SUMMARY:

Highly skilled MCSE and MCTS - certified career Systems Engineer and Administrator with solid talent for delivering and deploying highly stable and cost-effective systems. Subject Matter Expert experienced in consultative client management and delivery of remote services to uphold Service Level Agreements while maintaining 99.9% availability. In-depth expertise in development of security protocols and disaster recovery plans with key focus on performance analysis and development of resolution strategies to drive ROI with rapid attainment of client and corporate objectives. Strong mentor, staff trainer, and project manager, who streamlines organizational processes and IT operations to deliver efficiency in chain-of-command and management of IT initiatives.

EXPERTISE IN:

Team Coordination & Leadership - SaaS - MS Exchange - Server/Network Infrastructure - Active Directory - Networking End-to-End Project Management - Requirement Gathering - Virtualization - Configuration/Deployment - Plan Development IT Security - Hosted Enterprise Solutions - Disaster Recovery - Client Management - Design/Architecture - Big Data Storage

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Operating Systems: Windows Server 2000-2012, XP-Windows 10, Linux RedHat Enterprise 4-6, CentOS 5&6, Ubuntu 8-14, Cisco iOS 11&12, SonicOS v4-5x, Juniper ScreenOS v4-5x

Software Packages: Exchange 2003-2010, WSUS 3.0, Symantec BackupExec 2010, Endpoint Protection, Office 2003-2013, Visio 2003-2007, Zenoss 4.2x, Nagios 8-10

Hardware: Dell PowerEdge, PowerVault MD 3xxx & DR4xxx, HP ProLiant Servers

Additional IT Skills: SaaS, Scripting via Bash, PowerShell, CLI, Visual Basic, Perl, JVM (Linux) troubleshooting

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Confidential, Kennesaw, GA

Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Provide IT services to fast-growing, acquisitive Breckenridge Insurance Group, a Property and Casualty Insurance Brokerage with offices throughout the Confidential IT software and operational requirements for 100-person staff in Home Office (with a Call Center), as well as a Disaster Recovery Center and 12 Field Offices.
• Provide integration support for new locations and businesses.
• Participate in planning and executing requirements during exponential growth period from 60 to 500 employees.
• Identify and resolve hardware and software issues for national and international support sites in China and India, utilizing VMware on Windows Servers (2003 - 2012 platforms with Windows 7 and 10); companies employ 350 to 400 input operators, working on Property & Casualty policy input.
• Recognized by CTO for critical role in stabilizing (for the first time) domestic and overseas servers and network environment, minimizing outages and increasing productivity since working with offshore services.
• Stabilize internal email system which had been plagued with numerous outages.

Confidential, Roswell, GA

Senior Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Implemented VMware High Availability Solutions and Storage Area Networks for Dell Computer reseller.
• Migrated existing virtual machines to new platform.
• Supported multiple clients remotely and on-site. Trained clients on features of ESXi 5.5 & 6.

Confidential, Roswell, GA

Senior Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Researched and resolved second- and third-level support incidents and problems.
• Led the planning, design and implementation of new virtualization and storage technology solutions.
• Implemented and maintain Zenoss installation for proactive monitoring of all systems.
• Served as Lead Engineer for VMware migration from 3 Data Centers (Canada, South Carolina & Oregon) to Atlanta, using Dell vRanger; planned and coordinated relocation of headquarters and available staff from Toronto to Atlanta.
• Integrated systems after purchase of competitor with 3 plants in U.S and Canada; managed IT needs remotely, generating estimated annual cost savings of $200K.
• Provisioned, built and maintained the server infrastructure services, including Active Directory, Exchange, Anti-virus servers, and Linux webservers running Apache-Tomcat, as well as the backup and storage infrastructure.
• Negotiated purchase of server array projected to cost $200K; actual cost was $60K.

Confidential, Alpharetta, GA

Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Provided full virtual end-to-end IT operational and administrative support to client portfolio of small to midsized US-based businesses, managing infrastructure to support as many as 4500 client end users.
• Provided collaborative influence and backup support to two additional Systems Engineers with client base of as many as 3,900 end-users internationally.
• Served as subject matter expert (SME) and key liaison, delivering remote technical leadership via virtual private network (VPN) and tracking metrics to assure timely and SLA-compliant completion of projects within budgetary constraints.
• Coordinated internal and external cross-functional teams to accomplish system administration and engineering objectives, including user management, installations, migrations, upgrades, Linux server management, and troubleshooting.
• Supported 8 organizations across Metro-Atlanta and more than 100 VM hosts, providing 24/7 on-call availability to rapidly address and resolve issues while maintaining 99.86% availability; collaborated extensively with client IT staff from C-level to help desk via telephone, email, webcast, and face-to-face contact.
• Provided full back-end support of all client infrastructure and technology, including physical and virtual Servers (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and GPOs), security, filtering, data backup and replication, VMWare, SANs and network components, restores, and disaster recovery in MS Exchange 2003 to 2010 and Hyper-V environments.
• Managed full lifecycle IT projects, developing cost-effective out-of-the-box solutions to meet client’s business requirements within tight financial constraints and maximize client ROI; conceptualized product configurations, document system requirements, and virtually managed deployments and installations.
• Independently managed migration of 100 end-users from stand-alone Windows 2003 to 2008 R2 domain, using Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) and served as lead engineer and technician.
• Replaced out-of-warranty hardware supporting Exchange 2003 and built new MS Exchange 2010 server, delivering seamless transition to new mail server; Completed project ahead of schedule, saving $5,400 in labor costs and 31%.
• Led complex off-site data warehousing project for numerous clients.
• Designed infrastructure in data center, including seeding and securing data and creation of debugging scripts to facilitate report development and monthly maintenance of client accounts.
• Delivered 192% increase in cost savings, replacing use of Symantec Continuous Protection Server (CPS) with open-source Linux-based rSync utility.
• Reduced key client’s off-site data storage from 6 locations to one, delivering more than $2,000 in cost savings.
• Maintained ERP systems and served as ERP Support Group liaison; designed and implemented backup technologies, using Symantec Backup Exec CPS, Rsync, and VMware Data Recovery.
• Provided mentorship to Associate Systems Engineers and participated in collaborative think tanks to resolve complex issues; co-developed new monitoring system using Zenoss to replace aging Nagios/Centreon installation.
• Monitored and managed servers, applications, and event logs, using Nagios and Centreon network monitoring software, EventSentry and GFI Events Manager.

Confidential, Ball Ground, GA

Ecommerce Private Auction Sales Specialist

Responsibilities:

• Secured, refurbished, and sold inventory of used merchandise through eBay and other online auctions, building sufficient profit margin to maximize ROI.
• Simultaneously provided system administration, PC desktop support, software and hardware upgrades, repairs, and IT consultation while preparing for Microsoft certifications.
• Maintained 98.7% positive feedback, maintaining tight 2-day shipping schedule for all orders and supporting excellent customer relations.
• Obtained MCSE 2003 Security and CompTIA Security+ certifications.

Confidential, Roswell, GA

Network Administrator

Responsibilities:

• Hired as contract consultant, leveraging extensive experience with windows-based engineering/administration and Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server.
• Managed full migration of data and backend systems from Windows fat to Citrix thin clients, promoted to LAN/WAN Administrator in 12 months and secured System Administrator role 4 months later.
• Managed Windows systems, architecting engineering solutions, managing WAN backup circuits, and directing expansion projects as key go-to resource and subject matter expert.
• Supported company though expansion from 12 to 26 branch locations with 370 end-users in 6 years; drove 55% cost reduction in application delivery through migration to Citrix computing.
• Virtually managed 75% of expansion, daily administration, and IT operations; accessed user accounts remotely and coordinated with ISPs and phone vendors to configure networks and circuits; managed installations onsite, as needed.
• Awarded with President’s Circle in 2001; nominated for President’s Circle in 2003.
• Increased mailbox capacity by 2400% from 20MB to 500MB per user.
• Led initial upgrade from MS Exchange 5.5 to 2000; coordinated 2nd upgrade from MS Exchange 2000 (20Gb RAID 1) to 2003 (180Gb RAID 5); reduced inbound spam by 95+% and significantly decreased virus attacks
• Managed 99% reduction in heat-related power failures and equipment damage.
• Increased efficiency and reduced escalations by 75%, training and mentoring tier 1 and tier 2 staff in management of basic helpdesk calls and IT concerns; developed scripts in Visual Basic to allow remote control of users’ client device and automated profile creation of basic user items at login for streamlined helpdesk and user experience.
• Identified and resolved security risks, system threats, and vulnerabilities; secured off-site storage; led other security initiatives, migrating desktops and servers from CA Inoculate-IT to Endpoint Protection..
• Designed, documented, and implemented disaster recovery strategy.
• Documented all helpdesk and admin policies and procedures, including user adds and changes, server backups, access control lists (ACLs), off-site media storage, and disaster recovery, to maintain Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance; supported audit processes, achieving nearly 100% compliance with minimal exceptions in 7 years.
• Prior experience included progressively more responsible positions as Systems Engineer and Administrator.