Meet Our Faculty & Staff

Al Santos

Director of Information Technology
Assistant Professor of Theology, New Testament, and Church History

Overview

Information Technology leader with over 25 years’ experience in strategic planning, architecture, application development, and solutions delivery specializing in transformational initiatives. Over 20 Years of management experience building, mentoring, and motivating highly effective teams. Well versed in multiple technology domains with 15+ years systems architecture of enterprise applications and 8+ years in software development and application integration delivering complex mission critical systems from concept to completion.  Hands on problem solver with demonstrated ability to forge collaborative working relationships with customers, peers, and senior management. Exhibit proficiency in:

• Enterprise Architecture
• Software Development (SDLC)
• Project Management
• Information Security
• SAFe Agile
• Governance and Compliance
• Process Analysis & Re-Engineering
• Technology Assessments
• Systems Integration
• Vendor Management
• IT Transformation

Career Highlights

• Established Enterprise Architecture programs and instituted architecture governance processes that promote high quality systems and leverage IT investments.
• Successfully implemented several end-to-end strategic solutions for various business processes (eCommerce, Operations, Billing & Finance, Customer Service, Sales/Marketing, Underwriting/Actuarial, and Compliance).
• Designed and implemented high-volume transactional claim system (42 million Claims/Year, 150,000/day), enrollment processing (33+ million Members), and provider systems as part of a multi-year IT modernization program.
• Designed and developed reusable web services minimizing development cost/time by 40%-50%.
• Created technical libraries of reference architecture, application guidelines, communication models, solution diagrams and infrastructure diagrams for designing and developing applications.
• Implemented and chaired architecture review boards to ensure technology investments aligns with business objectives and mission.
• Developed scalable Web and mobile applications to support 33 million Members and Providers.
• Defined a long-term security architecture roadmap involving Identity Management and Web Access Management that addressed application and infrastructure vulnerabilities.
• Trusted technology advisor and excellent communicator that successfully bridge different parts of the business and IT to achieve desired results.
• Led transformational planning and strategy of legacy Enterprise Data Warehouse.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

FedEx Services (Collierville, TN)          2015 – Present

IT Manager, Application Architecture (2018 – Present)

Responsible for delivering Enterprise Architecture direction and design for the Platinum Core (Enterprise Foundational Services and Enterprise Business Services) as well as champion Enterprise Architecture and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) practice in FedEx.

• Provide Conceptual Architecture Specification and roadmap to Product, Location, and Geopolitical EFS and assist in the retirement of LSSI.
• Provided enterprise application architecture for Solid Core of Shipment EFS and give final decision of solutions architecture as it is in keeping with the Enterprise direction.
• Review and assess Address EFS to make sure architecture is aligned with the Renewal tenets and provide architectural recommendations that ensure strategic solution supports Enterprise Architecture principles and guidelines.

 IT Manager, EDW Planning and Strategy (2016 – 2018)

Responsible for planning and strategy of Data Analytics and Warehousing (DAW). This involves management of analytics demand and technology assessments. Other responsibilities include financial analysis, project estimation, customer engagement, and vendor management.

• Established and implemented the Analytics Architecture Review Council (AARC) to assess and prioritize incoming demand to ensure the right data is in the right place in the Analytics Ecosystem.
• Led Enterprise Data Warehouse transformation initiative from a source-based to subject-based system as part of the Shipment EFS program.
• Completed HR PRISM retirement of employee data in EDW and implement Workday.
• Re-architected Dynamic Profile application to meet Sales application (Enterprise Pricing and Revenue System) of subsecond response times.
• Successfully delivered critical executive service quality index reporting dashboards (ESQI), DRIVE/ECD initiatives, and Shipment EFS project deliverables to support IT Modernization.
• Implemented integration of FedEx and TNT customer information to support Sales/Solutions team, Marketing, Finance, and Operations teams.

Technology Advisor (2015 – 2016)

Responsible for Enterprise Architecture guidance, strategic planning, and lead IT Modernization and Technology Renewal initiatives.  Collaborate with business and IT stakeholders for development and delivery of enterprise solutions.

• Designed and led effort of international clearance systems integration with Enterprise Shipment System.
• Give guidance on system migration and transition of legacy applications to complex event driven systems.
• Provide oversight for address management system adoption and integration with other enterprise systems.
• Evaluate and assess industry trends, emerging technologies, platforms, products, and methodologies for recommendation and implementation.

 Delta Dental Insurance Company (San Francisco, CA)          2005 – 2015

Director of Application Development (2012 – 2015)

Responsible for development of e-business applications for Web, mobile, and IVR as well as business-to-business (B2B) applications for the Enterprise.  Develop the annual budget, strategic roadmap, and evaluate new technologies.

• Developed mobile application providing customers access to benefits, claims, dentist directory, ID Card, and account information for various mobile platforms (iOS, Android, and Windows).
• Evaluated and implemented the BPM platform (Pega) that decreased end-to-end process for on-boarding dentists from 45 days to 5 days or less.
• Designed and developed a self-service Web portal to submit real-time claims, view/download patient roster, direct deposit enrollment, and eligibility & claims inquiry that significantly decreased calls to the contact center by 20%-30%.
• Re-engineered a Web application used by internal and external customers for real-time customer enrollment.
• Developed and implemented HIPAA 5010 end-to-end solution for 837/835 and CORE HIPAA Operating Rules for real-time 270/271 and 276/277 transactions.
• Implemented first phase of an IVR Replacement project on the Nuance platform and deflected calls to agents by 10% for Health Care Reform.

Director of Enterprise Architecture (2008 – 2012)

Responsible for creating and leading the Enterprise Architecture (EA) program across Delta Dental. Direct, assess, and oversee application and technology implementations in multiple domains in the Enterprise (e.g., application, infrastructure, security, information, etc.) and make recommendations to executive management.

• Established the EA program at Delta Dental and built a team of 9 strong cross functional architects, governance processes, and EA artifacts that have become a critical mechanism for facilitating change in the organization.
• Defined security architecture for Web and mobile access management, policy enforcement, and identity management using CA SiteMinder and Oracle.
• Led design, development, and implementation of B2B gateway platform (Edifecs) for high-volume electronic data integration (EDI) transactions.
• Implemented application, security, data, and infrastructure standards and guidelines that have become significant references for application development.
• Implemented SOA framework of reusable services for Web, IVR, and B2B saving $1.5M+ in development cost.
• Implemented various vendor and custom developed applications for an Individual Retail Dental insurance in 6-9 months involving Sales/Marketing, Enrollment, Claims, Operations, Legal, and Finance.
• Defined and led the system performance management program to include tuning of applications, databases, and infrastructure to meet service level objectives.
• Led selection and implementation of SaaS marketing solution (Marketo) for campaign management, demand generation, and social marketing.

Manager of Enterprise Architecture (2005 – 2008)

Responsible for architecting systems and solutions for the legacy migration program to replace 25+ year mainframe and client server systems. Initiate and perform process re-engineering business processes ranging from claims, eligibility, benefits, and provider processing.

• Oversee design, development, and implementation of a major company initiative to implement retail dental insurance for individuals involving cross-departmental participation (Marketing, Enrollment, Billing, Claims, Providers, Underwriting, etc.) utilizing packaged solutions and custom developed applications.
• Developed a 3–year strategic plan for Web Access Management to secure internal and external Web applications.
• Led development and Implementation of Federated Single Sign-On solution using PingFederate to integrate with third-party administrators.

 DeltaNet (San Francisco, CA)           2000 – 2005

Senior Systems Architect

• Selected strategic software and middleware platform for application development.
• Successfully facilitated team collaboration and bridged communication between Systems Development and Operations for tighter coordination of infrastructure provisioning and minimize infrastructure redundancy.
• Created a consolidated infrastructure architecture leveraging virtualization to drastically minimize server footprint by 60% and save on hardware and energy costs.
• Participated and guided multiple project architectures to leverage reusability of application and infrastructure that has significant cost savings.
• Conducted performance tuning of Enterprise Applications that lead to improved application performance between 40%-60% of critical business applications.
• Implemented database replication strategy of OLTP and Replicated Standby Database to ensure scalability and high availability above 99.95%.

 Computer Sciences Corporation (Edwards AFB, CA)          1990 – 2000

Senior Manager of Systems Engineering

Responsible for providing engineering services and technical support to 1500 – 2000 customers in the Flight Test organization at Edwards AFB, CA. This includes management of desktop support, applications, networks, and server administration.

• Managed a team of 15 application developers, system engineers, database administrators, and desktop engineers.
• Improved customer satisfaction and user productivity by maintaining 99.5% high-availability of mission critical systems.
• Provided automation of desktop administration and application deployment that has saved thousands of man-hours of implementation.
• Lead the effort in the successful migration of server and messaging systems from Novell to Microsoft.
• Implemented remote desktop administration that saved significant help desk administration costs.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE (EDWARDS AFB, CA)          1986 – 1990

Reprographics Specialist (SSgt)

• Held Top Secret clearance for handling classified information.
• Transformed flight-engineering data to various digital mediums.
• Operated a wide range of reprographic equipment from offset printing presses, bindery, photolithography, and high-volume photocopiers.
• Performed office management and supply inventory.

EDUCATION

• Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary – MDiv in Christian Education
• Bellevue University, NE – BS in Business Information Systems
• Defense Mapping School, VA – Reprographics

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI)
• Enterprise Architecture Network