James Slusser

Results-driven Business / Systems Analyst / System Administrator with experience supporting insurance operations, enterprise document management, and mission-critical policy/claims systems. Known for bridging business and technical teams, optimizing processes, and leading full lifecycle enhancements that improve efficiency, compliance, and system reliability. Adept at requirements analysis, integration, system upgrades, and enterprise-scale support across underwriting, claims, and operations.

Skilled in development of business requirement documentation, testing and support of complex business software. Expert in ImageRight, Sitefinity, Windows Server environments, workflow automation, and cross-functional solution delivery.

Sr. Systems Administrator at Great American Insurance (2014-03 – 2026-04)

Senior System Administrator with extensive experience managing and optimizing multi-tier Windows Server environments supporting enterprise insurance applications and large-scale document management platforms.

• Managed and enhanced three multi-tier Windows Server environments supporting enterprise insurance applications and ImageRight, ensuring stable performance for over 200 daily users.
• Strengthened security posture by applying regular patch cycles, configuration hardening, and remediating vulnerabilities surfaced through Qualys audits, reducing exposure across all environments.
• Developed and deployed PowerShell and VBScript automation that eliminated repetitive maintenance tasks and improved operational consistency across environments.
• Planned and executed major system migrations and version upgrades with near-zero downtime through detailed test planning, rollback strategies, and cross-team coordination.
• Collaborated with underwriting, claims, and IT teams to integrate new technologies and enhance system usability.
• Increased system reliability by implementing proactive monitoring, performance tuning, and rapid incident response, reducing unplanned outages; system uptime was over 98%.
• Authored detailed architecture diagrams, SOPs, and disaster recovery documentation used across IT, audit, and compliance teams. Used in annual disaster recovery events and high availability testing. Which resulted in successful restoration of environments during events.
• Supported M&A integrations by importing and validating large-scale document sets from external partners into ImageRight. One project included importing over 64 million pages, increasing storage size by 10 TB.
• Evaluated software and hardware solutions to create and manipulate documents for compatibility, performance, and cost effectiveness.

Lead Business Analyst at Great American Insurance (2011-03 – 2014-03)

Lead Business Analyst responsible for driving enterprise-level business analysis initiatives across underwriting, claims, and operations. Translates complex business needs into clear technical requirements and oversees the full lifecycle of enhancements to core systems, including the ImageRight document management platform.

• Led enterprise business analysis initiatives across underwriting, claims, and operations, translating complex business needs into actionable technical requirements.
• Directed comprehensive enhancements to the ImageRight document management platform, boosting routing accuracy, minimizing manual rework, and enhancing processing efficiency across 23 workflows.
• Facilitated requirements workshops, stakeholder interviews, and cross-departmental planning sessions to align priorities and accelerate delivery.
• Produced BRDs, FRDs, user stories, process maps, and acceptance criteria used by development, QA, and infrastructure teams.
• Oversaw backlog grooming, sprint planning, and UAT cycles for multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Conducted gap analyses, workflow mapping, and root-cause investigations to identify inefficiencies and recommend improvements.
• Collaborated with system administrators, developers, and QA teams to validate solutions during high availability testing and disaster recovery testing ensuring successful deployment and application functionality testing.
• Managed vendor relationships and evaluated third-party solutions for compatibility and cost effectiveness.
• Mentored junior analysts and served as an escalation point for complex requirements and stakeholder alignment.

Business Analyst at Great American Insurance

System Analyst; Application Analyst; Programmer Analyst; Programmer Trainee at RLI Insurance

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Millikin University

Certificate in COBOL Programmers – Illinois Central College