Introduction
Bilal Iqbal is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM). He holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering & Management from McMaster University. He is currently working towards his MBA from Schulich School of Business with double major in Strategic Management and Operations Management.
Bilal possesses a unique blend of technical and business skills owing to his vast work experience, formal education and professional certifications. He has been extensively involved in project management, process improvement and coaching activities over the past five years. He is well-versed in a wide variety of project and process management methodologies with experience leading Six Sigma, Rummler-Brache, Kaizen, Agile and non-Agile projects. His career portfolio includes successful delivery of various process improvement initiatives, software deployment projects and global beta programs for the leading smartphone manufacturer, Research In Motion.
Background
Bilal has been involved with computers for over 14 years. He started out with computers as a hobby and managed a DOS based community bulletin board service (BBS) back in late 90s. He then hosted his own Multiuser Object Oriented (MOO) system, text-based virtual reality chat rooms, over the internet. During this period, he worked on various platforms including DOS, Windows, and Linux. He also pursued several technical certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, CIW and CompTIA to enhance and broaden his knowledge of information technology. Bilal also held the Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) designation from 2001 to 2007 before giving it up to pursue other interests.
While pursuing his bachelors degree in engineering, Bilal realized the importance of strategically planning, managing and executing the activities both in the daily life and the professional settings. This further refined his goals and his focus shifted towards the management aspects in a technical environment. This also resulted in the move from pursuing a straight engineering degree to a combined engineering and management degree.
It was only in 2002 that Bilal attended a seminar hosted by one of the local Project Management Institute (PMI) chapters. This was an introductory seminar on project management which challenged the traditional view of project management as being applicable only in the construction industry. Upon further exploration, Bilal realized the true potential of project management and aggressively pursued further learning in this field. Since then, he has attended numerous trainings and gained experience in the project management field through various work terms. Bilal has also shown great interest in the Agile Project Management and worked closely with the Scrum methodology in the past several years.
Over the last couple of years, Bilal has gravitated towards leading process improvement initiatives due to his keen interest in maximizing efficiencies within the organization by eliminating overhead activities and minimizing operation costs. During this period, Bilal acquired skills and experience in Six Sigma, Rummler-Brache and Kaizen methodologies to compliment his project management background.
Bilal currently holds the following professional certifications:
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Current Certification
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Area
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Certification
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Certifying Authority
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| Project Management | Project Management Professional (PMP) | Project Management Institute |
| Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) | Scrum Alliance | |
| Training | CIW Certified Instructor (CIW CI) | CIW |
| System Administration and Computer Networks | Microsoft Certified System Engineer + Internet (MCSE + I) | Microsoft |
| Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) | Microsoft | |
| Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA 1.0) | Cisco | |
| Entry Level Computer Service (A+) | CompTIA | |
| Network Support and Administration (Network+) | CompTIA | |
| Internet and Online Technologies (i-Net+) | CompTIA | |
| Linux Operating Systems (Linux+) | CompTIA | |
| Master CIW Administrator (M CIW A) | CIW | |
| Computer and Network Security | Master CIW Security Analyst (CIW SA) | CIW |
| Databases | Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) | Microsoft |
| Web Development | Master CIW Designer (M CIW D) | CIW |
Future Plans
Bilal is a strong believer in having a vision of where one wants to go and a plan to get there. He has always stood by this ideology and continually re-calibrated his plans to achieve his goals. Consequently, he had many successes and a few failures along the way. Some of the long-term goals for Bilal are listed below:
Professional
- Pursue training and coaching opportunities in project management and process improvement
- Seek a leadership role in a fast-paced, challenging organization that offers mentoring and learning opportunities
Academic
- Obtain a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree with specialization in Strategic Management and Operations Management – Expected Completion: Apr 2012
- Obtain a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSBB) certification – Expected Completion: Dec 2011
