SUMMARY:

• 13+ years experience as an IT professional.
• Extensive familiarity administering and maintaining everything from 100+ domain controller global infrastructures to small - business LANs. Intimate experience with planning, configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting hardware and virtualized environments together and separately.
• Network+, working toward the new Confidential Certified Solutions Expert.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to adapt to any environment and work with minimal supervision when necessary.
• Enthusiastic and energetic attitude toward tackling challenges head-on and turning them into learning experiences.
• Client-focused approach no matter the position or problem being solved.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Software Confidential: All version of Windows through Server 2012 R2, all versions of Office including 2013, Active Directory and Group Policy, PowerShell, Azure Active Directory, Office 365, LDAP, Single sign-on (SSO) via AD FS 2.0, SQL Server, DirSync and Forefront Identity Manager (FIM), Remote Server Administration Tools, all versions of Exchange Server, Lync 2010/2013, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), WSUS, Systems Management Server, Terminal Server.

Other: TCP/IP and Netware, BMC Remedy, VMWare vCenter, vSphere, and ESX/ESXi, EMC Unisphere, NetApp, HP Openview/iLO, various proprietary web-based applications, Citrix XenDesktop, Symantec BackupExec, Solarwinds, Ghost/GhostCast Server, Blackberry Enterprise Server, Dameware, Telnet, PuTTY.

Hardware: Dell, HP, and IBM servers, EMC Clariion SAN Arrays, assorted NetApp hardware, Dell NAS backup vaults, Cisco and HP routers/switches, F5 Load Balancers, Fluke network testing tools, Blackberry, Android and iOS smartphones.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Confidential

Office 365 Ambassador

Responsibilities:

• Handled issues throughout the entire range of Office 365 and Confidential Online products, including Exchange Online and Azure Active Directory.
• Utilized a proprietary ticketing system to keep detailed case notes and contact information, and to update users as necessary while limiting their exposure to internal methods of contact as per Confidential regulations.
• Worked out kinks in numerous Exchange migration projects leveraging hybrid setups as well as IMAP and staged migration techniques.
• Walked users through DNS changes as necessary to forward mail, migrate mailboxes, and verify domain ownership, and troubleshot related DNS issues, often related to MX or SPF records.
• Flourished within a team-focused environment specifically elevating the values of communication and shared troubleshooting knowledge.
• Kept up to date with the latest pre-release updates and product versions through in-house training as well as Confidential Virtual Academy courses.

Confidential

Systems Administrator, Crystal Lake, IL

Responsibilities:

• Served as the sole North American member of a global team dedicated to the health of ~65 virtualized domain controllers and over 100 member servers, hosting everything from DirSync, to in-house proprietary SAP web applications, to forest-wide DNS and Exchange servers.
• Took care of scheduled and individually-needed maintenance on domain controllers and Exchange servers on a daily basis or as needed.
• Kept up to date on daily/weekly project statuses via video conference, Lync, and e-mail with my European counterparts and technical manager.
• Spearheaded a last-minute operation with a VAR to migrate ~4800 users into Azure AD for use in Office 365 in order to secure $160,000 of free services.
• Headed up the AD/domain controller aspects of a weekend-long project virtualizing 50+ production SAP hosts with high executive visibility.
• Remotely assisted with changing over our full contingent of DCs and checking their health amidst a forklift move from one datacenter to another.

Confidential

Network Analyst, Abbott Park, IL

Responsibilities:

• Monitored and managed 100+ domain controllers globally for issues with AD replication, DNS propagation, and DHCP scopes.
• Interfaced directly with development teams and project managers to issue guidance in the use of our multi-forest LDAP authentication in their bespoke applications being developed.
• Kept watch over MIIS/Forefront Identity Manager servers to ensure maximum uptime of global, high visibility and mission critical web-based applications. Was entrusted with 24/7 manipulation of any and all services and databases to solve issues as they encountered. Re-created entire VMs utilizing Avamar backups in critical situations.
• Ferreted out discrepancies in user’s EIDM profiles utilizing everything from ADSIEdit to custom PowerShell scripts and manual editing of MAs/user object connectors in FIM.
• Worked alongside federation, messaging, and network teams to integrate Lync through existing Exchange infrastructure.
• Added and modified Exchange server roles as needed to achieve the necessary traffic routing and load balancing.

Confidential

Network Administrator, Lake Zurich, IL

Responsibilities:

• Managed 25+ virtual servers running the company's entire IT software infrastructure. Decommissioned antiquated servers and re-allocated limited resources to prioritize highly used SQL servers and, hardware-wise, the ESX hosts.
• Collaborated with other staff to maximize performance for mission-critical ERP and proprietary data warehousing applications.
• Optimized Insight’s backup solution through Backup Exec in a robotic tape library and sent tapes to Iron Mountain in accordance with our backup schedule.
• Diagnosed and remedied issues ranging from localized hardware failures to those with enterprise-wide impacts such as Exchange and production ERP server outages.
• Redesigned and reorganized the Active Directory infrastructure to allow for more efficient management of user and computer objects as needed, as well as more streamlined and accurate application of Group Policy.

Confidential

On-site Server Engineer; Desktop Support, Vernon Hills and Chicago, IL

Responsibilities:

• Managed Exchange 2010 server maintenance and upkeep, alongside policing user mailbox and Online Archive size limitations.
• Designed, suggested and tailored Group Policy modifications for added efficiency, automation, and security.
• Traveled to Israel for three weeks of on-site, in-depth training on proprietary server-based technology and hardware.

Confidential

Security Help Desk Team Lead, Hines, IL

Responsibilities:

• Utilized remote connections, Solarwinds, Cisco ACS, and in-house proprietary software for delving into significant-impact VPN, Confidential Server 2003/2008, and network issues.
• Troubleshot connectivity and configuration issues with the VA's Rescue VPN client for upper management and C-level employees across an extremely varied install base.

Confidential

Network Administrator/Desktop and Phone Support, Glendale Heights, IL

Responsibilities:

• Utilized numerous Confidential and 3 rd party tools to oversee, modify, create and test settings and Group Policies existing in a number of existing IT infrastructures.
• Planned for and guided large-scale hardware updates, smartphone rollouts, and software/patch pushes through System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
• Analyzed overall performance trends and metrics via Solarwinds IPMonitor and performed server hardware upgrades as needed to improve operating efficiency.

Confidential

Senior Support Engineer, Buffalo Grove, IL

Responsibilities:

• Employed VMWare Infrastructure Client ( Confidential ) to narrow down root causes of new or recurring issues with Confidential products in corporate customer environments.
• Created documentation in the Confidential Salesforce.com portal (utilized as incident management) pertaining to new problems, and updated existing documentation and procedures. Consistently followed up on solved cases for continuity and converted cases to bug reports when necessary.
• Maintained regular contact with customer corporations during cases requiring longer-term support and kept tabs on 10-20 ongoing cases at any given time.

Confidential

Network Administrator, Buffalo Grove/Schaumburg, IL

Responsibilities:

• Traveled to Canadian headquarters to collaborate with management and corporate IT in order to test and evaluate a comprehensive plan for a complete office move and technology revamp.
• Provided valuable input to the design of a ground-up Active Directory forest and its trust with an incumbent remote forest.
• Successfully upgraded and transplanted a Windows 2000, Netware, and Domino infrastructure in Buffalo Grove to Windows Server 2003, TCP/IP, Active Directory, and Exchange in Schaumburg.
• Situated the software and logical hosts of the aforementioned infrastructure to a brand new standalone server and network backbone as well.