I have grown my career through a strategic progression of positions within the Information Services field: - I began as a Computer Operator and learned the basics of computer processing, file management and networking - I progressed into Systems Programming where I supported a database management system and the corporate network - I then moved into Management by leading Computer Operations groups and Network Support Teams - My next step was total accountability for the Information Services Department. I have operated in this capacity at several companies - I then gained global responsibility and began serving at a Corporate Officer level. This is where business meets technical and profitability becomes a primary driver in direction and decisions

Global Director, Infrastructure, Architecture and Services @ - Responsible for all LAN/WAN infrastructure activities for large, multi-national consumer products company in over 80 countries - Responsible for managing all aspects of fully outsourced, to IBM, data centers and network From April 2011 to Present (4 years 9 months) Partner @ IT Leader for hire.... Full or part time, contract or permanent. Wealth of experience with many successes and a few failures. Specialize in building relationships and delivering IT as a full business partner while enabling technologies to their fullest. Consumer products (durable and/or ingestible) are my main areas of focus but I can learn any industry very quickly. From May 2010 to May 2011 (1 year 1 month) Sr. Project Manager @ From 2010 to 2011 (1 year) VICE PRESIDENT OF INFORMATION SERVICES @ Leading producer of microwaveable bacon with over 2000 employees; annual revenues of approximately $1 billion. Recruited to lead IT modernization efforts and the deployment of SAP (Smithfield Foods global directive). Restructured existing internal IT organization of 30 people to better align with business activities as well as overhauled the image of the IT department (went from "NO" oriented organization to supportive and cooperative business partners). Responsible for outsourced ERP support organization of over 50 people with an annual budget of over $20MM. Selected Achievements Dramatically improved office and plant productivity through the replacement of the Local and Wide Area Network infrastructure. Implemented Cisco wired and wireless gigabit backbone with enhanced security and performance. Lowered cost of sales by over $100 thousand per year through improvements in field sales efficiency by deploying Citrix environment to allow remote access to network resources. Implemented voice over IP infrastructure and unified messaging to better enable communications flexibility. Reduced manufacturing expenses by over $600 thousand per year by overhauling the existing business systems environment creating a stable, reliable business system environment absent of frequent failures and data loses. Led the implementation of SAP for this business unit into a centralized, outsourced instance of SAP, saving the total organization several million dollars verses an independent SAP rollout. Positioned IT at the senior executive level with participation on the President's staff and as a member of the Smithfield Global IT Leadership team. From December 2007 to May 2010 (2 years 6 months) SENIOR VP & CIO @ Diversified consumer package goods manufacturing company with 5,000+ employees; annual revenues of $2.8 billion. Promoted to lead global IT operations for a large SAP data center supporting North and South American operations. Accountable for devising and executing global IT strategies to support new and existing product lines. Managed and developed corporate IT group consisting of 6 direct and 52 indirect reports in the U.S and over 40 technical resources in Europe and Latin America. Oversaw a $25 million budget to support domestic and international IT operations. Directed $10 million annual global capital plan. Selected Achievements More than $8 million generated in cost savings by leading global rollout of SAP for several newly acquired companies, including quickly integrating a $700 million, in annual sales, company which generated $10 million+ in synergy savings. Lowered global IT spending to 1.5% of sales (approximately 35% less than industry average) and increased SAP users from 1,000 to 2,500 by integrating and standardizing SAP systems within new and existing business locations throughout the world. Maintained SAP system availability exceeding 99.99% using management metrics that managed changes and predicted future outages. Reduced employee turnover from 30% to 3% within two years by implementing innovative training programs that built and maintained a high-performance internal SAP / network support team critical to sustaining operations. Technical environment of HP Unix servers, over 250 Dell servers including 20 server Citrix farm, EMC disk and tools, Oracle db, Cisco network and over 3,000 Dell PC's worldwide and Avaya PBX's. Considered member of senior management team reporting to Global CFO with frequent participation in Board of Director meetings and acquisition diligence teams. From January 2000 to January 2007 (7 years 1 month) DIRECTOR ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE @ Led daily operations for a 24/7 SAP data center and network environment supporting remote users throughout North America. Represented IT department in all business process improvements from conception to execution. Managed annual IT department budget of $15+ million and capital plans of approximately $8 million. Oversaw 4 direct and 18 indirect reports. Spearheaded $300,000 project to implement backup and recovery policies and procedures. Selected Achievements Led Infrastructure team during $25+ million SAP implementation project that included establishing and maintaining all mid-range servers, operating systems, databases, operations, and networking assignments - achieving all project milestones and completion dates with minimal additional costs. Generated 25% reduction in help desk issues and 25% improvement in customer satisfaction by implementing an ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework that included standardizing procedures, executing training plans, and effectively managing problem resolution and system changes. Oversaw $100,000 six-month project to design a fully developed, tested, and approved data center disaster recovery plan, completing project deliverables within established timelines and budget. Led $1 million project that stabilized, upgraded, and secured an entire local area network within 12 months in anticipation of SAP implementation, including designing in high availability and redundancy. Performed all infrastructure related vendor negotiations with key vendors such as: HP, EMC, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP and value added resellers for brands such as Cisco, Dell and Computer Associates From January 1997 to January 2000 (3 years 1 month) DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES @ Large manufacturer of lawn mowers, snow blowers, and estate tractors with nearly $500 million in annual sales. (Snapper and Roadmaster/DP (see below) were both owned by Metromedia International Group ) Reassigned from Roadmaster/DP to lead the implementation of a new ERP system as well as business process improvements to streamline and enhance business operations. Supervised and trained 33 direct / indirect reports. Developed and maintained $5 million operating budget. Key player in establishing a large call center utilizing an ERP integration solution to support the retrieval of customer information. Selected Achievements Oversaw $200,000 project to design and deploy a company-wide sales forecasting / account management tool that reduced monthly sales forecast cycle times from three weeks to three days. Led team to research, select, and implement $1.5 million ERP solution to more effectively manage manufacturing, inventory, and customer service operations, while supporting business expansions critical to sustaining operations. Redesigned and led implementation of new infrastructure environment including a switch based local area network and new AS/400 environment. Participated as guest speaker during annual Power Equipment Dealer Association trade show, speaking to audiences up to 6,000 people, outlining the importance of the IT/Business connection. Member of Executive Leadership team reporting to CEO. From January 1996 to January 1997 (1 year 1 month) DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES @ Leading manufacturer of home fitness equipment with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. Recruited to oversee the complete overhaul of an IT environment from implementing a new ERP system and replacing a LAN to executing company-wide email solutions and computer operations. Managed and trained 11 direct / indirect reports in support of IT operations with a $2 million operating budget. Selected Achievements Deployed $250,000 integrated forecasting tool within three months that reduced forecasting errors 50% in support of manufacturing and material planning processes. Implemented company-wide email system that dramatically improved communications throughout all facets of the operations from manufacturing to sales and delivery. Directed four-month, $1 million project to replace an in-house mainframe system by implementing BPCS as the new ERP tool. From January 1994 to January 1996 (2 years 1 month) DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES @ RECRUITED BY EX-VP OF MFG FROM ELECTROLUX WHO WAS NOW CEO OF THE REGINA COMPANY RELOCATED DATA CENTER AND IMPLEMENTED ERP SYSTEM From January 1989 to January 1994 (5 years 1 month) COMPUTER OPERATIONS MANAGER @ RECRUITED BY EX-CIO FROM MONSANTO TO BUILD AND RELOCATE LARGE DATA CENTER IN CONJUNCTION WITH GLOBAL ERP IMPLEMENTATION ELECTROLUX PURCHASED THE REGINA COMPANY IN 1989 From January 1986 to January 1989 (3 years 1 month) OPERATIONS MANAGER @ RELOCATED LARGE MAINFRAME DATA CENTER FROM CT. TO VA., BUILT STAFF AT NEW FACILITY, OPERATIONS LEAD DURING CULLINET MRP IMPLEMENTATION From January 1986 to January 1989 (3 years 1 month) COMPUTER OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR @ From January 1980 to January 1986 (6 years 1 month)

University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business From 1977 to 1980 Bachelor of Science, Business Management @ University of South Carolina-Columbia From 1977 to 1980 Anderson University (SC) From 1976 to 1977 Rick Dempsey is skilled in: Team Building, Business Process Improvement, Strategic Planning, Vendor Management, SAP, ERP, ITIL, Process Improvement, Business Analysis, Change Management, Project Planning, Management, Project Management, Disaster Recovery, Enterprise Architecture