Kevin Harris Introduction

Greetings Group 1!

My name is Kevin Harris and I'm excited about my next academic adventure at Boston University! I live in Suwanee, GA with my beautiful wife, three awesome children (ages 15, 12, 5), and the cutest dog in the neighborhood :-) This course happens to be my 11th course in the MSPM program. I am so excited to be in a position to actually see the finish line with two classes remaining on my journey. I earned my Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Massachusetts where I majored in Finance and Operations Management. I am a Senior Project Manager at Fiserv Corporation. I manage strategic and tactical projects & programs in support of the Electronic Banking Division. We specialize in software development for online banking and electronic bill payment.

I'm looking forward to yet another educational opportunity to discover new knowledge, develop new skills, and discovery hidden abilities within myself.

Best of luck to everyone this semester! I'll talk to everyone on the discussion boards.

P.S. I will continue to incorporate additional content into my Blog throughout the week, however, in the BU spirit of posting discussions early and often, I wanted to get the ball rollin. Stay tuned for daily content updates.

K. Harris

The Harris Family

• This is my lovely wife Cheresse. This picture was taken in Las Vegas at the Top of the World Restaurant in the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino.

• This is my son, Kevin Jr. He's 15 year old...a sophomore in High School. His interests included football, track, and video games.
• This is my 12 year old daughter Kalynn. She's in the 6th grade and is the entertainer of the family. She loves to sing and write music. She's a natural born actress. And she also runs track and plays tennis.
• Kristen is my 5 year old daughter. She is a kindergarten student. As you can see, she's a girl scout and she loves to read!

• Last but certainly not least is the baby of the family. This is our 4 month old Maltese puppy, Kaylee. I was initially against bringing a dog into the home due to the costs associated with care, however, just look at how adorable she is! She captured my heart from day one! What a wonderful addition to the family. She is a real joy :)

I love my town!

As I mentioned in my Introduction Post. I live in Suwanee, GA. I moved here two years ago from New Jersey. Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The population was 8,725 at the 2000 Census. The City of Suwanee estimates in 2009 that approximately 16,600 people live within the City limits. Suwanee was the practicing home of the Atlanta Falcons football team from 1979 to 2001 and was voted among the Top 10 Best Places to Live by Money in 2007.

Check out the slideshow @ http://www.downtownsuwanee.com/ to get a feel for what life is like for me and my family in the Southeast region of the United States.

PMI Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

I am a certified PMP - Project Management Professional. I attained this global certification in December of 2008. I actually started the MSPM program here at Boston University in 2007 to prepare for the exam. So I am thankful to BU and specifically Professor Warburton, Professor Cormier, Professor Watson, and Professor Greiman for their efforts to prepare me for the PMP exam through the four core project management courses. This is one of my proudest professional accomplishments and after I graduate from this program, I plan to pursue the Program Management Professional Certification (PgMP).

If you would like more information about these profession designations check out the Project Management Institutes Website.

My Place of Business

I began working for CheckFree Corp. in their Investment Services Division as a Senior Business Analyst in 2004. In this role I defined functional requirements for web applications. After 1 year in this role I transitioned into a project management position.

CheckFree is an electronic payment processing company. Co. operates in three business segments: Electronic Commerce Division; Software Division; and Investment Services Division. Co.'s Electronic Commerce Division provides services that allow customers to review bank accounts as well as receive and pay bills. Co.'s Software Division provides software, maintenance, support and consulting services primarily to large global financial service providers and other companies across a range of industries, while its Investment Services Division provides a range of portfolio management services to financial institutions, including broker dealers, money managers and investment advisors.

On Dec. 3, 2007, Fiserv Corp. acquired CheckFree Corporation, for approximately $4,400,000,000. Fiserv provides integrated information management and electronic commerce systems and services. Co.'s Financial Institution Services segment provides account processing services, item processing services, loan origination and servicing products, cash management and consulting services, and other products and services for financial transactions. Co.'s Payments and Industry Products segment provides electronic bill payment and settlement, electronic funds transfer, and debit processing products and services, as well as card and print personalization services, Internet banking, investment account processing services, and fraud and risk management products and services.