSL
WML
SGML
ADSI/LDAP
TECHNOLOGIES AND CONCEPTS
Microsoft Solutions Framework
Personalization
Collaborative Filtering
Internet Security and Cryptography
Video/Audio Encoding and Streaming
Graphical User Interface Design
CONCEPTS
Rational Unified Process
Knowledge Management
Financial Services
Order Processing
Payment and Credit Card Processing
Fulfillment
Marketing and Advertising
Usability
Product Testing
LIMITED USAGE OR EXPOSURE
ATG Dynamo 5
BroadVision Product Suite
Vignette V/5 Product Suite
NetPerceptions eCommerce
NetPerceptions Personalization
CyberCash
Cisco PIX Firewalls
Microsoft MSMQ
Microsoft SNA Server
Microsoft Crypto API
Ariba Buyer
Ariba Marketplace
I2 TradeMatrix
As for shareware, I owe a lot to a few other applications.
The Brain for personal
content management. CSE HTML
Validator for keeping my code functional. PGP for
International email encryption, and WSFTP for my
trusted FTP client.
Internet Resources
This page serves as a list to sites and services on the Internet
that I have found to be very useful (or just plain cool).
Tools
- NewsGator - All your need to integrate RSS XML Feeds with Outlook!
- GURU.com - a place for
consultants and freelance professionals.
- Third Voice - A unique
method of placing post-it notes on a web page for personal or public
display.
- Color Mixer - A handy
tool for creating web safe background patterns that look like
TrueColor images.
Information
- The Onion - A very funny
periodical published in Madison, WI.
- MSNBC - My source for news
and events.
- CNET Pricing Guide - The
best way to find the best deal on anything! Period!
- Cryptome.Org - Spreading
the news through the use of the Freedom of Information Act.
Software and PocketPC
- TUCOWS - The Ultimate
Collection of WinSock Apps.
- PocketGear - The one
stop shop for all iPaq 3650 apps!
- PocketPC Passion -
Dale Coffing maintains the PocketPC's ultimate resource site.
R‚sum‚
I've decided to take the downloadable r‚sum‚ off line
for now. There should be sufficient information available
within this site to get you started. (I found the out that
a few 'head-hunters' had collected my r‚sum‚ and
were trying to place me without my knowledge.) If your
organization has and opening, and you are interested in
reviewing my r‚sum‚, please send me an e-mail and your
request and I'll contact you back as soon as possible.
Please indicate what format you would like the r‚sum‚. I
can provide it in Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and Text
versions as well as physically mailing a hard copy upon
request.
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