Azure Devops Cloud Infrastructure

SHAMS KANDHRO

Phone: 720-***-****

**** ******* *** *****, *****, 75094

Email: ********@*****.***

Summary of Qualifications

High performing, strategic thinking professional over 18 years of experience, specializing in deployment and management of on-Prem & cloud infrastructure, build and deploy CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps & Gearset

Skilled in scripting and automation with PowerShell, and YAML/JSON, creating tools to streamline application deployment and infrastructure as code (IaC) processes.

Specializing in cloud infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipeline design, and Terraform, Azure DevOps, Kubernetes, and GCP to build scalable, reliable systems across public sector and enterprise environments

Expert in observability and monitoring tools such as ELK_Stack/Grafana /New relic / logicMonitor/ Splunk/ Azure Monitor, Experience with Azure FrontDoor and application Gateway for load balancing and traffic routing.

Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor cross-functional teams in adopting Agile practices, facilitating sprint planning, and ensuring consistent delivery of features.

Adept at documentation, producing detailed technical guides, operational procedures, and troubleshooting resources to support continuous improvement and service delivery.

Leading the team in implementing scalable and Secure cloud solutions, and ensuring the optimal performance.

Salesforce Deployment with Gearset tool, set up CI/CD pipelines, automate testing, and secure orgs with backup.

Administered Windows Server OS versions 2003/2008R2/2012R2/2016/2019/2022

Experienced in deployment & administration of VMware vSphere 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.1.0 & 8.0.0

Configured VMware V-Motion, DRS, VUM, High availability and fault tolerance

Installed, Configured and mange Citrix XenApp 6.0/6.5 /7.15 & Citrix Client tools

Administered Citrix XenApp Farms, deployed VDIs and Published application as per client’s requirement

Management of Active Directory, Azure Managed Identity & Microsoft Entra ID in conjunction with Office 365

Proficient in CI/CD, Terraform, Kubernetes, and Serverless architecture. Skilled in Azure and GCP services, including VMs, Kubernetes, Application insights, key vaults, azure functions, azure storage accounts and IAM

Demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve complex technical issues in production environments, with a proactive and calm approach to outages and incidents.

Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills, able to collaborate and manage effectively with stakeholders, product owners, and IT teams

Skills Summary

Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline, Repository Policies, ADO Branching strategies, Salesforce deployments through Gearset tool, Terraform (IaC) tool, Proficient in Visual Studio Code

Microsoft Technologies

Active Directory/ PKI Certificate Management /DNS/DHCP/WDS/WSUS/windows servers 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019/ SAN/ ISCSI SAN/ SCCM 2012/

VMware Technologies

VMware vSphere 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.1.0, 8.0.0 / vSphere vCenter/ V-Motion/DRS/VUM/ NAS

VMware vSphere/ESXI host.

Citrix Technologies

XenApp 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.15/Publish hosted Application & Streaming Applications/Publish URLs, server desktops/ XenDesktop/ XenServer/XenCenter & contents, Configured Zones/worker groups/web interface/Citrix receiver/Citrix server policies/pass through authentication

Microsoft Exchange & Office 365 Cloud Technologies

Continuous Cluster Replication (CCR), Standby Cluster Replication (SCR), Local Copy Replication (LCR), Hub Transport Server, Exchange management console (EMC), Outlook Web App (OWA). Database Availability Group (DAG) DAC Mode, CAS Array.

Professional Experience

DevOps Engineer / Sr. Systems Engineer Nov 29/ 2021 – Till date

K-Force

Client: Republic Finance

Plano Texas

Develop and maintain CI/CD methodologies to speed the development process through automation, build and deploy CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps & Gearset. Drive the adoption of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practices using Terraform in Azure cloud. Working with Salesforce team to automate the CI/CD/CT deployment process by using Gearset tool. Establish and maintain smooth operation of computer systems in a hybrid on-prem Windows and Azure cloud-based infrastructure. Work closely with senior leadership, cross-functional teams, and external partners to align cloud initiatives with business goals. Develop and execute the company's cloud strategy in alignment with business objectives and technological advancements with a focus on Azure Cloud and on-prem infrastructure environments.

Manage scalable cloud solutions specifically within Microsoft Azure, configuring Azure IaaS components such as Virtual Machines, Virtual Networks, and Azure Load Balancer for highly available and fault-tolerant architectures. Utilize Azure Storage Accounts, Blob Storage, and Azure Security Center to enhance security and operational efficiency.

Develop and maintain reusable Terraform modules and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates to automate the provisioning and management of Azure resources.

Implement Azure DevOps pipelines for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), enabling faster, more reliable application deployments and infrastructure changes.

Integrated Terraform with Azure DevOps to automate infrastructure provisioning, enabling continuous deployment and scaling

Manage source code repositories by using Git version control systems, develop branching strategies, set up branch policies and Integrate Automated Checks in Pull Requests.

Building and deploying APIs using MuleSoft-Anypoint platform, provide technical support, perform root cause analysis for API errors and resolve issues.

Proficient in Visual Studio Code, including extension management, advanced debugging capabilities, and code re-factoring features

Integrate SonarQube into CI/CD pipelines for code quality analysis, identifying code smells and detect security vulnerabilities. Worked closely with development teams to integrate automated testing frameworks

Strong proficiency in YAML with creating and maintaining automated CI/CD pipeline templates. Converting Classic Pipelines into YAML format for existing projects in ADO.

Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure best practices, security protocols, and networking fundamentals in an Azure environment.

Strong expertise in setting up and managing Azure VMs, including VM scaling, availability sets, OS configurations, API management, web apps, app services, application insights and Azure Application gateway.

Designing and implementing a scalable VDI environment using Azure Virtual Desktop, managing user access and security, optimizing performance and integrating with Active Directory

Strong understanding of containerization technologies like Docker and orchestration tools like Kubernetes (AKS).

Developed Salesforce CI/CD pipeline in Gearset tool, automated validation and deployments for all the Orgs, archive data and secure the orgs with backup in Gearset.

Designed and implemented automated alerting and incident management process using Grafana /New relic/Azure Monitoring, resulting in a 40% reduction in incident response times across the organization

Administration and support for all VMware and Azure virtual servers, including Domain controllers, Citrix, file & print servers.

Senior Citrix Engineer MAR 2021 – Nov 27/2021

HCL America Inc.

Client: Catholic Health Initiatives

Richardson Texas

Manage and support CHI Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop Environment for multiple locations across the U.S. including 30+ Citrix farms, in 5 different datacenters, with over 2000 Citrix servers. Along with team members, helping with redesigning the Citrix environment to migrate from Citrix 6.5 / 7.6 to both Citrix 7.15 & 19.12 Citrix versions.

Lead the implementation of business applications and work with vendor for installation, configuration and rolling out the application to the business users

Taking part in upgrading and updating the system’s applications, installing with up-to-date descriptions

Assisting all phases of project - scoping, design, deployment, testing, rollout, user support, and Created documentation for server builds and Citrix components / applications installation

Resolve various issues such as Windows Policies, Application licensing, RDP and ICA

Organize weekly meetings with Citrix Support Team and Applications team for project management and organization

Analyzing, installing, and configuring numerous new applications into the existing Citrix farms

Discovery, analysis of the old aging \ EOL Citrix Farms & servers and getting rid of them through either upgrade \ consolidation or decommissioning of old Citrix farms \ servers.

Senior System Administrator SEP 2019 – MAR 2021

HCL America Inc.

Client: Keurig Dr. Pepper

Plano TX

Responsible for installation, configuration and administration of the Windows and VMware infrastructure. Resolving issues with server performance, NTFS permissions, DNS, and managing DHCP servers. Monitoring HPE Systems Insight Manager to trouble shoot hardware and software problems to reduce interruptions and server crashes. Maintaining physical and virtual servers and hosts, hardening the Windows operating system to security standards and benchmarks. Deploy configure and maintain scalable infrastructure on Google cloud and Azure cloud platform. Install, configure and Administer VMware and Citrix infrastructure, resolve system-wide technical issues, mentor team members, and organize workflow and task assignments.

Maintain essential IT operations, including operating systems, security tools, servers, hardware and create templates from VM’s, deploy VM’s from templates and allocate resources accordingly

Manage and administered PKI Certificate, including tasks like creating certificate templates, issuing certificates to users and devices, revoking expired certificates, and troubleshooting certificate-related issues

Monitor datacenter health using management tools and respond to hardware issues as they arise

Build physical/virtual servers (2008 R2, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019), at Data centers, VMware environment, GCP cloud platform & Azure cloud platform and troubleshoot server performance problems

Converting servers in P2V, V2V and P2P migrations from one to another datacenter, from one virtual platform to another, from on-prem virtual environment to cloud.

Create TCP/IP scopes, maintain DHCP, DNS, and create group policies and permissions in Active Directory, Create Microsoft Failover Clusters for database teams

Working knowledge of Independent Cybersecurity Assessment tools i.e. Rapid7, Nexpose and Manage Engine

Use PowerShell scripting to automate user processing and administration of systems.

Responsible for configuration, maintenance, and overall administration of VMware environments

Setup multiple vSphere hosts, managed via vCenter and troubleshoot advance features like vMotion, DRS, Setup, install, configure, and triage ESXi Hosts (Rack Mount and Blade Servers)

Consolidating the datacenters either through migrating the workloads to existing datacenter \ google cloud or lift and shift.

Citrix Engineer DEC 2017 – SEP 2019

HCL America Inc.

Client: Catholic Health Initiatives

Denver Colorado

Administration, configuration of servers and key processes performance, and verify completion of scheduled jobs such as backups, restores, patches and automating reoccurring tasks. Responsible for managing, installing and updating XA6.5/ XA7.15 farms, developing professional infrastructure, solving technical issues, migrating legacy Citrix 4.x, 5.x farm to XA6.5/ XA7.15 versions and Publishing new Applications. Build and deploy new virtual servers, as well as provide user training and level3 engineering support.

Responsible for the publishing and integration of numerous applications and virtual desktops in the production environment.

Exercise great expertise in troubleshooting and resolving issues in the Citrix enterprise environment, including web interface, application provisioning, enumeration, performance and printing issues

Build physical/virtual servers (2008 R2, 2012 R2), at Data centers, and VMware environment

Maintained Citrix server farms, along with application deployment and scripting Citrix applications

Managed and administered Windows 2003\2008R2\2012R2 servers in Citrix farms.

Installation, configuration and administration of XA6.5/ XA7.15 versions.

Installation, configuration, administration and troubleshooting of ESXi hosts, vSphere 5.5, Virtual Center.

Exchange Engineer JUL 2016 – Nov 2017

Wipro Limited

Client: Catholic Health Initiatives

Denver Colorado

Responsibilities included migration of Exchange 2010 on-premises to Office 365. Configured DirSync (Azure AD Connect) and ADFS for Active Directory synchronization with Azure Active Directory. Utilized Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) on Exchange 2010 to establish send and receive connectors with Office 365. Created migration batches in the Office 365 Admin Center and used PowerShell to check the status of the migration and get statistics.

Performed analysis of current messaging infrastructure and Exchange environment.

Migrated users from existing Exchange 2010 environment to new hybrid Office 365 environment.

Provided technical expertise on external communication with Exchange Server and Lync 2013, including Edge Server and Reverse Proxy Server.

Responsible for Exchange 2010 and Office 365 administration, user management and policies.

Provided Exchange/Lync/Office 365 and Windows expertise to support staff.

Oversaw and performed troubleshooting of Exchange 2010 email messaging system.

Administered Active Directory to manage users in the Exchange system.

Exchange Engineer MAR 2015 – JUN 2016

Delphi

Grand Rapids, MI

Responsibilities:

Designed/architected/implemented Exchange/Office 365 and Lync 2013 enterprise environments.

Created, updated, maintained, and installed Windows OS images for varied tablets/desktop/laptop computer configurations and software applications and Apple Mac based computers and software applications

Performed software installation, setup, configuration, release upgrades, security patches, migrations and software maintenance of school administrative and academic software applications.

Provided on-site help desk support, problem determination, documentation and escalation to the next level appropriate technical support.

Installed and configured SCCM 2012; deployed w7, w8, w8.1, w10 images, applications & WSUS management.

Troubleshot basic network connectivity, software Packaging, set-up Office 365 (2016 Version)

Citrix Engineer AUG 2013 – MAR 2015

ProQuest

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Responsibilities:

Administered ProQuest XenApp farms, consisting of approximately 50 servers, and 400 concurrent users. Managed and resolved incidents and requested tickets assigned to the Citrix support team.

Installation and configuration of XenApp server 5.0/6.0 and Citrix Client tools.

Published applications per client’s requirement.

Administration of Citrix XenApp Farm.

Configuration of Citrix server policies, load management and printing in the farm.

Maintained and managed Windows 2003\2008R2 servers in Citrix farm.

Reviewed the Event logs for errors and troubleshoot accordingly.

Installed Citrix & application related patches on the servers via installation manager.

Installed and configured web interface and created service site.

Created Citrix profiles, policies and procedures, and generated policies for printing and load balancing

Wintel Engineer MAY 2005 – AUG 2013

GGS Plastic Engineering Inc.

Bolton, Ontario, Canada

Responsibilities:

Installed and configured windows servers and Exchange 2007/2010 in an enterprise environment; created, Designed and architected Active Directory. Analyzed architecture to establish operating conditions, conducted tests, defined and analyzed engineering proposals and related technical data to determine feasibility of developing new capabilities

Supported and managed Windows 2003 Servers, Exchange server and Lync.

Administered and managed Active Directory domains and Microsoft Exchange 2003.

Installed, configured, set policies and schedules for Symantec Mail Security, on Window Servers 2003.

Monitored and Maintained all Exchange systems using Exchange management console.

Troubleshot, diagnosed, and worked with field resources to resolve problems on enterprise level.

Managed Exchange user data restoration of mailboxes, public folders etc.

Responsible for administration of Windows Server and Windows Active Directory users accounts and access permissions (2003, 2008).

Maintained and managed DNS, DHCP, WINS, SNMP and NTP in a Windows environment.

Analyzed system logs and utilized monitoring tools to identify potential issues with computing systems.

Worked cooperatively with others on a team to share information, resolve conflicts and make decisions in all aspects of information technology and/or network operations.

Created and maintained documentation of hardware/software, application, processes and other related information.

Systems Administrator FEB 2001 – MAY 2005

Comdec Technologies

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Responsibilities:

Responded to IT help desk calls and ensured prompt resolution to the reported issues.

Configured and tested computer hardware, troubleshot, and resolved software problems.

Installed servers, workstations, switches, printers, scanners and connected computers to network.

Handled patches and upgrades to ensure that systems are maximally efficient and effective.

Recommended software and hardware enhancements for the IT needs of the environment.

Diagnosed and corrected computer systems issues.

System Analyst APR 1995 – FEB 2001

Pak Poly Industries Ltd

Karachi Pakistan

Responsibilities:

Conducted analysis while maintaining network system software (e.g., MS Windows Operating System) and network security devices

Identified, reported, and worked to resolve issues and offer suggestions for system/process improvements

Documented steps and results of lab experiments in the computer system.

Translated requirements into new information technology project specifications.

Created project plans for information technology development and testing.

Identified business or customer requirements and information technology alternatives.

Education

Mehran University of Engineering & Tech - Bachelor of Engineering :- 02/09/1989 to 11/14/1993

Sheridan College - Enterprise Database Management (Post-Graduate):- 2001 to 2002

triOS College of info & Tech - Microsoft certified system Engineer:- 08/04/1998 to 10/20/1999

Professional IT Certifications

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900

HCP Terraform on Azure

Microsoft DevOps Solutions AZ-400

MCSE - Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert

MCSA - Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate

MCTS: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

SCCM: Administration and deploying system center 2012 configuration manager

MCPS: Microsoft Certified Professional

VCP-DCV 5.5/6.0/7.1.0/8.0.0 – VMware Certified Professional

CCA 6.5 / 7.15– Citrix Certified Administrator

ITIL v3

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