Role & Background
Directed technology operations for a Manila-based organization supporting global online-gaming operations, scaling teams and infrastructure for continuous 24/7 service.
- Expanded IT support from a very small startup team into a 6–8-person operation with stronger around-the-clock coverage, while the development organization grew to roughly a dozen people across architecture, development, QA, analysis and project management.
- Led secure, highly available infrastructure spanning multiple data-center environments, networks, servers, workstations, physical security and global communications.
- Oversaw a VPN-linked ShoreTel VoIP and IVR environment connecting Vancouver and Manila, including telephony for an approximately 30-agent Manila call-center operation.
- Led development of a custom payment-gateway platform designed to weigh transaction-processing cost against fraud and chargeback risk.
- Worked closely with marketing leadership and technical marketing teams where infrastructure, application delivery, analytics, search and operational requirements overlapped.
Scaling Operations
Building teams for a 24/7 technology business
The organization was still relatively young when I joined. IT support consisted of two technical staff in addition to me, while development was a compact team with a project manager, business analyst and three developers covering full-stack, back-end and front-end work.
After the senior IT technician left, round-the-clock coverage became an immediate operational priority. Over the following two years the IT support organization grew to roughly 6–8 people, while development expanded to about a dozen people including software architecture, multiple development specialties and 2–3 QA staff.
I introduced stronger delegation and technical leadership inside both groups, allowing the teams to operate with clearer day-to-day ownership as the business and workload grew.
Payments & Application Delivery
Building a risk-aware payment gateway
A major development initiative was an internally built payment gateway intended to make smarter routing decisions rather than treating every processor as equivalent.
The platform was designed around the trade-off between transaction cost and operational risk, including factors such as fraud and chargeback exposure. Delivering it required close coordination between development, business analysis, QA, infrastructure and operational stakeholders.
Communications
VPN-linked ShoreTel telephony across Vancouver and Manila
The communications environment connected Vancouver and Manila over VPN, with the main ShoreTel trunk infrastructure on the Vancouver side and extensions used by the Manila operation, including roughly 30 call-center agents.
The system included VoIP handsets and full IVR functionality. It was business-critical and operationally demanding because voice quality, VPN reliability, network health and local infrastructure all affected the same service.
Infrastructure & Physical Security
Multiple data centers, power, cooling and access control
Technology responsibility extended across multiple server environments supporting office systems and production applications. That included recurring server upgrades as well as practical issues such as cooling, power continuity and network connectivity.
Physical and operational security were part of the same remit, including CCTV and fingerprint-based access control alongside conventional network, server and application security.
Cross-Functional Work
Technology did not stop at the IT department
I also worked closely with the Internet Marketing organization, where designers, paid-search and organic-search specialists depended on web platforms, analytics and infrastructure managed by the technology teams.
My earlier SEO and internet-marketing background made it easier to bridge those groups and occasionally help marketing leadership coordinate technical or web-dependent work.
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