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Larry Treas

Founder and President

Larry has a diverse background and extensive knowledge of the telecom industry, which affords him the unique ability to assist companies in obtaining the maximum results in the shortest time frame. His knowledge in the areas of local, long distance, wide area network and wireless services has saved clients millions of dollars per year, as well as recovered additional millions in billing errors. His analytical expertise and problem solving ability allows him to see all aspects of a problem or situation, which allows him to find solutions that others cannot. Treas uses “Return on Investment” procedures and methodology to ensure sound business decisions are made by his clients.

Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) from Oklahoma State University; member of the EET Industrial Advisory Council at OSU since 1996.

Experience:

  • Four years with Centel Business Systems in Oklahoma City where he performed the duties of a sales engineer, including systems design, pricing and engineering, installation, and technical management functions
  • Served as Installation Manager, overseeing new installation of key and PBX systems.
  • Certified in applications engineering and traffic engineering by Northern Telecom and Siemens/Rolm
  • After founding The Michael Group, Treas served as Interim IT Manager for a major client with revenues of approximately $100 million. During this time, he began developing a strategic plan. He also supervised the development of a technical training process for the IT staff, including individualized testing to determine the specific training needs of each employee

Leadership:

  • Past Vice-President and Treasurer and active member of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants (STC)
  • Active member on the ISM (Information Systems Management) Program Advisory Committee at Francis Tuttle Technology Center
  • Recent member of the Consumer Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) where he served on the Consumer Complaints Education Sub-Committee, the Outreach Working Group Sub-Committee and the Truth-in-Billing Sub-Committee

Linette Patterson

Vice President of Operations

Linette has led teams across North and South America, Europe, and Asia to improve processes, increase productivity and reduce costs across a variety of industries. Patterson is a proficient executive with expertise in process quality measurement and improvement, change management across geographic and functional areas, compliance audits, project and program management, fiscal accountability, and individual and team development.

Background:
Prior to joining The Michael Group, Patterson was President of Quality Management Perspectives where she provided lean consulting and leadership coaching services to clients. Previous positions which heighten her experience include: Site Controller for Amazon.com; Worldwide Inventory Control and Quality Assurance Senior Manager for Amazon.com; Materials and Support Value Stream Senior Manager for Dell, Inc.; Americas Quality Manager for Dell, Inc.; Inventory Control Manager for Dell, Inc.; Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Planning Lead Engineer for McLeod USA; Technical Facilities Planning Engineer for Williams Communications; and Technology Consultant for Accenture. Patterson holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

Experience:

  • Sets operational strategy and implementation plans and drives internal and client efficiencies and cost reductions
  • Utilizes Lean and Six Sigma techniques to audit and improve client business processes
  • Provides coaching, development, and training to help clients improve leadership capabilities
  • Acts as business analyst for the development of new IT systems and processes
  • Served as the financial leader for a $60M distribution center
  • Managed teams as large as 200 and $420M in inventory
  • Developed peer review audit program across functional groups and completed regular Controlled Self Assessment (CSA) audits to ensure SOX compliance on all team activities
  • Oversaw efforts to shutdown manufacturing facility while successfully placing team members in other roles
  • Implemented offshore centralized reporting resources
  • Managed UNE-L voice capacity in 648 sites nationwide
  • Activated 286 new colos and deployed 1,300 pieces of telecommunications equipment
  • Managed power, space, and fiber capacity and engineering designs at 40 POPs
    Leadership:

    • Serving her sixth year on the Board of Directors for the Society of Women Engineers, where she serves on the BOD of 20202 and Personnel committees
    • Serves on the Board of Directors for the Breast Cancer Assistance Program (BCAP) Fund, where she serves on the Strategic Planning and Public Information committees
    • Active senior member of the American Society for Quality and member of the Lean Enterprise Institute

Debbie O’Conner

Finance Manager

Debbie brings a unique combination of technical, accounting and management skills to The Michael Group. Debbie has over 14 years experience in the professional services industry designing and implementing critical business solutions including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Project Accounting, Resource Management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Having worked several years at Price Waterhouse Coopers, LLP, Debbie is fully versed in financial reporting, tax reporting and accounting best practices.

Background:
Debbie earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from DeVry Institute of Technology and a Masters of Business Administration in Management of Information Systems from the University of Dallas. Debbie holds several technical certifications including a Microsoft Business Solutions Certified Master in Dynamics GP/CRM and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Experience:

  • Implemented SEC compliant ERP systems for publicly held organizations
  • Delivered highly complex projects
  • All-inclusive management of the project budget, issues, and risks
  • Resource assignment and scheduling
  • Created statements of work and project plan
  • Performed systems testing, end-user training, go-live support, and report writing
  • Established support desk to support 300+ customers
  • Managed virtual teams with 23 members across 5 states and 2 countries
  • Conducted business requirements gathering sessions and document business processes and needs
  • Designed Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) to measure business unit success
  • Administrated and integrated several company acquisitions
  • Implemented Enterprise Collaboration Software
  • Prepared financial and operational reports

Kim Fitzgerald

TEM Specialist/Accounting

Kim has experience in multiple areas of the telecommunications industry. Her twenty-six years of contract analysis, telecom consulting, and bias for action provide a key component to The Michael Group’s success.

Background:
Kim has been a member of The Michael Group’s telecom consulting team since 1999. She is responsible for managing the implementation and conversion process of a client’s TEM solution, as well as the management plan for daily operations. She works closely with the client’s accounting team, information technology team and vendors to ensure an accelerated and successful implementation of the TEM solution.

Experience:

  • Management of 300+ monthly invoices for one client across multiple countries
  • Optimizing the telecom management infrastructure
  • Creating and managing an inventory of telecom services
  • Invoice management, including processing, auditing, validating and reconciliation
  • Identifying errors in telecom billing, obtaining refunds or credits
  • Standard and ad-hoc reporting
  • Cost savings research and analysis
  • Assisting with implementation of recommended services
  • Maintaining business processes and controls for telecom long distance, wide area network, and wireless/cellular services

Nash Mubayiwa

Data Analyst

Nash is a data analysis professional with experience in defining, delivering and implementing solutions for complex data sets to clients in areas of data mining, statistical analysis and predictive forecasting.

Background:
Prior to joining The Michael Group, Nash served as a data analyst with Sonic Inc in Oklahoma City. Prior to working for the Michael Group, Mubayiwa served as a data analyst for Sonic Inc and Systems Engineer at Erhart and Associate, where he honed his skills in defining, delivering and implementing solutions for complex data sets. Nash received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from The University of Central Oklahoma College of Mathematics and Science.

Experience:

  • IBM COGNOS: Query, Analysis, Event and Report Studio; COGNOS job scheduling and administration
  • Ad hoc report creation, data analysis, database design and administration
  • Evaluating business functions, operations, processes and information in order to develop or modify ad-hoc and analytical tools, or standard reports in support of business objectives
  • Business Analyst role: facilitated communications and coordinated with lines of business, managed timelines, maintained documentation and defined QA parameters
  • Responsible for developing detail summary reports/business dashboards including line and pie charts and trend analysis reports using different reporting tools

Stacy DeMas

Telecommunications Consultant

Stacy began acquiring her 18 years of telecommunications experience as a wire systems installer with the United States Army. After leaving the Army, Stacy held positions as Lead Customer Provisioning Specialist at WorldCom, Technical Analyst at Williams Communications and Network Planning Engineer at McLeod/PAETECO.

Background:
Stacy spent 9 years working for McLeodUSA/PAETEC as a Network Planning Engineer, responsible for managing POTs and the DSL network for over 500 colocations. She has managed company internal lines, processing new and disconnect orders with the LEC. She spent 2 years at Williams Communications and 4 years at WorldCom gaining valuable experience and knowledge on telecom services.

Experience:

  • Responsible for ordering, tracking, and designing DS-0, DS-1, DS-3, DS-3, ATM and Frame Relay (including High Speed) circuits
  • Served as lead provisioner, providing training and acting as 1st level escalation contact for all issues relating to order entry and circuit design
  • Project managed LEC orders including placing order, scheduling completion and escalating as needed
  • Managed network of IDLC and DSL for 600+ CO’s
  • Coordinated Rate Center expansions and Market Activations across the country
  • Researched and implemented CO decommissions to improve network utilization resulting in company savings
  • Managed over 5K internal company lines, processing new and disconnect orders with the LEC

Leadership:

  • Served on the Disaster Action Leadership team for the American Red Cross for two years (maximum term) with 1 year as Chairperson
  • Organized events for employees to network, get involved in the community, and support the environment with Green initiatives

Raj Pathmanathan (Contractor)

Communications Consultant

Raj has over fifteen years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He has a rounded background in the areas of telecommunications systems and sub-systems hardware and software and local area network hardware and software. This experience provides him a unique ability to understand and manage clients’ billing in the areas of local, long distance, wide area network and wireless services.

Background:
Raj is a 1989 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. He is certified as a Novell CNE, and participates in Confidential Product Briefings and Continuing Education Seminars with CISCO Systems and Microsoft.

Experience:

  • Analysis of billing against contracts, tariffs, and pricing schedules to determine billing errors
  • Working with the carrier(s) to obtain refunds for clients, in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars
  • Benchmarking pricing for the various services
  • Negotiating the best rates for clients
  • Working with both in-house and outside attorneys to obtain the best terms available
  • Coordinating vendors and clients when overseeing implementation of new services and/or contracts
  • His experience with clients ranges from those with one location to those having multiple locations worldwide, and from 100 employees to tens of thousands of employees
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