FAISAL RIAZ

+971-**-******* adzhdb@r.postjobfree.com DUBAI, UAE

Certified Systems Administrator and IT Specialist with 15+ years of experience implementing server infrastructures solutions to meet end user requirements; configuring and troubleshooting network topologies; and overall responsibility for the availability and performance of infrastructure systems across Ubuntu, Linux, Windows and Mac OS X platforms. Track record of working in a large corporation integrated into a multi-cultural and worldwide distributed team with interaction with IT and Business staff as well as direct contact and coordination of activities with other internal teams and external vendors. Proven ability to create and deliver solutions tied to business growth, organizational development and systems/network optimization. Skilled problem identifier and troubleshooter comfortable managing systems, projects and teams in a range of IT environments. AREAS OF EXPERTISE

● System Administration

● Network Architecture

● Network Engineering & Support

● Requirements Definition

● Backup & Recovery Procedures

● Application Migration & Integration

● End User Technical Support

● Switching & Routing Protocols

● Security Solutions

● Hardware/Software Troubleshooting

● IT Procurement

● Productivity Improvement

● Systems Installation, Configuration &

Testing

● Strategic & Tactical Planning

● Project Management

● Staff Training & Development

● Cross-Functional Team Leadership

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES

● Hardware: IBM, Sony Vaio, Dell, Apple (MBP & iMac)

● Switches: STP, RSTP (802.1w), PVST, RPVST, VTP, VSS, MEC, ACL, 802.1x, VLAN, VPN, RSA, Cisco 3560

● Routers: Cisco Routers 2500, 2600

● Servers: Windows Server 2008, 2012

● Operating Systems: Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10), OSX, Linux (Red hat & Ubuntu)

● Software/Applications: Pointsec (HDD Encryption), LMTOOLS (Software License Monitoring Tool), Secunia

(Application Update Server), Ghost Deployment Tool, Panopto (Lecture Capturing), Adobe Cloud Licensing, Symantec Backup Exec, and Microsoft Office

● Other Protocols: DNS, DHCP, Windows Hyper-V, ISA, WSUS, SCCM

SKILLS & CORE COMPETENCIES

● Full lifecycle experience with infrastructure configuration management, deployment, design, testing and support

● Adept at monitoring network performance, completing backups, and improving and maintaining existing network systems infrastructure

● Skilled at implementing system diagnostic and maintenance tools to ensure the availability & functionality of the system

● Strong knowledge of implementing and utilizing remote network management and monitoring tools

● Wide understanding of current equipment and technologies, system performance-monitoring tools, active directories, virtualization, VMWare, content delivery, and caching

● Hands-on experience supporting enterprise scale business applications and leading all stages of system analysis efforts,

● Well-versed with networking components such as firewalls, security, routing and switching protocols, VPNs in large enterprise class or service provider networks

● Outstanding leadership abilities to coordinate and direct all phases of project-based efforts while managing, motivating, and leading project team initiatives

● Able to work with end users and gather requirements and provide solutions independently

● Solid analytical and problem-solving skills with a hands-on approach to root-cause analysis and troubleshooting efforts to resolve critical system/network issues

● Strong organizational and time management skills as well as the ability to manage a broad scope of work and multiple complex tasks simultaneously within tight deadlines

● Superior interpersonal skills to build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships throughout the business

● Excellent verbal and written communication skills

● Exceptional technical education; consistently keeping current with emerging network technologies

● Valid UAE Driving License

EDUCATION

MSc in Computer Sciences

University of the Punjab – Pakistan

Final Project: Frame Relay Study & Implementation

Bachelor of Science

University of the Punjab – Pakistan

Physics, Mathematics & Statistics

CERTIFICATION & TRAINING

● ServiceNow Certified System Administrator

● Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing (CCNA)

● CompTIA Security+

● RHSA

● VMWare vSphere v6.5

● Microsoft Azure Administrator – AZ104

● ITIL Foundation Course

● Project Management Professional Preparation Course WORK EXPERIENCE

SYSTEM ENGINEER UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUJAIRAH Aug 2022 – till date

• Administration of the complete system and network environment in the university including staff and student assistance.

• Management of the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 portals for the university.

• Intune Autopilot deployment and enrollment of device, university portal management for app install of the fly as well as provisioning the app during autopilot process.

• Deployment and management of windows update using intune. Monitoring the update status of the quality and feature updates.

• Administration, troubleshooting and management of the daily, weekly, monthly backup of the university servers using the Dell Avamar backup solution. Creating new backup jobs as required for BMR and individual server (physical and VMs).

• Management of the Aruba Wi-Fi controller. Making sure the Wi-Fi network is up and the coverage of the Wi-Fi is created as per the heat diagram.

• Management of the Microsoft Hyper V environment and the failover cluster. Complete monitoring of the Hyper-V server resource management.

• Management of the FortiGate firewall console. Taking care of the firewall traffic rule creation for inbound and out bound traffic. User management as the policy created for point-to-point communication in university VPN service.

• Designing and implementing SCCM infrastructure, configuring and maintaining SCCM clients, managing OS & software deployment, patch management, monitoring and reporting, security and compliance and continuous improvement.

• CCTV camera monitoring, installation, configuration, and network troubleshooting. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH Oct 2012 – June 2022

● Managing 1000+ users on data and voice network and configuring the labs with 250 nodes across the college within the university.

● Complying with IT project execution methodology and controls for the implementation life cycle including requirements, design, build and configure, test, train, deploy and support production.

● Migration and planning of on premises license server to Azure cloud. Creation of VMs, VNets, and NSG rule for inbound and outbound traffic for license issuing to different clients on the AUS network.

● Preparation of OS images (based on the machine model). Setting up the images with the required OS setting and software.

● Software licensing, documentation, testing, and troubleshooting of the new and existing software.

● Assisting the faculty and staff with remote lecture capturing with Panopto Application. Troubleshooting the remote lecture capture, editing the captured lecture and assisting the faculty by training them how to capture and edit the lecture.

● Adobe Cloud licensing management for faculty, staff and students. Adding new users, cleaning of old license, troubleshooting of licenses issued to all users.

● Assisting Faculty and staff with the LMS system Blackboard during the course management and exam management.

● Setting up profiles and emails and issuing access passes for new employees and assisting in all password related issues.

● Replacing damaged or malfunctioning parts on hardware, when necessary, by ordering new parts when out of stock.

● Troubleshooting the network/system related L1 and L2 issues and forwarding the request to the network/systems team for further resolution.

● Server-based assistance to user with respect to password reset, account management, file share permissions, software licensing using LMTOOLS, AD object management, and cleanup.

● Using the SCCM server for OS deployment, capturing images of reference computers, deploying application updates, generating reports, SCCM client management. With OS deployment on the 300+ lab nodes the refresh rate and downtime was reduced to 30- 35% which helped us to avoid errors which were encountered when Symantec Ghost was used.

● Using Flexera Secunia to download the updates for software scanned over the network. Creation of packages using Secunia and deploying using SCCM. Generating reports of software updates and resolving issues with application updates.

● Sophos Antivirus console client management, cleanup, remote and local installation, managing the client groups on the console.

● Using the ticketing system ServiceNow to create and resolve tickets within the given SLA. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OFFICER ROTHSCHILD MIDDLE EAST JUL 2011 – JUN 2012

● Managed 70+ users on voice and data networks on a daily basis.

● Installation of Windows XP and Windows 7 on laptops and desktop PCs for the users using the Microsoft network deployment tool.

● Management of the daily and monthly backup through Symantec Backup Exec 2010.

● User system migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 and Office 2003 to Office 2010.

● Maintained the appropriate permission on the file server, creation of a new folder and assigning permission as required.

● Creation of user account and email, password reset and enabling account, creation of distribution group and security group in the Active Directory domain controller. Assigning the user to appropriate groups as and when required.

● Management of McAfee encryption software, maintaining the McAfee admin console and ensured that all laptops are encrypted properly and registered in the McAfee admin console.

● Procurement of the necessary software and hardware required in the office-based on user requirements and future requirements.

● Management and administration of Mitel Server and IP phones.

● Remote management of the blackberry server and creation of user accounts, assigning different corporate policies for the users, management of the blackberry phone, user email on the phone, installation of different software’s like soft token of RSA, Arkadin Conference system, Bloomberg add-ins, troubleshooting the phone for email, calendar and contacts for Sync issues with the outlook.

● Remote assistance for the office users using LOGMEIN123 from home or DameWare. NETWORK ENGINEER SONY GULF FZE

JUL 2006 – JUN 2011

● Managed 250+ nodes/users for day-to-day network activities, troubleshooting, and configuration.

● Managed and configured the network and operational support for the users on Windows XP/Vista platform and Sony Vaio laptops.

● Configured and troubleshoot the Cisco VPN client and managed the user administration on the RSA (VPN Server).

● Managed/added new backup jobs daily/weekly in Symantec Backup Exec 2010 on Windows Server 2003/2000 and took backup on the AS/400 system weekly/monthly/yearly.

● Managed and administered/rollout of Windows Updates from WSUS Server to the test PCs/Server.

● Installation and administration of the SCCM server. Created reports based on the requirements of the MIS manager.

● Configuration and administration of Hyper-V for windows 2008 server virtualization.

● Created email accounts and distribution groups, assigning quotes for new users, group policy management.

● Administration for wireless network AIRONET 1200 series access points.

● Remote assistance for the users on business travel using online web-based NTR (remote desktop) support.

● Installation and administration of hard disk encryption using Pointsec software.

● Used BlueCoat hardware proxy server to create access policy; block prohibited website access, and monitor daily traffic logs

● Assisted in configuration and administration of IBM Blade server, SAN storage and windows clustering on Windows Server 2008.

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