AWS Certified

Certified for AWS Solutions Architect - Associate. Experience includes designing and implementing secure network environments, sizing and costing, managing user and firewall security, resizing instance types and volumes, setting up SSH tunnels and migrating systems to AWS.

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SAP Certified

Certifications include SAP OS/DB Migration and SAP Portal. Experience includes designing, sizing, building, patching, securing, connecting, optimising, migrating and troublehsooting different types of SAP systems at multiple clients.

SAP Technical Team Lead

Currently the Head of SAP Technical Services at Birchman. Previously, the SAP Technical Lead for many projects at Capgemini and Barclays Bank; I have managed teams spanning UK, USA and India.

SAP Technical Architect

Experienced in gathering customer requirements, mapping them to technical design, presenting the solution to the customer and then managing it to completion. Technical designs have included small and large-scale solutions, including system upgrades, service integrations and on-premise to cloud migrations.

SAP BASIS Administrator

SAP BASIS since 1999. Designed, implemented and supported a number of solutions, across multiple environments, for many globally recognised companies. Have worked in multiple highly secure locations. Client roles have included transition manager, migration to cloud, performance optimisation, security optimisation and emergency troubleshooting.

Website Development

Have created several personal and commercial websites. I enjoy working on the UI, UX and all the things you don't see behind the scenes (making sites that perform well, have good SEO and SEM, A/B testing, e-mail strategy, etc).

Since 1999, I have only worked for 4 companies (Barclays Bank, Deloitte, Capgemini and Birchman), but I have worked for many recognisable clients in roles and locations all over the UK, Johannesburg and remote support to companies in Belgium, Switzerland and the CIS.

In my current role as Head of SAP Technical Services, I manage the SAP BASIS and Network teams. I also do project management, transition management, technical architecture and presales.

In my spare time, I enjoy designing and developing websites (including Cornish Flora, Moorespeed, OKZest, RunSAPnow and SelfCrypto), cars, personal finance, photography, various sports and (with 2 young children) family events.

Paul Richardson

Paul Richardson

SAP Technical Architect

Work with Me

Birchman

January 2024 to present

Head of SAP Technical Services

Management of the SAP BASIS and Network teams, overseeing collaborative efforts and ensuring streamlined operations. Project managment, transition management and presales, building robust relationships with clients. Design and implementation of SAP infrastructure solutions, aligning them with business requirements and industry best practices.

Capgemini UK

October 2013 to December 2023

SAP Technical Architect, SAP Technical Lead, SAP BASIS

Responsible for the end to end design and delivery of the SAP Technical components in complex SAP projects. Involvement is from initial technical architecture design, build, test, deployment and hand over to operational run.

Deloitte LLP

October 2005 to September 2013

SAP BASIS Administrator

Administration, configuration and optimisation of Deloitte SAP environments.

Barclays Bank PLC

November 2004 to October 2005

SAP BASIS Administrator

Administration, configuration and optimisation of Barclays SAP environments.

Barclays Bank PLC

May 1999 to November 2004

SAP Infrastructure Team Lead

Introducing new SAP technologies, building new end-to-end systems and managing the operational integrity of the business systems solutions.

De Montfort University

1997 to 2001

BSc (Hons) Computer and Information Systems

The 3rd year of this sandwich course was at the SAP Centre, Barlays Bank PLC.

Bedford College

1995 - 1997

BTEC National Diploma in Computer Systems

A 2 year course covering all aspects of computer systems.

Bury Lawn School

1986 - 1995

9 GCSE's

Lots of interesting subjects, including Latin.

Confidential
May 2023 – Dcember 2023
SAP Technical Architect and BASIS Administrator. Creating technical design for a greenfield deployment. Building infrastructure and demo systems in Microsoft Azure
December 2022 – May 2023
SAP Technical Architect and AWS SME. Saved $30k/year in operational costs, created a cloud management strategy, set up system monitoring in AWS CloudWatch and Solution Manager, implemented an automated backup solution, configured SAP Web Dispatcher
July 2021 - December 2022
SAP Technical Architect and SAP BASIS Team Lead, upgraded SAP systems and migrated SAP systems to Azure. Installed the Experian SAP address verification application. Cutover manager for one of the trial technical migrations (manager was on holiday)
June 2020 - June 2021
SAP BASIS Administrator, project planning and performing SAP system upgrades. Proposed new SAP transport procedures (using Rev-Trac) to improve process efficiency
May 2020
SAP Technical Architect, bid for the upgrade of over 300 Oracle databases from 11/12 to 18c
February 2020 - June 2020
SAP Technical Architect, 1) Upgrade of Oracle 11g to 18c. 2) System review and project proposal for a load balanced HTTP solution
July 2019 - September 2019
SAP Technical Architect and SAP BASIS Team Lead, Migration of SAP systems from SAP HEC to AWS
January 2019 – January 2020
SAP Technical Architect and SAP BASIS Team Lead. Designed and implemented new SAP BPC and BODS systems. Migrated content from the existing systems. Provided cost savings, vendor-supported solutions and IT strategic compliance
October 2018 - December 2018
SAP Technical Architect and Team Lead. Deep technical dive into issues with the existing SAP BPC system and proposed that it be upgraded
September 2018 - October 2018
SAP Technical Architect, feasibility and dependency evaluation of SAP BOBJ and SAP BW upgrades
September 2018 - November 2018
SAP Technical Architect, design and planning of the migration of the on-premise SAP environment to Microsoft Azure
August 2018 - October 2018
SAP Technical Architect, design and planning of the upgrade of Windows, SQL Server and SAP BW, with migration to new VM's
July 2018 – September 2018
SAP Technical Architect, design and planning for the integration with SAP Concur into the existing NATS SAP landscape
July 2018 – October 2018
SAP Technical Architect, design and planning for the implementation of SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), Live Connection, SAP BW data source, into the existing NATS SAP landscape
July 2018
SAP Technical Architect, design and planning for a project proposal, to migrate SAP ECC5 AFS 5.00 on HEC to ECC6 AFS 6.06 on AWS
May 2018 - August 2018
SAP Technical Architect for migration from SAP PI 7.3 to SAP PO 7.5
April 2018
SAP BASIS Consultant. Reviewed and amended technical design for a bid
January 2018 – March 2018
SAP BASIS Consultant, used Transport Expresso to managed transports in a multi-track environment, configured Inline Conflict Analysis, developed new transport procedures, system refreshes
February 2017 – December 2017
SAP Technical Architect and SAP BASIS Team Lead. Migrating the existing SAP systems to a cloud based Virtustream environment
March 2017
SAP BASIS Technical Lead. Brought in to manage SAP BASIS teams in the UK and India, to resolve a high-profile live issue
November 2016 – December 2016
SAP BASIS Consultant. Supported the implementation and migration of existing SAP systems to an SAP HANA environment
June 2015 – September 2016
SAP BASIS Team Lead. Managed 13 staff across the UK, USA and India. Responsible for creating and optimising business processes and supporting BAU and project requirements across two data centres and a highly secure, air-gapped site
January 2015 – June 2015
SAP BASIS UK Team Lead. Responsible for implementing and going live on new SAP environments
December 2014 – January 2015
SAP BASIS Consultant. Upgraded several systems, for go-live readiness
December 2014
SAP BASIS Consultant. Reviewed the system for go-live suitability
November 2014
SAP Technical Architect. Created a technical architecture design and proposal for migrating the existing self-hosted SAP environment to a Microsoft Azure cloud-based environment
September 2014 – November 2014
SAP BASIS Consultant. Reviewed and made performance and reliability suggestions on the SAP systems and architecture
September 2014
SAP Technical Architect. Involved with technical architecture design for bid
August 2014 – September 2014
SAP BASIS Consultant. Rebuilt a Production Solution Manager system after the original became inoperable
June 2014 – August 2014
SAP Technical Architect. Researched the implementation of implementing and managing SAP systems on Amazon Web Services
December 2013 – June 2014
SAP Technical Architect and SAP BASIS Team Lead. Planned and implemented an extended system landscapes (new Pre-Production and Production systems), required for legal purposes
November 2013
SAP BASIS Consultant. Involved with technical architecture design for a bid