Engineering Background

  1. Home
  2. About
  3. Engineering Background

Senior IT Project Manager and Engagement Manager Mark Whitfield possesses over 30 years of experience in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Before transitioning into senior leadership and cloud delivery roles, he established a deep, hands-on engineering background.

Engineering Background for Mark Whitfield

His technical skills—drawn from his official professional footprint on this WordPress Mark Whitfield’s Career Portfolio and LinkedIn Profile—are grouped by functional technical areas below:

🌐 Cloud & Hybrid Infrastructure

  • Microsoft Azure: Used for deploying enterprise hybrid cloud migrations and Power Platform solutions.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): Orchestrated alongside Azure for multi-cloud integration workflows.
  • Microsoft Power Platform: Leveraged for building rapid-delivery low-code business applications during cloud migrations.

💾 Mainframe & Fault-Tolerant Platforms

  • HPE NonStop (Formerly Tandem Computers): Core architectural environment for early career financial back-ends, covering K-Series, S-Series, and Itanium J-Series.
  • Guardian Operating System: Native fault-tolerant OS utilized for deep system engineering and diagnostic auditing.
  • Tandem PATHWAY: High-availability middleware used to configure failover environments and auto-restart capability.
  • XPNET: Data communications and transaction network manager for Tandem systems.
  • Guardian O/S Utilities: Command-line and system utilities including SCF, FUP, INSPECT, SPOOLCOM, and Peruse.

💻 Programming Languages & Frameworks

  • COBOL / COBOL85: Heavy application for transaction engines and banking back-ends like sp/ARCHITECT-BANK.
  • TAL (Transaction Application Language): Tandem-specific block-structured system language for performance-critical coding.
  • TACL (Tandem Advanced Command Language): Scripting and automation language for Guardian environments.
  • SCOBOL: Screen COBOL utilized for structural interactive user interfaces on legacy nodes.
  • C / NonStop C: Procedural coding for low-level platform health extensions and validation tools.
  • C++: Object-oriented development for diagnostic plug-ins and performance benchmark software.
  • Java: Deployed for middleware services, web-enabled architectures, and mobile transaction pathways.
  • ASP.NET Framework: Leveraged during digital transformations for web-based front-end real estate.
  • UNIX Shell Scripting: Automation and configuration scripts within UNIX/Linux environments.

🗄️ Database & Storage Engines

  • NonStop SQL: Native relational database for Tandem mainframes used to track heavy financial data.
  • Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL): Mid-tier relational database used for sportsbook tracking, fraud detection, and customer databases.
  • Enscribe: Record-sequential database file system native to the HPE NonStop architecture.

🔄 Integration & Enterprise Middleware

  • MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: Served as Delivery Manager for deploying enterprise-wide API connectivity.
  • IBM ESB (Enterprise Service Bus): Traditional middleware broker for enterprise service messaging.
  • ACI BASE24 Classic / BASE24-eps: World-leading electronic payment software used for ATM/POS transaction routing.
  • ICE (Insession): Transaction simulation and test validation toolset for payment networks.

🛡️ Monitoring, Diagnostics & Systems Management

  • Reflex (Reflex 80:20): Co-developed diagnostic plug-ins for this primary platform health monitoring system.
  • RTLX (Real-Time Log Extraction) Reactor & Sentra Suites: Product-managed the rollout of these browser-enabled auditing frameworks.
  • HPE NonStop EMS (Event Management Service): Configured filters via “Console” for automated platform logging.
  • HP OpenView Operations (HP OVO) / Tivoli / Command/Post: Enterprise-grade infrastructure frameworks interfaced for holistic service health dashboards.

📱 Consumer Digital & Mobile Platforms

  • iOS Native SDKs: Managed lifecycle release cycles for client-facing mobile applications.
  • Android Native SDKs: Managed delivery and deployment into public mobile application ecosystems.
  • Windows Mobile / Web Real Estate: Managed web portals covering .COM and .mobi deployments.

🗂️ Governance, Frameworks & Delivery Methodologies

  • Agile Scrum: Certified Practitioner used for rapid sprint cycles, velocity metrics, and ceremony hosting.
  • PRINCE2: Practitioner certification utilized for structured stage-gate control, budget governance, and risk tracking.
  • Waterfall Delivery: Sequential SDLC frameworks applied to complex core-banking upgrades.
  • ITIL Framework: Certified in IT Service Management (ITSM) for operational alignment and live deployment.
  • ISO QA: Adherence to strict regulatory and international quality assurance benchmarks.

🛠️ Project Management Toolsets

  • Jira: Active use for Agile sprint tracking, story refinement, and backlog prioritization.
  • MS Project (MPP): Tailored for detailed Waterfall plans, Critical Path analysis, and Plan-on-a-Page (POaP) views.
  • MS Excel: Utilized heavily to create financial trackers, monthly burn-rate calculators, and variance charts.
  • PROject Templates Architecture: Homegrown framework providing open-access artifacts including RAID logs, RACI matrix tools, and Benefits Realisation plans.