(2023 - 2025)

Cloud Staff Engineer - High Availability and Disaster Recovery Architect at BHG Financial

Project: Enterprise Infrastructure Modernization
Business Objective: Upgrade the company's IT infrastructure for better scalability, availability, and security.
Accomplishments:

• Upgraded the company's main application platform that communicates with TransUnion and Equifax from a single VM platform to a High Availability (HA) pair platform, enabling full failover capabilities.
• Transitioned the main communication methods from deprecated VPN protocols to API-based communication, enhancing the reliability and security of PII data exchanges with TransUnion and Equifax.
• Actively maintain high-level architectural wikis and provide comprehensive training and documentation for users and support teams, ensuring consistent knowledge transfer and system understanding.
• Managed the migration of over 500 virtual machines to a hybrid cloud environment, integrating two physical VMware-based data centers with Azure East and Central, resulting in a 25% reduction in operational costs.
• Developed and implemented high availability and disaster recovery solutions using Dell PowerProtect, increasing system uptime to 99.5%.
• Led a team of 8 engineers to ensure a smooth transition with the deployment of Cisco ACI spine and leaf architecture, with minimal downtime.
• Mentored junior engineers and provided training on new technologies, fostering a culture of continuous learning within the team.

(2020 - 2023)

System Engineer at BHG Financial

Project: Security Hardening and Environment Monitoring
Business Objective: Improve system security and monitoring to protect infrastructure and enhance operational visibility.
Accomplishments:

• Deployed Tanium for endpoint management and threat detection, improving incident response times by 35% and reducing vulnerability exposure by 40%.
• Implemented LogicMonitor for real-time infrastructure monitoring, which increased system reliability and reduced downtime by 85%.
• Automated routine maintenance tasks, saving the IT team about 20 hours per week.

(2018 - 2020)

Network Engineer at BHG Financial

Project: Network Optimization and Security Enhancement
Business Objective: Enhance network performance and security across all company branches, enabling secure remote work for employees.
Accomplishments:

• Designed and implemented a Palo Alto multi-datacenter, multi-branch firewall solution with integrated VPN access, reducing unauthorized access attempts by 60% and ensuring secure remote work capabilities.
• Optimized network architecture, leading to a 35% increase in data transfer speeds and overall network efficiency.
• Conducted network audits and implemented remediation strategies, improving compliance with industry standards and best practices by 50%.

(2015 - 2018)

System Administrator at BHG Financial

Project: Data Center Consolidation
Business Objective: Consolidate multiple physical data centers to lower costs and improve efficiency.
Accomplishments:

• Successfully consolidated three physical data centers into two, significantly reducing the physical footprint and operational costs.
• Led the migration of over 800 TB of data to the new environment with no data loss and minimal downtime, ensuring a smooth transition and uninterrupted business operations.
• Implemented advanced virtualization technologies and efficient resource management, increasing system performance by 40% and reducing energy consumption by 30%.

(2012 - 2015)

Information Technology Manager at Culinary Concepts

• Supervised a team of 2 IT professionals in managing and maintaining the company's IT infrastructure.
• Assisted with troubleshooting and repair of IT infrastructure, contributing to increased efficiency and reliability.
• Participated in the architectural planning and implementation for end-user computer systems, printing solutions, and point-of-sale technologies.

(2011 - 2012)

Jr. System Administrator at Montana State University Billings

• Provided support for the university's IT systems, including network and server management.
• Automated routine helpdesk tasks, reducing manual workload by 25%.
• Assisted in migrating student and faculty data to a new server infrastructure.

Technical Skills

• Operating Systems: Windows Server, ESXi, Linux
• Networking: Cisco, Palo Alto, A10, Fortinet, Kemp
• Cloud Platforms: Azure, AWS
• Storage Systems: Pure Storage, Dell PowerStore, Cohesity, Dell PowerProtect
• Cybersecurity: Palo Alto, Tanium, Crowdstrike, Certificate Management, Encryption
• Databases: SQL, MySQL, Advantage
• Tools: Atlassian, Terraform, Git, Azure ARM, Tanium, Illumio, LogicMonitor, New Relic
• Programming Languages: PowerShell, Python, Terraform (HCL), JSON, SQL, HTML5, Java

Education

• Western Governors University | 2016: Bachelor of Computer Information Sciences and Support Services
• Montana State University Billings | 2012: Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc), Cisco Systems Networking LAN/WAN Management

Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate | Certification # KAF28A-5C4329 | 2024
• Administering Cisco UCS with Intersight | 2022
• Implementing Cisco DCACI Application Centric Infrastructure | 2022
• PCNSA - Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Administrator | 2019
• Cisco Networking Academy (CCNA Equivalent) | 2014

Professional Development

• Advanced Cybersecurity Training | Pluralsight | 2020-Present: Continuously completing advanced modules in threat detection, infrastructure security, and incident response to enhance defense against emerging cyber threats.
• ITIL Foundation Workshop | ITIL Global Knowledge | 2022: Attended an intensive two-day workshop on ITIL frameworks, gaining hands-on experience in IT service management, project management, service operation, and team collaboration.
• Microsoft Ignite | Microsoft | 2019: Participated in a Microsoft expo on cloud technology, gaining insights into the latest trends in cloud infrastructure, security, and service models.

References

Available upon request.