Arun Sakkaravarthi
Project Manager
Padur, Chennai
Summary
Dynamic and results-driven Project Manager with 20+ years of extensive experience in project management, people management, and transitions management within the IT and telecom domain. Proven track record in leading and delivering complex projects, specializing in EMS, OSS, and BSS domains. Adept at optimizing operational processes, enhancing team productivity, and ensuring seamless transitions. Known for strategic planning, exceptional leadership skills, and the ability to drive successful outcomes in high-pressure environments. A dedicated professional committed to achieving excellence and fostering a collaborative work culture.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work History
Project Manager
TCS - Next Generation Service Assurance - Vodafone Germany
11.2022 - Current
- Successfully managed multiple projects in NGSA (Next Generation Service Assurance) with a team of 20+ members by prioritizing tasks according to urgency, resource availability, and alignment with organizational goals
- Monitored progress against established goals, adjusting schedules and resources as needed to keep projects on track and identify areas of improvement and implemented them and Met project deadlines without sacrificing build quality
- Developed comprehensive project plans (MPP) with clear timelines, milestones, and budget requirements, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality results and achieved project deadlines by coordinating with contractors to manage performance
- Managed risk assessments and implemented mitigation strategies to minimize potential issues during project execution
- Developed strong relationships with stakeholders through regular communication updates, fostering trust and confidence in the team's ability to deliver results
- Prepared detailed reports on project status for stakeholders, ensuring transparency and alignment with objectives and provided detailed project status updates to stakeholders and management
- Negotiated and managed third-party contracts related to project deliverables.
- Prepared and submitted project invoices for review, approval and billing. Was responsible to meet the financial commitments for every quarter.
- Mentored junior team members in project management best practices to enhance their skills and contribute to better overall performance
- Was responsible for their goal settings and appraisal for my subordinates
Transition Manager
TCS - Vodafone Germany
11.2022 - Current
- Developed comprehensive transition plans, outlining roles, responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for successful implementation
- Identified potential risks and developed mitigation strategies to ensure smooth transitions with minimal impact on business continuity
- Coordinated with external vendors to deliver IT project components
- Monitored progress of ongoing transitions, identifying potential bottlenecks and implementing solutions to maintain project timelines
- Provided regular status updates to senior leadership, highlighting progress, challenges, and key accomplishments during the transition period
- Developed training materials tailored specifically towards each department's unique needs which helped in streamlining the learning curve as they adapted to new systems.
Technical Specialist
Nokia Corporation - Altiplano Solution
4 2019 - 10.2022
- Managed 20+ person testing team, including interviewing, on-boarding, training, periodic performance reviews, and release
- Ensured the end-to-end testing of each application/ project / release meets the strategic business requirements is completed on time within budget and with a high degree of quality
- Created test strategies for assigned projects and Managed the test preparation phases for the production of test effort, resource calculation, test data, test cases, test execution plans, and defect report life cycle flows
- Track and prepare the report of testing activities like test testing results, test case coverage, required resources, defects discovered and their status, performance baselines etc
- Oversee, manage the designing and maintenance of test plans, test scenarios, test scripts, test data, test labs and test sets using various tools i.e JIRA, Zephyr, Jenkins, Confluence wiki, Excel, Word, etc
- Presented weekly/monthly updates on testing plans, status and progress to business partners, stakeholders and organization management
- Collaborated with R&D and product owners to understand the scope of the projects/requirements and acted as a single point of contact between all departments
- Involved in feature reviews, Test Case reviews, Feature demos, brainstorming sessions conducted daily status calls with the team, weekly calls with management, conducted RCA, audits, customer interaction and knowledge sharing
- Purchased and administered Hardware operations like of servers, devices for testing
Tecnical Leader
Alcatel-Lucent - PCC - POL Command Center
06.2016 - 4 2019
- POL (Passive Optical LAN Service) is intended to provide fiber connectivity infrastructure and services for relatively small private subscriber. Its a Client is web-based and it has zero-touch installation and configuration features.
- Lead a team of 8 engineers and Designed, developed, and maintained automated test scripts using tools such as ROBOT frameworks
- Integrate automated tests into the CI/CD pipeline for regression and sanity test cases along with manual tests
- Executed performance tests, analyze results, and report defects Monitored application performance and resource usage during tests and Analyze performance data and generate detailed reports on findings and recommendations.
Technical Lead - L3 Support Lead
Alcatel-Lucent
05.2014 - 05.2016
- Technical Support Engineer [3LS] for 5520 AMS and 5529 [APC/IDM/LRM/TL1 GW, OAD] products
- Worked as a L3 team lead and supported team of 5 in handling issues from customers from the field and worked 24/7 in taking calls from customers on field issues and helping them
- Diagnose and troubleshooted technical issues related to software application, and network systems
- Diagnosed and troubleshooted technical issues related to software application, and network systemsolutions in the ticketing system
- Worked closely with other support engineers, developers, and product teams to resolve customer issues and improve products and services.
Senior Software Engineer
Alcatel - Lucent - LRM - Large Scale Release Manager
11.2012 - 04.2014
- LRM is an upgrade management tool used for migrating a large number of Network Elements to a new target release
- Developed comprehensive test plans, test cases, and test strategies based on project requirements and specifications
- Conducted thorough manual testing of software applications, including Functional testing, Regression testing, Re-testing, Sanity Testing, Performance testing, End to End / System testing, Exploratory Testing, Documentation testing, Security testing, Soak testing, Acceptance testing, etc.
- Involved in testing Critical features like Migration, Redundancy, NE Migrations and involved in bringing up the required lab setups for the testing.
- Ensure defects are properly documented, prioritized, and resolved in a timely manner
Software Engineer
Alcatel - Lucent - AMS -Access Management System
12.2006 - 11.2012
- Alcatel's AMS (Access Management System) is an Element Management System for managing network elements in access networks. It provides FCAPS management for Alcatel ATM DSLAM, IP DSLAM, DLC, FTTx, and G6 (Voice Gateway from General Bandwidth) access nodes
- Participate in design reviews and test reviews, Defined testing scope, objectives, and deliverables and Developed comprehensive test plans, test cases, and test strategies specifically tailored for telecom network management systems
- Collaborated with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to understand requirements and provide feedback on software quality and usability
- Maintain comprehensive documentation of test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test results.
Software Engineer
Tech Mahindra - Open EMS / CDR billing Software
11.2003 - 11.2006
- Experienced in developing, monitoring and maintaining test results, test summary and defect reports
- Performed detailed manual testing of NMS and billing software applications, including functional, regression, integration, system, and user acceptance testing
- Executed test cases and document results, ensuring thorough coverage of all scenarios and Performed root cause analysis of defects and work with the development team to resolve issues.
Education
MBA -
Madurai Kamaraj University
11.2006 - 05.2008
BE (Computer Science) -
Sethu Institute Of Technology
04.1999 - 05.2003
Skills
Project Management
Certification
Professional Scrum Master 1
Recognizations
- Nokia Praise Excellence, Nokia, For handling the Software Domain in Altiplano product and making sure the quality of test was spot on., Awarded 10/10
- Awarded 10/10, Unknown, Awarded 10/10 in a customer survey in one of ticket handled by me., Awarded 10/10
- Awarded Night Out, Unknown, Awarded Night Out Award for exceptional contribution in the team., Awarded Night Out
- Thank You E-card, Unknown, Awarded an Thank You E-card for closing on a critical customer., Thank You E-card
- Best Team, Unknown, Awarded as Best Team for completing a critical project with good quality, Best Team
- Achiever, Unknown, Awarded Achiever for leading and closing important migration project., Achiever
Customervisits
- Johannesburg - South Africa, Alcatel - Vodafone, - Involved in setting up L2/L3 support team in Johannesburg (South Africa), knowledge transferred on the 5520/5529 products, CARES ticket reporting procedure. Worked with the NOC team.
- Raleigh - USA, Alcatel, - Involved in ALCATEL's FTTU (Fiber to the User)/PON System testing at the customer place
- Huizhou - China, Alcatel, - Involved in training, testing and demoing the product to the customer PCC product
Timeline
Project Manager
TCS - Next Generation Service Assurance - Vodafone Germany
11.2022 - Current
Transition Manager
TCS - Vodafone Germany
11.2022 - Current
Tecnical Leader
Alcatel-Lucent - PCC - POL Command Center
06.2016 - 4 2019
Technical Lead - L3 Support Lead
Alcatel-Lucent
05.2014 - 05.2016
Senior Software Engineer
Alcatel - Lucent - LRM - Large Scale Release Manager
11.2012 - 04.2014
Software Engineer
Alcatel - Lucent - AMS -Access Management System
12.2006 - 11.2012
MBA -
Madurai Kamaraj University
11.2006 - 05.2008
Software Engineer
Tech Mahindra - Open EMS / CDR billing Software
11.2003 - 11.2006
BE (Computer Science) -
Sethu Institute Of Technology
04.1999 - 05.2003
Technical Specialist
Nokia Corporation - Altiplano Solution
4 2019 - 10.2022
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