DEREK A. BENSON Charlottesville, VA ***** 540-***-**** *************@*****.***
CUSTOMER-SERVICE DRIVEN IT PROFESSIONAL
Networking & System Security Management – Cisco Routing & Switching– Technical Support, Service Delivery and Customer Service 10+Yrs
TECHNICAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Experience working in a help desk environment that utilizes ticketing and alert systems
Experience with Microsoft Server and Exchange Server 2000 to 2016
Working knowledge of Office 365
Installed, configured, and upgraded Microsoft Windows 7 /10
Installed and supported business applications on client PCs (Office Suite, QuickBooks, Sage/Peachtree, AllScripts, etc)
Hands-on experience with Cisco, Meraki, and SonicWALL routers, switches, and wireless access points
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Windows 7/10, Server 2000/2003/2007/2012, 2016, including Small Business Server
Microsoft Office 2010/2013/2016
Microsoft Office 365 (management, onboarding, setup)
Working knowledge of Quest Migration Manager (all versions) for inter-exchange migrations
Experience with Microsoft Native Moves
Microsoft on-premise Exchange Server 2000/2003/2007/2010
Experience with Symantec Backup Exec, Datto NAS and cloud backup, ImageCraft NAS and cloud backups
Active Directory implementation and administration
Ticketing/monitoring systems (Nimsoft, EM7, RightNow, NAble, and Connectiwse products)
Cisco Routers/Switches (IOS 15.0+)
SonicWALL routers (deployment and management)
Meraki network hardware, including routers, WAPS, and switches (deployment and management)
General hardware troubleshooting
WAP deployment
LAN Networking (engineering, implementation, troubleshooting)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
NWG Solutions Charlottesville, VA 2017 – Present
A managed services provider operating within the Charlottesville and central Virginia region, providing ground-up technology solutions and support for small to medium sized businesses.
Systems Engineer, 2017 – Present
Hired to work in a fast-paced environment supporting hundreds of clients in the form of real-time monitoring, break-fix response, regular maintenance, client education, and project work.
Member of a team providing 24/7 support and monitoring of client technology using internal solutions to meet not only SLA agreements but proactively respond to potential issues.
oProvided desktop, server, network, and infrastructure implementation and support.
Performed project work, including new server builds, network deployments, and decommissions.
Performed regular monthly maintenance to maintain network/server/desktop security and stability.
Conducted research of technology and solutions to meet client business needs as needed.
Conducted security audits of client infrastructure
Worked on-call rotation to provide around-the-clock availability for clients and to respond to critical issues.
ATOS Bristow, VA 2016 – 2017
A global managed services provider with an annual revenue of $300B+, specializing in cloud and financial solutions, infrastructure management, security, and more.
Datacenter Technician I, 2016 – 2017
Hired on to work within a highly-secure datacenter supporting exclusively Microsoft cloud assets (Azure, Office 365, Hotmail, Skype for Business, etc.)
Part of a team providing 24/7/365 support of Microsoft assets maintaining a >99.9% uptime to clients globally.
Performed break/fix tasks daily, replacing HDDs/controllers, fans, memory, PSUs, motherboards, etc. and HP iLO configuration.
Worked deployments and decommissions (“rack and stack”) as required, including chassis assembly,
racking of servers/blades/JBODs, dropping/tracing/tearing down cables (CAT5e/6, AOC/fiber, power), thoroughly documenting changes, and maintaining all project deadlines.
DEREK A. BENSON Charlottesville, VA 22901 540-***-**** *************@*****.***
APPTIX, INC. Herndon, VA 2009 – 2015
A managed services provider offering enterprise-level Exchange and other collaboration services with $40M+ in annual revenues
Migration Engineer, 2009 – 2015
Advanced rapidly to increasing levels of responsibility. Promoted to support the onboarding, migration planning, source and target environment setup (Microsoft Active Directory, Exchange, Quest Migration Manager), mailbox cutover and escalations.
Chosen to be part of a newly formed, dedicated 5-member Migration Team charged with delivering faster and more accurate onboarding and improved customer service:
oMigrated >500,000 mailboxes in 5 years as a key member of the team, utilizing various methods, including Exchange Native Moves and Quest Migration Manager.
oPlayed a key role in driving revenue opportunities for the company, working extra hours if and when needed to complete migrations on or before schedule.
oServed as the only nighttime resource for the team. Executed migration activities on cutover night to ensure mailboxes 100% ready. Became proficient in performing any Quest, Cloud or Native move migration activity.
oFollowed company procedures flawlessly to ensure successful and timely migrations. Proactively read emails and prepared for shifts to ensure migrations started and were completed on time.
Met aggressive timelines to onboard and migrate >300,000 mailboxes from the company’s data centers in Florida, New York, and Sterling, VA to the Austin, TX data center as part of a large-scale consolidation.
oConsolidation saved the company an estimated $1.2M annually and significantly eased user management.
Gained invaluable savings in time by streamlining future onboarding and migration activities for the team. Tapped to lead this effort based on rigorous attention to detail, organization and strong writing/communication skills.
oDocumented migration processes, made recommendations for improvement, and compiled new processes to an Intranet knowledge base and into How-To guides, now used as best practice when encountering errors.
oEnabled the team to meet future needs and migration deadlines. Helped cross-train team members/new hires in the use of migration protocol and software, providing much-needed flexibility to delegate tasks across the organization.
Systems Operations Center (SOC) Technician, 2008 - 2009 Help Desk Technician, 2007 – 2008
Hired to work in a call center supporting clients' daily support requests. Promoted quickly to the Systems Operations Center (SOC) based on ability to quickly learn and effectively communicate in a customer-service role. On this team monitored server processes via alerting systems (EM7) for >500 servers, >20,000 users/mailboxes, across 5 Active Directory domains.
Maintained a >99.9% up-time SLA by responding to alarms either personally or escalating as needed. Reduced demands on the Customer Support team and customer churn by responding with a sense of urgency to resolve issues.
EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS
A.A.S. Degree in Computer and Information Science, ECPI College of Technology, Manassas, VA, 2004 – 2005
Major in Information Technology and Networking & Security Management Cumulative GPA: 3.69
National Scholar’s Honor Society National Dean’s List Honoree Phi Theta Kappa Dean’s List
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Routing and Switching
Network+ (N10-006)
Security+ (SY0-401)
TECHNICAL COURSES
Microsoft Server
Microsoft Office
UNIX/LINUX OS
Computer Hardware (A+)
Microsoft Exchange Server
Networking I and II (Network +)
Networking Security Concepts
Network Troubleshooting
Active Directory Implementation & Administration
Cisco IOS (routing and switching)