Tahir Zafar

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Security and Network System Engineer with over 10 years’ experience in design, implementation, and maintenance activities related to Windows and other network systems in all phases of system development life cycle.

Effectively analyzed, designed and implemented global enterprise products focusing on migration, virtualization and consolidation

Deployed multi-tier, client-server architecture that encompassed server, storage and other system solutions

Create and maintain documentation as it relates to systems design, systems configuration, testing and evaluation, and network configuration

Responded to server monitoring system alerts to evaluate and remedy identified problems.

Led and mentored teams to reach project goals within deadline and quality standards

Proven success enhancing existing systems with new features and performance improvements in:

Migrations/Upgrades to Microsoft Active Directory/Exchange

Virtualization and Consolidation including VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V Solutions

Operating System and Messaging Migrations

Pre-Sales Consulting and Engineering

Other Microsoft Server Systems including SQL, IIS, System Center/SMS/MOM

Design Architecture, Deployment, Troubleshooting and Problem Solving

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Application Support Lead Engineer/ Office 365 Engineer Jun 2015 – Sep 2015

NC4 – Contractor - St Louis MO

Developed and documented support strategies, troubleshooting guidelines, and escalation procedures, supporting enterprise computing.

Configured Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2 and VMware ESX

Provided ongoing support of both production and non-production systems.

Responsible for troubleshooting on Windows and Linux hardware and software server problems

Planed and managed all infrastructure maintenance activities as per the enterprise plan.

Tracked and monitors support queues and response times against client SLA’s

Responded to day-to-day business requests for research, troubleshooting, and support

Created and provided support process and workflow documentation / training to AHM employees

Followed and utilized standardized AHM requirements, tools, templates and SOPs

Applied in-depth knowledge of system capabilities and user requirements to identify opportunities for process improvement, monitoring, and automation

Granite Construction for Oxford Consulting –San Jose CA Mar 2015 – Jun 2015

Lync 2010/Office 365 Engineer/ Active Directory Architect/Messaging Architect

Managed DNS, DHCP, WINS, and our AD LDS environment.

Guided and assisted project and program managers in Project Server.

Configured Dell Power Edge servers, Cisco UCS servers and KVM switches

Assisted in continuation of the migration of all of Granite Construction sites to Azure

Implemented an internal PKI solution utilizing MS PKI technologies.

Lead the design, implementation and support of a highly available Domain Services environment.

Assessed, and reviewed future directory architecture solutions, 3rd party directory management tools/applications and implement life cycle maintenance processes.

Provided technical expertise for multiple Domain Services programs and projects.

Performed disaster recovery for the Domain Services environment.

Coordinate service/support needs with Vendors, Technical Support Engineers, Application Supported Engineers, and the Infrastructure Teams through effective partnership, collaboration and communication

Architected, supported, and troubleshoot production systems as required, optimizing performance and resolving production problems.

Performed timely resolution and updates in the Office 365 environment.

Research, identify, architect, and implement ways to move into new development paradigms such as Service Oriented Architecture to ensure a re-use strategy.

Assisted in post implementation continuous improvement efforts to enhance performance and provide increased functionality.

Perform root cause analysis on re-occurring problems and make recommendations to eliminate the issue.

Performed specification reviews and code reviews.

Configured, Deployed and installed Lync 2013

Monsanto - St Louis MO Mar 2014 – Nov 2014

Lync 2010/Office 365 Engineer/ Active Directory Architect/Messaging Architect

Configured, deployed and installed Lync 2010 for voice and video integration. Participated in the Unified Communications Program to integrate the best of breed UC products from Microsoft, Cisco, Tandberg and others to provide a comprehensive UC fabric for Company “s worldwide.

Designed, supported and maintained a complex enterprise level (32000+ user) Exchange 2010 environment including Exchange HA/DR and Backup and Recovery

Designed Office 365 environment for 32000 Customers. That included Exchange on line, Lync on line and other Office components.

Working with Microsoft to build Lync on line infrastructure / Exchange on line and Office 365 infrastructure for Monsanto

Modifying Lync 2010 Monsanto infrastructure for Office 365 deployments.

Configured, Deployed and installed existing SQL 2008

Configured, modified and improved existing Active Directory for Monsanto

Configured VM-ware and Hyper-V

Cynet for Merck & Co., Inc. Branchburg New Jersey Jun 2013 – Nov 2013

Active Directory Architect/Senior System Engineer

Managed all aspects of Active Directory (AD) systems, ie: install, configure, test, maintain and troubleshoot the AD and AD storage systems.

Integrated Application Servers like tomcat into AD

Designed, supported and maintained a complex enterprise level (132000+ user) Exchange 2010 environment including Exchange HA/DR and Backup and Recovery

Perform daily tasks to ensure the stability and optimization of the server environment, which includes proactively identifying potential system issues before they become a problem, working with 2s in deciding a resolution, and implementing the agreed upon resolutions.

Responsible for maintenance of the operating systems on all Corporate servers, end user support, monitoring system usage and performance, patching, management of backup and recovery of the operating system and third-party applications, file-system management, process automation, server installation/configuration, and third-party application support including installations and configurations

Configured AD technologies including DNS/DHCP/Group Policies, OU structure, Active Directory Federated Services, disaster recovery, trusts, replication and schema updates

Analyzed and resolved inter-domain Active Directory trust failures, troubleshooting widespread replication, Security and AD object errors.

Acted as Directory Architect within Active Directory 2008

Resolved internet architectural and operational problems impacting infrastructure and product availability and performance globally.

Researched and evaluated new technology for possible deployment in Client’s internet infrastructure.

Assumed lead and total accountability for ongoing regional projects as assigned; including responsibility for planning; time and cost control; resource utilization and implementation.

Supported Exchange 2007 environment for 120000 mailboxes at Merck

Lync 2013 Architect/ Active Directory Architect Apr 2013 – May 2013

Northern Trust Bank- Encore Systems at Chicago

Installed, deployed and configured Lync 2013 for 8000 users

Deployed CAC, Federation and Edge Servers roles

Deployed Desktop Sharing policy for Different OUs at the Bank

Built Lync 2010 Test Lab for The Bank

Designed, supported and maintained a complex enterprise level (82000+ user) Exchange 2010 environment including Exchange HA/DR and Backup and Recovery

Managed all aspects of Active Directory (AD) systems, i.e.: install, configure, test, maintain and troubleshoot the AD and AD storage systems

Configured AD technologies including DNS/DHCP/Group Policies, OU structure, Active Directory Federated Services, disaster recovery, trusts, replication and schema updates

Analyzed and resolved inter-domain Active Directory trust failures, troubleshooting widespread replication, Security and AD object errors

American Mercy Health of Companies - Philadelphia PA Nov 2012 – Mar 2013

Senior Exchange/Lync Architect

Installed, deployed and configured Lync 2013 for 150 pilot users.

Completed Domain migration for American Mercy Health for 600 users. Migrated their AD using Quest Migration software. Modified source and Target Domain resources as needed.

Supported Microsoft Exchange 2010 with in an Enterprise environment, Designed, supported and maintained a complex enterprise level (32000+ user) Exchange 2010 environment including Exchange HA/DR and Backup and Recovery

Analyzed and resolved inter-domain Active Directory trust failures, troubleshooting widespread replication, Security and AD object errors.

Corizon Health, St. Louis MO Jul 2012 – Sep 2012

System Administrator III

Deployed, Configured and installed Exchange 2010 including Unified Messaging. Provided consultation with design and implementation of the Microsoft Lync 2010.

Performed design evaluation, technical revision and configuration changes. Assisted with strategic design decisions and planning.

Participated in the Unified Communications Program to integrate the best of breed UC products from Microsoft, Cisco, Tandberg and others to provide a comprehensive UC fabric for Corizon Health worldwide

Participation in project activities to validate Microsoft’s implementation of ADFS in the SSO Production environment.

Participated in development of architectural strategy, including technology standardization and modernization

Configured VM 5 sphere servers. including ESX vSphere 5, v Cloud Director, v shield and v Center

Managed and reported on ESX vSphere 0perations.

Wipro Technologies at Honeywell - Tempe AZ Feb 2012 – Jul 2012

Unified Communications Engineer/ Active Directory architect/Solution Architect

Configured, deployed and installed Lync 2010 for voice and video integration. Participated in the Unified Communications Program to integrate the best of breed UC products from Microsoft, Cisco, Tandberg and others to provide a comprehensive UC fabric for Honeywell worldwide.

Performed design evaluation, technical revision and configuration changes. Assisted with strategic design decisions and planning.

Deployed, Configured and installed Exchange 2010 including Unified Messaging for 120000 Usersz.

Built the messaging competency center and ensure daily operations of the messaging infrastructure, in a 24x7 international environment

Deployed Xen Servers 6

Participated in development of architectural strategy, including technology standardization and modernization

Lead the messaging team, ensure proper interface with other functional groups to ensure continued relevance of the messaging and mobility solutions, support every aspects of the messaging environment, provide expertise in troubleshooting and identifying problems and support on-call persons with Level 2/3 expertise

Forest Labs St. Louis Missouri Nov 2010 – Mar 2012

Unified Communications Engineer/ Active Directory architect/Solution Architect

Maintained and managed a large-scale environment containing Citrix, Commerce Server 2007, multiple SQL 2005/2008 Clusters, Exchange, SharePoint, VMware

Strong experience with Exchange 2010 including Unified Messaging –Integrated with Lync 2010 with full Voice and Video.

Designed, Supported and maintained a complex enterprise level (17000+ user) Exchange 2010 environment including Exchange HA/DR and Backup and Recovery.

Installed, configured, administered, and supported: Enterprise Backup server software (HP Data Protector and Arc server Dell Server and Storage Hardware (MD3000/MD3200s) SAN and NAS including iscsi and Fiber.

Configured and installed SharePoint 2010.

Integrated role-based access controls with enhancements including single sign-on, end-user provisioning, and synchronization services with existing applications and systems. Worked with business users on documenting, building, testing and implementing clinical and financial system solution design decisions

Configured, deployed and installed Lync 2010 for voice and video integration.

Troubleshoot and design enterprise-wide group policy objects within a Microsoft Active Directory environment and SAP HR system

Translated business needs into technical architecture requirements.

Migrated from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. Designed Three Database availability groups. Configured IronPort for email.

Upgraded Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 to Citrix Presentation Server 4.5

Migrated from Group Wise to Exchange 2010. Maintained Group Wise servers. Created group wise mail boxes. Designed and implemented Quest GroupWise to Exchange migration tools.

Deployed VMware 3x and 4x as well as VMware View and thin client computing .Deployed Checkpoint, Cisco VPN and Cisco ASA firewalls.

Technical Environment: Exchange 2010 Servers, Active Directory, Cisco, Microsoft OCS 2007, Microsoft Communication Server, BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), Citrix, LAN/WAN, SAN, EMC Clarion, EMC Celerra, Netapp, IBM DS 8100.

Endo Pharmaceuticals - Chaddsford PA Mar 2010 – Sep 2010

Senior Exchange /Active Directory Engineer/San Engineer

Provided technical support, troubleshooting and complex problem resolution on escalated issues while monitoring and maintaining application environment stability.

Scaled Business Web Sites with Application Center

Troubleshoot issues in Citrix systems, including Presentation Server 4.5 and XenServer

Familiarity with Edge sight and other Citrix related monitoring tools

Understanding and ability to troubleshoot Citrix Web Interface and Citrix Secure Gateway functions

Produce clear and concise documents and diagrams capturing Citrix farm, networking topology, and overall layouts using MS Visio, MS Project, MS Excel and MS Word

Configured System Configuration Management Server. Configured, deployed and installed Quest In trust for auditing.

Used the ConfigureAdam.ps1 script in the Exchange Management Shell to modify the default configuration of the Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) directory service on the Edge Transport server.

Configured ADAM replication and configuration sets

Lead projects in support of Endo” messaging environment with some cross platform unified messaging design and support.

Configured CISCO IPCC Express 7.0 Express 7.0.Configutred CISCO UNITY Connection 7.x

Configured, Deployed and installed 2008 in a HA, 24 x 7 environment. Migrated EMC San to Nettapps

Enterprise-level experience in the design, build and management of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environments

Technical Environment: Exchange 2010 Servers, Active Directory, Cisco, Microsoft OCS 2007, Microsoft Communication Server, BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), Citrix, LAN/WAN, SAN, EMC Clarion, EMC Celerra, Netapp, IBM DS 8100

Northrop Grumman on Commonwealth of Virginia Migration Chesterfield VA Jun 2009 – Mar 2010

Active Directory Engineer/ Exchange Engineer

Configured, deployed and installed Exchange 2007 servers

Lead projects in support of Company’s messaging environment with some cross platform unified messaging design and support. Configured HP Data Protector

Migrated from Group Wise to Exchange 20070. Maintained Group Wise servers. Created group wise mail boxes. Designed and implemented Quest GroupWise to Exchange migration tools.

Administer intranet and internet portals using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007).

Designed secure, isolated XenApp 4.5/5.0 environment. Troubleshoot network issues that impact Citrix performance over LAN and WAN

Configured, deployed and performed day to day tasks of Blackberry Enterprise 5.0 server. Administrate Blackberry Enterprise Servers

Enterprise-level experience in the design, build and management of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environments

Configured Multi Domain

Used my own experience and strong understanding of TCP/IP, SMTP, and DNS to resolve tier 3 issues

Worked, consolidated and combined 85 different email systems into Exchange

Installed, configured and managed various versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Configured EMC SAN, NAS products

Configured, deployed and installed Networker, AVAMAR and Rainfinity products

Configured Quest software tool to migrate Users from Legacy domains (85 Domains) to Single centralized domain

Emory University - Atlanta, GA Jun 2007 – Feb 2009

Senior System Engineer

Used Power shell to Deploy Configure and test Exchange Servers

Implemented a virtualization platform of 50 Hyper-V–based virtual machines in a high-availability configuration on 7 servers, based on Windows Server 2008

Configured Multiple Cisco MDS 9500 class switches. Configured Switch to Switch FCIP

Continuously interfaced with internal business customers regarding the service delivery, support/operations, engineering and implementation of server monitoring, performance capacity, and hardware monitoring solutions (Tivoli, EQ, Info Vista, BMC Perform and Predict, Sun Management Center, IBM Director, HP Insight Manager, Dell Open Manage)

Led in the design, implementation, and maintenance of Unified Communications systems and services, including, but not limited to, Voice over IP Platforms, TDM, SIP services, automated call distribution, unified messaging, email, calendaring, conferencing, instant messaging, video, mobility and presence

Experienced in the migration of e Directory to Active Directory

Responsibilities included: planning, installing, configuring, supporting, and optimizing Exchange server 2003 and Exchange 2007systems, network connections and communication links

Assisted in all aspects of support, maintenance, and project based work of several Active Directory Domain and Exchange 2003 integration and migration.

Typical tasks ranged from troubleshooting issues across environments, developing processes for support of these interim environments, and participating on the migration and integration project teams

Project tasks included AD and Exchange design, discovery, testing of migration scenarios, and actual migration deployment tasks

Configured SANs including: EMC DMX, NAS, Centera, Cisco and Brocade SAN Switches

Configured, Deployed and Installed Exchange 2007 Servers. Routing Site Servers, Public Folder Servers, SMTP, Message Transfers

Configured Storage and Host multi-path applications

Completed at least 2 migrations from 2003 to 2007 in a clustered environment using Cluster Continuous Replication

Care First - Baltimore, MD Sep 2008 – Feb 2009

Senior Systems Engineer

As Exchange Architect responsible for Architectural Design, planning, documentation and project management of large scale (Enterprise 45,000+ node) migrations

Configured VLAN, Spanning Tree and campus networks; routing protocols including EIGRP and RIP IP, and also worked with Cisco PIX firewalls and VPN concentrators

Deployed Domain controllers, IIS servers and Certificate Servers

Updated Active Directory Structure

Created two additional Forests and Domains for company

Configured Office 2007 Communication server, defined functionality, and performed load and regression testing for validation of standard environments

Monitored and maintained all aspects of Windows Server 2003/2008 and Exchange 2003/2007 operations as they related specifically to the administration and support of the Exchange infrastructure. This included, but was not limited to: directory replication, fax gateways, Internet Mail Services and X400 Connector

Deployed Enterprise Vault 6 implementation and support experience

Configured San for Exchange 2007 deployment

Configured Storage area networks/enterprise storage devices (SAN, iSCSI, NAS)

Converted 500 Physical systems into virtual servers

Hilton Memphis, TN Jul 2007 – Aug 2008

Exchange Architect/ Network Engineer

Configured Exchange production and quality assurance environments in preparation for expansion and integration with other divisions of Hilton, including Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 servers

Deployed large VMware and Citrix Presentation Server 4 network

Responsible for architecture, deployment and support of Citrix applications

Designed, architected and provided L3 support of entire Checkpoint and Cisco firewall environment as well as for Content Management, RSA and ADT/Kantech access control security.

Work on Identity and Access Management including methodology and implementation

Hardened security on Oracle and SQL databases

Secured wireless 802.11x networks

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Harrisburg, PA Mar 2007 – Jul 2007

Security/ Network Engineer

Designed and managed large VMware networks including designing disaster recovery scenarios and strategies

Established network SLAs and developed performance reports

Performed troubleshooting on hardware, IPSec, LAN/WAN network and security issues

Recommended new vendors and carrier support including multi-layer LAN switching, WAN, Wireless LAN, telephone, content switching and network admission control

06/06 to 03/07

Hyundai-Kia of America Ann Arbor, MI Jun 2006 – Mar 2007

Security/ System Engineer/ Project Manager

Participated in the planning, building, upgrading and maintenance of Windows and Exchange architecture

Configured Exchange and Windows production infrastructure including planning, support and troubleshooting

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Education: Bachelor of Science, University OF Punjab Lahore 1984

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