MANOJ GOPALAKRISHNAN

IT Director Head of IT Senior IT Manager

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

+971-**-***-****

adg7rx@r.postjobfree.com

linkedin.com/in/manojgk/

visualcv.com/manojgkrsh/

COMPETENCIES

Information

Security

Vendor /SLA

Management

Project

Management

Cloud

Computing

BCP & DRP

Budgeting &

Planning.

C-Level

Presentation

AEC Systems

Hospitality

Systems

Enterprise

Resource

Planning

SDLC

Industrial

Control

Systems

Leadership &

Team

Development

Training and

Awareness

programs

Social & Mobile

business

dynamics

Compliance

Audit &

Assurance

Client Service

Excellence

IT Recycle

Management

Integrity

NIST Framework

Agility with

Change

Forward

Thinking

Shop-floor &

Production

management

Systems

PROFESSIONAL

CERTIFICATIONS

CISA, Certified Information

Systems Auditor. Certified since

March 2008

CISM, Certified Information

Security Manager. Certified since

March 2011

CRISC, Certified in Risk and

Information Systems Control.

Certified Since May 2011

CDPSE, Certified Data Privacy

Solutions Engineer. Certified Since

June 2020

CCISO, Certified Chief Information

Security Officer. Certified Since

August 2012

ITIL V3, Foundation for service

management. Certified Since

August 2009

MCTS, Microsoft Certified

Technology Specialist. Certified

SUMMARY

A seasoned professional with a solid reputation for achieving corporate objectives through technology innovations.

Over 24 years of progressive experience in design, implementation, transition and operations of IT infrastructure services, enterprise-wide information security functions, ERP, EAM systems and IaaS, PaaS and SaaS technologies to ensure consistent support of business goals and align technology vision with business strategy by integrating company processes.

Demonstrated expertise in a diverse range of technologies within multiple industry domains.

A well-organized, solution-oriented individual with proven leadership and management abilities in planning and executing large ICT infrastructure projects. Expert at directing the effective delivery of networks, development, and disaster recovery systems and IT improvement processes.

Extensive knowledge in data-center infrastructure, servers, storage, virtualization, data security and its operations.

Adept at ERP implementation and integration of emerging technologies and their cost- effective commercial implementations to support diverse business requirements. Experience in working with C-level professionals, solid management skills, strong business acumen, capable of leading and motivating a wide range of technically skilled individuals to maximum levels of productivity.

EXPERIENCES

2009-Dec -

Present

IT Director - Infrastructure, Operations & Security Al Abbar Group, Dubai, UAE

Responsibilities:

Responsible for the definition, orchestration, delivery, monitoring and continuous improvement of end-to-end Information and communication technology infrastructure services in align with the organization’s businesses goal.

Accountable for maintaining confidentiality, integrity and availability of all Information assets in the group having 30+ sites in various geo- locations.

Budgeting, Planning & Compliance:

Prepare, present, and finalise the annual IT budget with Management. Monitoring the progress on capital and operational ICT expenditure Ensure various global and local ICT regulatory and vendor compliances. Core & Database Services:

Ensure continuous, seamless running of the Group’s databases, applications and help-desk services to enhance business performance through continuous tuning and managed upgrades.

Oversee the development of disaster recovery plans in line with business continuity requirements during an outage. Data Network Services, Infrastructure & Security:

Developing, implementing, monitoring, and educating team members on a strategic, comprehensive information security program Ensuring appropriate levels of confidentiality, integrity, safety, privacy, and recovery of the organization’s information assets. Directly responsible for developing and implementing security policies, standards and awareness programs.

Facilitating the reporting of key metrics to measure efficiency and effectiveness of the information security program and review with the executive team.

IT Service Delivery:

Senior stake-holder for performance monitoring, software and hardware standards, optimization and outsourcing.

Since September 2009

PROFESSIONAL

AFFILIATIONS

Information Systems Audit and

Control Association (ISACA)

Association for Computing

Machineries (ACM)

International Information Systems

Security Certification Consortium

(ISC2)

Project Management Institute

(PMI)

EC Council

CIO Majlis- an interactive platform

for technology executives in the

UAE.

EXPERT AREA OF

SERVICES

Virtualization: VMware, Citrix XEN,

Hyper V

Servers/OS: Windows, Linux,

Exchange Server, IIS, Sharepoint.

Desktop OS: Windows

Services: AD, AAD, DNS, DHCP

ERP, MRP, EAM: Oracle e-business,

MS dynamics AX, MS dynamics

D365, ALfak/Alcim, Property

management Systems.

DB: MS SQL, ORACLE RAC

Productivity: Office 365, Photoshop

NAC and Access control: Aruba

Clearpass

Endpoint protection: Trend Micro,

Heat/Ivanti, Checkpoint, Symantec,

FSecure.

DMS/ECM: OpenText, Docushare

Flex

NGFW/UTM: PaloAlto, Checkpoint,

FortiGate

Cloud Security: Zscaler

Email Security G/W: Mimecast,

Proofpoint

SEIM: Alienvault

WAF/Optimisation: Netscaler,

Riverbed

Networking: Aruba, Cisco, Nexus,

Meru Networks

Service desk: Freshdesk, Manage

engine

Patch Management: SCOM, WSUS,

Ivanti, Solarwinds

Cloud platforms: MS Azure, AWS,

SaaS: Office 365, D365

Storage: Netapp, Dell EMC, Nasuni,

Hitachi.

Backup & DR: Symantec, Veeam

VoIP: Avaya, Mitel, NEC

Security Systems: Access control

systems ( Face and Hand

recognition systems), Door

opening, Gate Barriers,

Surveillance Cameras, Key

management systems.

Authentication /identity

Responsibility head for development and implementation of the service delivery, technology operating/process model, plan and supervise database upgrades.

Management of service level agreements and to ensure consistent SLA chain to business units are performed.

Data Center Operations:

Directly responsible for applications, internet and intranet services, facility administration, technical upgrades and network support. Maintain the Organization's effectiveness and efficiency by defining, delivering and supporting strategic plans by implementing technology solutions.

Responsible for backup and disaster recovery strategies. People Development:

Assign efficient professionals to head critical projects and ensure achievement of goals and objectives across various offices in UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia Philipines & India.

Guiding and motivating subordinates to enhance performance and produce quality work and ensure that they are continuously developed for higher-level roles. Ensures that team members are up-to-date with the changing situations and strategic developments of Group. Major Achievements:

Acted as a PM for the Implementation of Oracle ERP eBusiness Suite across the Group, including Oracle Manufacturing, Oracle Inventory, Oracle Purchasing, iProcurement, EAM, Bills of Material, Project Manufacturing, Oracle Order Management, Financials Suite and HR. Instituted previously nonexistent project management guidelines within the Group to improve the ability to meet timelines, budgets, and objectives.

Managed a large cross-function team from various Business Units and Functions that ensured ERP project activities got executed as per the plan.

Active consultant and decision contributor to group business process re-engineering, application gap analysis, business applications integration & solution design meetings.

1999-Apr -

2009-Jul

IT Manager

Al Abbar Aluminium, (Division of Al Abbar Group), Dubai, UAE Responsibilities:

Responsible of organization's information and communication technology infrastructure and support including strategy, planning, operations, optimizations and business solutions delivery. Design, implement and maintain a secure, flexible, readily-available and sufficiently resilient ICT infrastructure that meets all the current and anticipated future ICT requirements of the company. Coordinate all IT related selection, acquisition, development and installation of major information systems.

Develop and maintain IT security, business continuity and DR plans. Provided direction to business analysis and application development functions in implementing new process and new system solutions in order to make the company operations more efficient and effective. Ensure most applicable, productive, efficient and cost-effective technologies are being utilized abreast of technological and business. Ensure Identification of threats and vulnerabilities of ICT infrastructure and preparing risk assessment and mitigation Partnered with the internal business units.

Planning development and deployment of new technologies and business Implementation and hardening of unified communications, threat management and security solutions, application and infrastructure virtualization, and storage solutions. Administration, development and technical support of Microsoft Dynamics ERP, SOP and production management systems. Management of service level agreements and ensure consistent SLA chain from business units to providers.

Achievements

management solutions: Microsoft,

Okta

TRAININGS AND

WORKSHOPS

ATTENDED

Training on ITIL V3

Training on Cisco routers, firewalls

and security appliances.

Training on Project Management

(PMP).

Training on Riverbed WAN

application optimizer.

Training on Implementing &

achieving ISO 27001, Information

Security Management System, NIST

Cybersecurity frameworks.

Training on Meru wireless network

solutions.

Asia-pacific Computer Audit,

Control and Security workshop by

ISACA Dubai, UAE.

Training on Netapp and IBM

storage systems.

EC-Council’s Global CISO Summit

2012, Miami, USA.

Training on Certified Ethical

Hacking (C EH) Course.

EC-Council’s Global CISO Summit

2014, Atlanta, USA.

Training on unified security

management & SIEM - Alien vault,

USA.

Workshop on Aruba wireless

network solutions at Atmosphere

2017, Paris, France.

Successfully implemented Microsoft Great Plains/Dynamics ERP for the division.

Upgraded and optimized group’s WAN infrastructure to improve and accelerate application performance across the wide-area network using riverbed products (www.riverbed.com) to provide LAN-like access to data and applications anywhere throughout the enterprise. thereby cut costs of operating IT infrastructure and get better visibility into how well applications are performing.

Re-designed and implemented a secure, high performance and highly available e-mail infrastructure to support our growing mobile users through web access and smartphones with added cloud email security retention, and discovery of emails.

Participated in the design of and the implementation of 600+ points of structured cabling with fibre optics backbone and Cisco core switches. Liaised with MEP subcontractors for the HVAC requirements of datacenter.

1997-Aug -

1999-Mar

Systems Administrator

Parts International Co, Dubai, UAE

Administration of NT and CITRIX® Winframe Servers

Performing needs assessments, software installation and upgrades. Configurations of routers, firewalls, switches and VPN appliances. Providing Technical support and In-house training. NT, Exchange, Proxy, Fax, & Print Server administration. Resolving client (laptops & Desktops) and server communication issues. Administration of Microsoft Routing & Remote Access Server over WAN. Design and develop ad-hoc forms/reports, assist the in-house S/W development team.

Managing directory services. Configuring user profiles, rights and policies.

Auditing & monitoring & optimizing server performance and network resources.

Backup/restore data.

Administration of branch office connectivity.

1996-Jun -

1997-Jul

EDP in charge

Al Abhar Trading, Dubai, UAE

Design, develop and implement applications, utilities and reports for the organization using FoxPro and dBase.

Installation and configuration of software/hardware. Administration of databases and Novell network.

Help desk & hardware support.

In charge of data control, equipment scheduling and program maintenance.

Train /supervise end-users on operations on electronic data processing.

Creating ad-hoc reports using report writers.

EDUCATION

2004 - 2007 M.Sc. Information Technology & Computer Communication.

Mahatma Gandhi University, India.

Major: Information Technology and Computer communication with electives Computer Graphics and Client server computing and application. 1993 - 1994 Honors Diploma in Information and Systems Management Aptech Computer Education, India.

Cobol, C, C++, Structured System Analysis and Design and RDBMS 1989 - 1992 B.Sc. Physics

Mahatma Gandhi University, India.

Major: Physics with electives Mathematics and Chemistry

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