Craig Tanner, Developer in Lancaster, PA, United States
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Craig Tanner

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Enterprise Architect and Developer

Lancaster, PA, United States

Toptal member since July 5, 2024

Bio

Craig delivers outcome-driven solutions in data management, enterprise architecture, IT strategic planning, portfolio management, and capital planning. With over 30 years of experience across 25 federal agencies and 17 commercial clients, he has a proven track record of leading strategic initiatives and advancing emerging technologies. Craig consistently drives long-term value creation, helping organizations achieve their strategic objectives and value propositions.

Portfolio

Prime
Solution Design, Enterprise Architecture, Data Modeling, Databases...
Symposit
Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, IT Governance...
Trigent Solutions
Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture...

Experience

  • Enterprise Data Management (EDM) - 20 years
  • Enterprise Architecture - 20 years
  • Enterprise Business Architecture - 20 years
  • Business Architecture - 20 years
  • Capital Planning & Investment Control - 20 years
  • Data Architecture - 20 years
  • Data Modeling - 20 years
  • IT Governance - 15 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Windows, Office 365, erwin Data Modeler, SAP LeanIX, Sybase PowerDesigner, Sparx Enterprise Architecture, Visio, Jira

The most amazing...

...business and data architecture I've reengineered for a federal agency simplified a complex mission area and reduced cycle time by six months.

Work Experience

Solution Architect

2024 - PRESENT
Prime
  • Developed 23 logical and physical data models through reverse and forward engineering, each representing a military system progressing through modernization.
  • Built a large-scale integrated logical data model that provides a basis for analyzing information sharing, consolidating into a master data management architecture, and offering optimized data fabric configurations.
  • Analyzed multiple technology, fiscal, and infrastructure requirements for the possible replacement of VMware across the organization. This analysis provided definitive input to the organization's informed decision on this technology choice.
  • Conducted architectural analysis of print server and print technology options for remote installations. I documented three possible options with a recommendation.
Technologies: Solution Design, Enterprise Architecture, Data Modeling, Databases, Business Architecture, Solution Architecture, erwin Data Modeler, Jira, Data Architecture, Database Architecture, TOGAF, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint, GAP Analysis, Master Data Management (MDM), Onboarding

Enterprise Architect

2024 - PRESENT
Symposit
  • Re-factored the enterprise architecture program division, establishing new or reconfigured integrated governance boards and enterprise architecture principles, program priorities, and program performance measures.
  • Tracked program progress in Jira, providing on-time delivery and accountability for project tasks.
  • Developed detailed program project plans for crucial enterprise architecture initiatives, including stakeholder management and integration of capital planning and strategic planning with enterprise architecture division operations.
  • Advised the agency's CTO and chief architect on enterprise-wide architecture program analysis and objectives.
  • Created the business architecture training program and delivered training to over 50 participants.
  • Prepared a briefing for the US government-wide innovation symposium, focusing on how business capabilities can drive innovation.
  • Built a strategy for modernizing human capital management systems and associated business architectures.
Technologies: Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, IT Governance, Capital Planning & Investment Control, Strategic Planning, Strategic Initiatives, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, erwin Data Modeler, Jira, Data Architecture, Workshop Facilitation, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint, TOGAF, Human Capital Management

Senior Enterprise Architect

2019 - 2024
Trigent Solutions
  • Acted as a trusted enterprise architecture and business process analyst, enterprise data manager, IT management specialist, and strategic advisor to the CIO, CTO, and chief architect.
  • Established enterprise architecture as a strategic capability for a large federal agency by standing up and maturing the Agile enterprise architecture program.
  • Instantiated the enterprise architecture program by developing policies, procedures, and governance/phase gate review processes across the system development lifecycle, ensuring program alignment with agency strategic plans, goals, and objectives.
  • Ensured alignment and integration with the agency's capital planning and investment control program. I also managed the agency's Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) submission process, significantly improving FITARA scores.
  • Implemented enterprise governance integration, IT portfolio management, and enterprise architecture solutions across a $300+ million, multi-domain, multi-application IT portfolio.
  • Reengineered the system development lifecycle to incorporate specific enterprise architecture touchpoints, resulting in reduced redundancy, increased technology sharing, and cross-agency collaboration.
  • Built and delivered enterprise architecture training courses with integrated applicable frameworks.
  • Conducted data management and enterprise architecture tool requirement studies, implementing the integrated enterprise architecture and IT portfolio management tool environment.
  • Developed over 100 architecture artifacts, including data, business, application, technology, and security architecture.
  • Implemented IT business process design in BPMN and began standardizing business process management practices for IT management and governance.
Technologies: Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, Enterprise Data Management (EDM), IT Governance, IT Strategic Planning, Data Architecture, Technology Strategy & Architecture, Capital Planning & Investment Control, Strategic Planning, Strategic Initiatives, Strategic Planning & Execution, TOGAF, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Acquisition Analysis, Business Process Analysis, Business Process Modeling, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), Research, Governance, Business Requirements, Functional Requirements, Technology Trends, Technology Standards, Visio, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint

Solution Architect

2022 - 2022
Carilion Clinic
  • Worked closely with the technical implementation team, providing data architectural analysis and validating technical initiatives related to healthcare clinical and organizational operations.
  • Developed workflows, data models, and data strategy solutions in various tools, methods, and formats.
  • Acted as a subject-matter expert while acquiring Callibra's data intelligence and governance solution, planning its integration into the organization's data fabric.
  • Provided subject-matter expertise on enterprise data governance programs, enterprise technology roadmaps, BPMN model development, enterprise architecture workflows, maturity evaluation, metrics, and efficiencies.
Technologies: Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, Data Architecture, Data Management, Master Data Management (MDM), Data Modeling, Databases, Data Analysis, Data Quality Analysis, Business Process Analysis, Business Process Modeling, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), Workflow Analysis, Solution Architecture, SQL, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Access, Collibra

Senior Enterprise Architect

2021 - 2022
Chainbridge Solutions
  • Advised the enterprise architecture division on enterprise architecture solutions and IT governance.
  • Interviewed and surveyed primary stakeholders throughout the agency and developed an integrated IT and enterprise architecture governance framework.
  • Conducted detailed enterprise architecture tool analysis and advised on tool selection and implementation.
Technologies: Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, Data Architecture, IT Governance, Strategic Planning, Strategic Initiatives, TOGAF, Microsoft Forms, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint

Senior Enterprise Architect

1998 - 2019
IT Pioneers, L.L.C.
  • Served as an interim command data administrator at two federal agencies.
  • Established CIO-level enterprise data management, governance, standardization, and stewardship programs at multiple federal agencies. I also developed data strategies for IT strategic plans.
  • Provided analysis, selection, and implementation of enterprise architecture and data management tools.
  • Acted as an interim lead enterprise architect at two federal agencies, designing and implementing total enterprise architecture program solutions.
  • Custom-designed enterprise architecture programs, blending the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF), the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF), and The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF).
  • Developed over 1,000 enterprise architecture products and artifacts and performed numerous system integration studies and projects.
  • Implemented a cloud migration strategy, master data management, and reference data management in three federal agencies' enterprise data management programs.
  • Set IT portfolio management standards and procedures, managing the office of management and budget submission process.
  • Designed and implemented the enterprise data warehouse (EDW) at the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), including specifying and selecting all EDW-related technologies and software and developing hundreds of ETL routines.
  • Delivered over 25 enterprise architecture and data management training courses with integrated federal agency frameworks.
Technologies: Enterprise Data Management (EDM), Data Management, Master Data Management (MDM), IBM InfoSphere, Data Modeling, erwin Data Modeler, Databases, Data Quality Analysis, Data Quality Governance, Data Quality Management, Data Standardization, Data Stewardship, Data Governance, Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, Data Architecture, Database Architecture, Technology Strategy & Architecture, Architecture, Capital Planning & Investment Control, IT Portfolio Management, Business Process Analysis, Acquisition Analysis, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Business Process Modeling, Business Requirements, IT Strategy, IT Management, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), Business Process Re-engineering, Business Process Management (BPM), Business Process Automation, Data Warehouse Design, Data Warehousing, ETL Tools, Knowledge Management, Data Migration, Database Migration, Oracle Database, SQL, DoD Discovery Metadata Specification (DDMS), Metadata, IBM WebSphere Service Registry and Repository, Repository Management, UML Diagrams, IDEF Methods, Acquisitions, IT Project Management, Program Management, IT Program Management, Human Capital Management, Business Proposals, Operations, Excel 365, Microsoft PowerPoint, IT Systems Architecture, Facilitation, Workshop Facilitation, TOGAF

Experience

Recreation.gov Modernization

https://www.recreation.gov/
This project involved analyzing and modernizing the recreation business capability for a federal agency, which resulted in the Recreation.gov website offering to the public. My tasks included studying the current "recreation" enterprise architecture, developing a modernization architecture, mainly focusing on an integrated data architecture taking into consideration the data requirements of multiple stakeholder federal agencies, and creating specifications and an XML-based solution for standard data interchange between the two dozen or more related recreation systems.

In addition, I helped implement the solution and modernize source systems. The resulting Recreation.gov capability has proven its ability to efficiently collect recreational data from the various agencies that manage facilities across the country, satisfying the multiple requests from the consumers of this data.

Enterprise Data Management/Governance Tool Acquisition

Worked as a lead subject matter expert and analyst in acquiring an enterprise data governance tool. The acquisition of an enterprise data management tool significantly transformed the organization by enhancing data awareness, improving data quality, ensuring data stability, and strengthening data security while driving better decision-making and streamlining governance processes. The project began with engaging key stakeholders to identify governance needs. I gathered and documented detailed requirements through workshops and interviews, including data cataloging, policy management, and workflow automation. Market research and vendor demonstrations followed, with tools evaluated based on scalability, integration, and cost-effectiveness. After pilot testing, the recommended tool best aligned with the organization’s governance goals, ensuring improved accountability, compliance, and long-term data management efficiency across the enterprise.

Education

1987 - 1988

Diploma in Computer Programming

Computer Learning Center - Springfield, Virginia, USA

Certifications

NOVEMBER 2022 - PRESENT

TOGAF 9 Foundation

The Open Group

Skills

Tools

Microsoft PowerPoint, Visio, Sybase PowerDesigner, Jira, Microsoft Access, Collibra

Frameworks

TOGAF

Paradigms

IDEF Methods, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), DoD Discovery Metadata Specification (DDMS)

Storage

Databases, Database Architecture, Master Data Management (MDM), Database Modeling, Data Integration, Database Migration, Database Integration

Languages

SQL, COBOL, Assembly, XML

Platforms

Windows, Oracle Database

Other

erwin Data Modeler, Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Architecture, IT Governance, Capital Planning & Investment Control, Data Modeling, Business Architecture, Data Architecture, Enterprise Data Management (EDM), IT Strategic Planning, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Business Process Modeling, Research, Data Management, Data Quality Analysis, Data Standardization, Data Stewardship, Data Governance, Business Process Re-engineering, Metadata, Office 365, Sparx Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Planning, Strategic Initiatives, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Workshop Facilitation, Excel 365, Human Capital Management, Solution Design, GAP Analysis, Technology Strategy & Architecture, Strategic Planning & Execution, Acquisition Analysis, Business Process Analysis, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Governance, Business Requirements, Functional Requirements, Technology Trends, Technology Standards, Data Analysis, Workflow Analysis, Data Quality Governance, Data Quality Management, Architecture, IT Portfolio Management, IT Strategy, IT Management, Business Process Management (BPM), Data Migration, Repository Management, UML Diagrams, IT Project Management, Business Proposals, IT Systems Architecture, Facilitation, Presentations, Training & Training Content Development, SAP LeanIX, Solution Architecture, Onboarding, Microsoft Forms, IBM InfoSphere, Business Process Automation, Data Warehouse Design, Data Warehousing, ETL Tools, Knowledge Management, IBM WebSphere Service Registry and Repository, Acquisitions, Program Management, IT Program Management, Operations, Systems Analysis, Programming, Data, Data Mesh

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