About the PPI Consulting Firm | Performance Plus Inc.

Performance Plus, Inc. ("PPI") is a consulting firm that specializes in operational improvement. Our work is focused and timely. The results are practical solutions that are guaranteed to improve client operations and profitability.

Are you experiencing challenges associated with:

Achieving greater returns on IT investments?
Increasing operational efficiency?
Reducing costs while increasing growth?
Re-engineering outdated operations?
Meeting customer needs with new dynamic products and services?
Aligning IT with end-user needs?

Performance Plus has proven methodologies and best practices specifically aimed at helping you attack these challenges and improve your business operations. Performance Plus strengths center on our unparalleled client service and commitment and on the quality of our people. Our blue chip client list and recurring client contracts exemplify our success.

About Our Representatives - Sample Biographies

Amy M.
Amy M. has over 25 years of experience helping clients improve the productivity of their business. As a leader and consultant on small and large-scale projects, she has demonstrated expertise in strategy execution, operational analysis, IT implementation, resource allocations and benchmarking.

Amy has successfully leveraged PPI expertise across client functions to help them increase profitability, achieve strategic objectives and position their companies for greater growth.

Samples of her recent experiences as a Client Engagement Leader include:

Led an initiative in a centralized customer service organization to examine the efficiency of operations to achieve greater economies of scale, improved customer service and greater ROI on ongoing IT investments. Specific core business functions were examined with specific emphasis on case implementation processes for core products in the Mid/Large Market and National Accounts. Identified over 170 opportunities for immediate or short-term process improvement. Recommendations were segmented by ownership, productivity impact and magnitude of implementation. Over half of the identified opportunities have been successfully implemented to date.
Brought a troubled IT project to a highly successful conclusion. Lead a reengineering effort over a large, fixed price custom software project that was in cost overrun, with abandoned schedules. Secured $15M swing in project outcome and helped turn imminent failure into a business reference project.
Planned and led major consolidation of > 65 offices within a global service organization that had previously maintained separate back office support operations. Automated and consolidated freestanding units into a higher efficiency, single point of service. Enabled company to reduce complaints by 55%, improve measured quality by 62% and decrease policy returns by 84%
Established complete program tracking and control to enable a major global services organization to assess the status and financial health of ongoing projects. Launched Enterprise Program and Project Management Offices and accompanying governance protocols. Introduced dashboards for timely and accurate management information. .
Led a project to assess and reorganize the operating structure of an Administrative Support Group to better align its customer service model. The project encompassed 15 product divisions supported by 450 staff in 16 locations. Recommendations to roles, responsibilities, processes and technology utilization were impacted and successfully implemented within 12 months of the initiative.

Brandyn B.
Brandyn B. has over 20-years of experience with Operations, reengineering and large scale IT implementations with Global 50 companies specializing in Financial Services and Insurance.

An accomplished implementation leader and senior technology project consultant with Fortune 100 companies, Brandyn has extensive hands-on organizational experience in technology and IT operations, extensive experience leading or supporting IT projects in complex operation and system environments, characterized by a mix of legacy systems alongside emerging technologies. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.8 (out of 10).

Her recent experience includes:

As part of the Group Administration project team, collaborated actively with business partners and IT in BRD development for the GA Oracle system solution.
- Facilitated brainstorming and content development for policy administration business requirements levels 1 - 3, interacting with business, IT, consultant and SME resources
- Developed process expertise sufficient to actively identify process gaps, document relevant assumptions, elicit detail level transactional requirements and capture related business rules
- Developed project glossary; catalogued logical data entities and transactional data fields and attributes; researched, evaluated and communicated external client requirements for client working groups; created and managed issue and gap logs to ensure key functionality was documented in requirements documents
- Identified cross functional transition points, documenting data requirements, validating performance expectation and leading re-evaluation of the relevance of current state assumptions in a future state environment
- Engaged subject experts and business analysts to create and maintain levels 1, 2 & 3 process flows to support functional design requirements.
Led elicitation of requirements among business and technical teams for reengineering and consolidation of multiple legacy systems into a seamless, end to end transaction environment
- Identified, evaluated and recommended commercial rules software to integrate with reengineered systems and provide transparency, implement audit features, embed controls, reduce transaction time and increase transaction reliability.
Led organizational design, realization and launch of highly focused call center serving premier customers and consolidating procedures and systems of four organizations. Accomplished seamless integration of multiple billing, sales and service tools into single web interface. Implemented and coordinated systems security policy and procedures for new hires and transfers. Consolidated and secured executive approval for multi-organizational business case to build new center with new business methodologies from origin.
Performed Current State Analysis of retirement product administration, identifying process issues, system gaps, training needs, and desired performance metrics to support process improvement and operational reengineering.
Provided launch expertise and hands-on project management to an inexperienced project team implementing POS system in 210 stores in two countries. Introduced procedures to measure and validate software performance, recommended process improvements minimizing risk, enabling recovery, and streamlining development

Background
Brandyn received her Master's Degree from Georgia State University, Robinson School of Management. She received certifications in Six Sigma, ISO9000 Audit, Balanced Scorecard Design and several other reengineering disciplines.

Marc B.
Marc has over 23 years of experience in IT implementation, merger integration, managing projects, six sigma, improving efficiency of operations, and determining effective functions of operations. He has also demonstrated his ability to motivate staff to control costs through effective use of resources. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.7 (out of 10).

His recent experience includes:

Led several large-scale reengineering engagements. Assumed responsibility for all operations, re-engineering initiatives, quality initiatives, and corporate systems project management.
Developed the required measures, metrics, and balanced scorecard for clients to benchmark operational results and assess the effectiveness of automation initiatives.
Designed future state roadmaps for migration from legacy systems to upgraded technologies, including incorporation of workflow changes and elimination of redundant tasks.
Developed and implemented activity based costs for operational functions and transaction unit costs.
Acted as the Director of Process Engineering, developing and implementing the merger integration process and plans for the several holdings within the US to create a larger company.
Implemented imaging and associated workflow technologies to streamline processes and improve service to business partners and customers.
Served as Vice President of Operations/Systems, developing an automation strategy for employing new client/ server tools to reduce development time and allow for increased product flexibility and customer focused service.
Proficient at establishing project management office structures (PMOs) for large structure IT projects.
Operational expertise with resource allocations, budget management, and metric implementation.
Provided lead project management, business process re-engineering, and consulting services in connection with several SAP initiatives.
Developed e-business processes and strategies to provide customers and intermediaries access to several support services and information via the Internet.
Evaluated IT effectiveness for two operative groups to increase system utilization and decrease costs. Analysts included upstream and downstream business partners and IT protocols and workflows.
Assessed performance metrics for several SBUs as part of IT and operational streamlining. Assisted on the implementation of improved metrics at the operational and management levels.

Background
Marc received his Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree from Penn State University. He received his Certificate of Mastery of Re-engineering and a certification in Executive Management Development from Kellogg/Northwestern University.

John M.
John is a highly accomplished executive with extensive financial management, management consulting, and operational success. He is a CPA/MBA with a strong record of career progression in "Big 4" Consulting and Audit, and Corporate Fortune 500 environments. John has proven expertise in all phases of corporate transformation to enhance business value, improve operational effectiveness, and support operational change. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.8 (out of 10).

His recent engagements include:

Established the analytical framework and decision rationale for key operational processes, including:
- Product profitability analysis and activity based costing to manage product portfolio.
- Use of Value/Process Chain Analysis as basis for process reengineering to optimize CRM, Sales/Distribution, Finance, IT, and other business processes.
- Business, Asset, and Security Valuation models.
Implemented financial process reengineering including:
- Benchmark Company Financial Process Performance against Industry and Best Practices
- Identified problems/opportunities high resource consumption. Extended cycle times, errors/rework, too many handoffs, work flow, data quality, technology application, nonvalue added activities
- Produced structure for "To Be" Corporate and Divisional Processes
- Identified and Prioritized Short-Intermediate-Long Term (Platform Dependent) actions and associated cost/benefits (benefits scaled in terms of reduced cycle times/financial investment, reduced transaction and resource consumption).
Directed financial management and supported development of business processes supporting a varied joint venture alliance.
As corporate controller for a technology company, directed accounting, SEC and regulatory reporting, financial planning, and HR functions.
Served on the SAP Governance Board and several working parties for a SAP ERP Pilot. Developed plan and coordinated testing and data conversion; led the initiative from a business process to IT process meshing perspective.
Formulated financial/business strategies, business process reengineering, organization/change management and application testing and implementation management for client organizations.
Provided formal guidance relative to the appropriate client response to regulatory and GAAP reporting changes and/or changes in client business circumstances and scope, working closely with firm audit teams to validate and implement client response.
Conducted "value/cost added" analysis of client business chain and proposed restructure of business processes to increase business value for HR and IT departments.
Examined key process drivers of business value creation, resource consumption and cycle time/efficiency within the context of known best practices and industry benchmark data, and implemented recommendations to streamline processes.

Background
John received his Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Marist College and his Master of Business Administration in Finance at Pace University. He is a certified public accountant and is currently registered as a Level II Chartered Financial Analyst Candidate.

Daniel N.
Daniel has over 15 years of experience in reengineering business processes for the insurance, financial services, healthcare, and IT industries, with a record of leadership and success in defining continuous improvement processes, presiding over productive brainstorming sessions, building consensus and relationships, and building powerful teams that effectively overcome project challenges. He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with areas of expertise including operational efficiencies, management collaboration, strategic vision development, innovative problem solving, relationship & team building, metrics and reporting identification, and productivity, time and cost utilization. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.5 (out of 10).

His recent engagements include:

As Project Manager for a regional bank, directed Marketing and Measurement groups in support of web backend platform upgrade project . Identified and automated 15 KPIs and 13 departmental/divisional reporting, and drove knowledge transfer from IT to Marketing on new features/functionality for development of customer messaging.
As Process Improvement Manager for a large multi-state health insurance organization, led process improvement project teams to increase capacity, decrease operation expenses, implement metrics and reporting, and integrate operations of the four organization divisions, develop and facilitate training, and interact with Senior and Executive Management.
Created corporate definition and calculation standards for hard and soft project financial impact benefits with corresponding tools, templates and training and served as liaison with Executive Management.
Built an Enterprise Metric Strategy defining 250 customer interfacing metrics linking operations to projects to corporate goals and designed a standard reporting automated mechanism for rapid deployment and greater metric reliability.
Analyzed current state Human Resources Hiring process using from job description creation to on-boarding and developed Future State process that reduced time of open job requisitions from 111 days to 35 days, improved New Employee On-Boarding process for equipment and service acquisition from 16 days to 4 days post hire date with system reduction from 8 to 3.
Performed process assessment including improvement recommendations for 5 key financial processes.
As Project Manager for a leading insurance organization, led project teams focused on process improvement to increase capacity, decrease operation expenses and increase profit generation.
Developed End-to-End Business Process Transformation methodology to re-engineer cross functional area processes addressing process, technology, organization, and change management issues.
Identified underwriting improvement opportunities and co-developed recommendations for future state underwriting operations. Performed Current Process State Assessments for Underwriting, Finance and Operations covering Small Business, Global Specialty Lines, and Excess & Surplus business segments.

Background
Daniel holds a Six Sigma Black Belt from the Juran Institute, and previously received a MS Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

Mark P.
Mark has over 28 years experience in the insurance, financial services, and technology industries. His expertise includes process analysis, business process reengineering, technology implementation, financial forecasting and profitability analysis, strategic planning, staffing and capacity assessment, and program and project management. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.7 (out of 10).

His recent experience includes:

Provided leadership and direction for staff and initiating partnerships with process owners in critical functional areas. Created and delivered change management communications regarding roles and responsibilities and implementation process changes and implications.
Analyzed a national account management function for a managed care unit and developed a detailed reengineering plan of process and technologies changes for improving account management effectiveness and increasing customer satisfaction.
Evaluated and redesigned the tools necessary to support the implementation processes, including project management software, a web-based "dashboard," and a risk assessment tool.
Designed organizational changes to better integrate the account management structure with provider services, member services, and network management.
Managed assessment and redesign of the operational processes for the 401K operations of a Fortune 50 insurance company.
Managed the evaluation of a variable staffing model pilot and developed a recommendation for the implementation and adoption of this model across the Client Care Services Organization.
Reengineered and implemented improved control and management processes and procedures, including risk management, change control, and issue management.
Managed a team of project managers responsible for implementation of health group products and services to Fortune 500 companies.
Participated as insurance subject matter expert (SME) in the development of a web strategy and web governance structure with responsibility included defining requirements and business objectives for an enterprise web portal and defining the consolidation process for the company's existing websites (over 125) reflecting the integration of various financial service entities and their products.
Reengineered an account management organizational design to be structured around customer needs, team member capabilities and required account management tasks.
Managed development of a claims process automation product that incorporated technically advanced workflow and business rules capabilities. Directed development process that started from the initial product vision and resulted in a market-ready product.
Managed requirements definition of custom design functionality for healthcare products. Work included assessment of current state operational processes and technical systems and identified gaps in target system technical functionality. Deliverables delivered on schedule.

Background
Mark received a Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude from University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts and a Master of Business Administration from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.

Judy Y.
Judy has over 20-years of experience with managing IT operations and implementing large scale IT implementations with associated reengineering elements. She possesses proven skills in business process reengineering, project management, Business Requirement definition, IT system conversions, quality assurance, and business process redesign. Her positions have required the ability to continually multi-task in a fast paced environment, organizing and managing multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously. Judy has demonstrated her ability to exercise independent judgment and creative problem solving techniques in highly challenging business environments. She has a proven track record in on-time and on-budget delivery. Average client satisfaction rating of 9.6 (out of 10).

Recent engagements included project leadership and hands-on work on the following projects:

Performed end-to-end process analysis involving four interrelated departments of a Fortune 20 Insurance Industry client. The work encompassed business process assessments, migration plan development and desired state implementation. Led an engagement team of seven and client team of nine over a 6-month timeframe.
Guided a Desired State project utilized to create and deliver new system and business process implementation enhancements. Work included development and analysis of functional requirements, evaluation of key rule engines and the implementation of accompanying business process changes.
Created business process and workflow documentation for management analysis regarding operational streamlining. Mapped current and future state environments. Also mapped system and user requirements and produced a gap analysis for implementation guidance.
Developed and implemented improved control and management procedures, including risk management, change control, and issue management policies regarding a Field Office consolidation project aimed at increasing automation.
Pioneered the effort to improve operating efficiencies between Corporate and Field operations in conjunction with material changes in Agency policies, compensation programs and a new product launch. The project also incorporated knowledge management system to improve communications and customer support.
Analyzed current process flows to define opportunities and create viable solutions to ineffective processes by simultaneously using top-down (Strategy-to-Operations) and Bottom-up (Operations-to-Strategy) approaches. The project was in response to key strategic growth initiatives to increase revenue while keeping cost structures in check.
Managed a team responsible for documenting system scenarios, identified roles and systems impacted, and helped to develop a change management/training plan.
Created and delivered change management communications regarding roles and responsibilities and implementation process changes and implications.
Created business process and workflow documentation, mapped current and future state environments, and created standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure successful implementation of a new insurance product launch.
Led a Performance Metric Assessment and corresponding desired state implementation on five operating groups for a large financial services firm. Work involved root cause analysis and cause and effect reviews to ensure that the performance measures became more effective for influencing staff behaviors.

Background
Judy received her Bachelor of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Management, concentrating in Information Systems and Marketing. She has also received several reengineering certifications and technical IT training program awards.

For more information about Performance Plus and how we can help you achieve your performance goals, call (732) 981-1200.