"I believe that a consultant's value is in his or her experience, time, contacts and relationships, and how the consultant can apply those resources to the needs of the client. What follows are my life experiences that I am able to bring to my clients."
Craig Dieckman
craig.dieckman@dieckmangroup.com
Summary of Professional Experience
Craig Dieckman has nearly 30 years of professional experience in the field of information technology (IT). He has held tactical and strategic positions with responsibilities as a programmer, project manager, department head, chief information officer, and consultant. His past employers and clients range from small to large organizations and include publicly-traded companies, not-for-profit organizations, start-up businesses, philanthropic foundations, and municipal government. At one time, Craig was also a full-time firefighter/paramedic in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. His commitment to public service continues as an active technical volunteer for the American Red Cross.
Details of Professional Experience
Dieckman Group, LLC (2005 - present)
Provides information technology and business continuity consulting services to various public companies, privately-held, not-for-profit, and philanthropic organizations.
Select Key Engagements
Engaged by Chicago philanthropic organization to review, assess, and comment on state of IT operations. Subsequently hired to manage day-to-day IT operations and to help recruit and train client's full-time IT staff. Because of the knowledge gained of the client's systems, client still retains Craig Dieckman on an on-going basis to provide backup coverage during times of regular staff vacation or unavailability.
Engaged by private company to develop a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for delivering both general and industry-specific applications to small businesses in the United States and Canada. Created concept and technical platform.
Engaged by public company to lead development of a commercial website for a particular business segment.
Working with small-to-medium businesses (SMB's) including professional firms in managing day-to-day IT needs where they either do not have sufficient need for full-time IT staff, or where an existing, skilled and qualified IT staff exists but there may be a need for experienced and/or independent review and oversight with possible recommendations for process or procedural improvement.
Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) (1993 – 2004)
Chief Information Officer for successful real estate investment trust which owns a portfolio of high-quality resort communities. In that period, the company grew from approximately 40 to more than 250 properties, of which about half were added in 2004 alone.
Specific experience includes:
Leading the use of technology for financial accounting and reporting, sales and marketing, and operational requirements of a public company during years of tremendous growth, accompanied by organizational and regulatory change.
Development of an IT infrastructure and professional staff to support it with strategic and tactical responsibility for all information technology, including business applications, data centers, a wide area network, and telecommunications systems for a company operating in more than 25 states.
Preparation and administration of the IT budget.
Procurement and installation of enterprise-class systems to meet business needs in areas such as financial accounting and reporting, reservations, human resources/payroll, sales and customer/lead tracking.
Vendor selection and contract negotiation for all hardware and software.
Management of large projects such as systems conversions, office relocations, and Year 2000 readiness.
Involvement with company’s compliance efforts relative to IT internal controls for Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Development of office automation tools, training programs, and recruitment of organizational development personnel.
Planning for merger and assimilation of systems, technical infrastructure, and employees of acquired companies.
Technical oversight for multiple internal and external company websites.
Data center design and office relocation planning.
Business continuity and emergency preparedness planning for 24x7 data center operations.
Design, procurement, and installation oversight for dozens of telephone systems ranging from enterprise-class switches to small-office key systems.
Volunteer- American Red Cross of Greater Chicago (2005 - present)
Former Volunteer Lead for Disaster Services Technology for the Greater Chicago chapter of the American Red Cross. The Greater Chicago chapter serves more than eight million people in seven counties.
Active with various technical projects in the areas of computer systems, communications, networking, radio, and customer service.
Operator and instructor for Emergency Communications Response Vehicle (ECRV), a self-contained vehicle with satellite-based Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity for voice and data communications, 14 commercial and amateur radios, a 52' mast, satellite television, and electrical generation capabilities.
National Coordinator of the ECRV Deployment Team for National Headquarters.
Deployed nationally to multiple hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Responds to fires and other disasters in the Greater Chicago area.
Society for the Preservation of Human Dignity (PHD) (1995 - 2008)
Advisor to the executive director and Board of Directors of a 35-year-old not-for-profit counseling and social services agency.
Responsible for technical infrastructure.
Various Companies (1981 - 1993)
Responsible for IT operations at various companies and organizations during this period.
Developed and managed national sales and back-office automation projects.
Managed domestic computer support operations for the specialty chemical division of an international company.
Led 40 employees of a "Big Six" accounting and consulting firm in an office automation project to convert the firm’s world headquarters office personnel from using a mini-computer system to personal computers with mainframe-emulation and standard office productivity software. This project included directing the firm’s network technicians, data conversion specialists, trainers, and assimilation groups.
Responsible for information technology development for start-up travelers’ services company which included custom application development, network capacity planning, call center design, and logistical planning for sales order fulfillment. This multi-year project also included working with language translation services, local and long-distance communications providers, geographic information systems (GIS), mapping and route planning sub-systems, and large-scale telephone system and call center vendors.
Programming and application development for fire and emergency medical services reporting to resource hospitals and state agencies. The application remained in service for ten years as a planning and management reporting tool for the fire chief, paramedic coordinator, city manager, trustees, and state agencies.
Village of Palatine, IL, Firefighter/Paramedic (1981 – 1988)
Full-time firefighter/paramedic for a municipal fire department serving a population of 70,000 people. Conducted fire inspections on and off-duty. Fire department rescue/recovery diver.
Incident Command Training
Trained in the Incident Command System (ICS), National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the National Response Plan (NRP).
Amateur Radio
Licensed Amateur Radio Operator
Call sign: KC9HWK