Solutions Architect Multi-Cloud

Rizwan Jamal

Email: ********@*****.*** Cell:+1-613-***-****

LinkedIn Profile

SUMMARY

Network & Security/Solutions Architect with 25+ years of experience in cloud networking, datacenters, service providers, and enterprise IT. Skilled in network architecture, security, system integration, and multi-cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI) deployments. Proven record in capacity planning, solution design, troubleshooting, and Tier III support for global customers. Recognized for delivering cost-effective solutions, mentoring teams, and driving technical excellence. EXPERIENCE

Senior Solutions Architect

Aviatrix August 2023 to Present

● Led successful deployments of Aviatrix Cloud Native Security Fabric in single and multi-cloud environments.

● Defined and implemented Zero-Trust Architecture blueprints leveraging Aviatrix platform capabilities.

● Designed tailored enterprise multi-cloud architectures that are scalable, secure, and cost-optimized.

● Designed, developed, and enhanced the Aviatrix Certified Engineer (ACE) multi-cloud networking and security training and certification program.

● Delivered instructor-led trainings for global customers and partners across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. Principal Network Architect

Equinix. Dec 2016 to July 2023

● Led the architecture, engineering, and orchestration of Equinix global Interconnection services (Cloud Exchange, IX, Internet Access, Metro Connect) and IaaS/PaaS platforms (Network Edge, Edge Metal).

● My role encompassed strategic planning, operational leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to build a resilient security posture for the Equinix Interconnection Services.

● Introduced an intent-based programmable network, developing an in-house scalable layered architecture with a network abstraction layer and SDN controller for multi-domain, multi-tenant service provisioning.

● Presented Equinix’s Intent-Based Networking deployment at MPLS World Congress 2019 (link).

● Defined next-gen SDN architecture strategy, vendor selection, and technology stack evaluation (VMs, Kubernetes, DPDK/SRIOV, vSwitch, VPP) for marketplace VNFs.

● Designed network slicing on the global backbone to deliver encrypted, high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity with tenant-controlled traffic steering based on SLAs.

● Implemented real-time resource monitoring and closed-loop automation for SLA-based policy enforcement.

● Developed and executed a comprehensive network security strategy aligned with organizational risk tolerance and compliance requirements. Anticipated emerging cyber threats and implemented proactive measures to safeguard network resources.

● Designed and implemented advanced network security architectures for Equinix Network Edge customers, delivering professional services that included next-generation firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet), intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), VPN solutions, and secure access controls. Ensured configurations were optimized to align with industry best practices and compliance requirements.

● Conducted regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify weaknesses in network infrastructure. Partnered with IT and compliance teams to prioritize remediation in line with NIST, HIPAA, and ISO frameworks.

● Promoted a culture of security across the organization by leading awareness programs, training workshops, and campaigns on best practices for secure systems and data handling.

● For Equinix Network Edge, managed key relationships with leading security vendors (Palo Alto, Fortinet, F5) and third-party service providers. Oversaw the integration of external solutions, ensuring alignment with security architecture, compliance standards, and operational requirements.

● Oversaw continuous monitoring of network traffic, log analysis, and threat intelligence integration to detect anomalies. Prepared executive-level reports on security posture, incident trends, and resource utilization.

● Partnered with senior leadership to define and manage the network and security budget for Equinix Interconnection Services, ensuring cost-effective allocation of resources and investments in next-generation security technologies.

● Designed next-gen DNS solutions (UltraDNS, Infoblox) and private customer data centers (Cisco Nexus 9K).

● Advised customers on SD-WAN strategy and deployment with Equinix Network Edge. Senior Network/Security Design Engineer

Microsoft. Mar 2014 to Nov 2016

● Supported 900+ global sites serving over 220,000 users, delivering wired, wireless, and secure remote access worldwide.

● Designed and implemented SD-WAN and GETVPN solutions for remote sites and branch offices.

● Directed a team of network security professionals, providing coaching, training, and technical guidance to enhance team capabilities in incident response, security monitoring, and deployment of protective controls.

● Created cost-effective, scalable data center network designs for Microsoft’s internal DCs and corporate network.

● Collaborated with network architects, vendors (Cisco, Arista, Aruba, Juniper, F5), and internal engineering teams to develop high-performance, secure network architectures.

● Established engineering standards for new platforms, architectures, and code releases.

● Led deployment and certification of Cisco 5520 and Aruba 7030 Wireless LAN Controllers.

● Designed and deployed large-scale data center networks (Cisco Nexus 3K, 5K, 9K), updated Enterprise Management Network (EMN), and implemented enterprise-wide QoS strategies.

● Partnered with application owners to align infrastructure design with application performance and scalability needs.

● Established and led incident response protocols, coordinating with IT and business stakeholders to assess and remediate security incidents. Oversaw root cause analysis and implemented preventive measures to minimize future risks.

● Drove new designs from concept through production, engaging with service providers, IT leadership, and global operations teams.

Customer Support Engineer

Solace Systems Oct 2013 to Feb 2014

● As support specialist help Solace customers to deploy Solace messaging router in their middle ware environment, integrate with mission critical applications, network, SAN etc. Senior Network Consultant

Federal Government of Canada (Via CGI) Jul 2013 to Oct 2013

● Led multiple networking and security projects across various government departments, deploying data, VoIP, video, and wireless services in multi tenant campus and data center environments.

● Developed scalable, secure network designs using Cisco enterprise platforms, including access, aggregation, and edge routing solutions.

● Implemented encrypted Layer 3 connectivity between campuses and data centers to ensure secure, high-performance communications.

● Modernized shared government network infrastructure, enhancing resiliency, scalability, and operational efficiency.

● Collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative networking solutions across multiple departments while adhering to federal standards and best practices. Network Consulting Engineer

Cisco Systems Inc. Jan 2011 to Jul 2013

● Led core network test, certification, and POC projects, managing multiple software and hardware verification initiatives from scoping to end-to end validation.

● Served as SME and team lead for Bell Mobility convergence projects, achieving a reduction in network convergence time from 20 seconds to under 1 second across all failure scenarios.

● Directed the introduction and certification of next-generation Cisco ASR-1000 and ASR-9000 platforms, including Route Reflectors, PE devices, and CPE devices, ensuring scalability and high availability for VPN, Internet, and IPsec services.

● Led end-to-end QoS design and deployment on Bell Canada’s Core network, including traffic classification, marking, queuing policies, and distributed enforcement points.

● Conducted interoperability testing for Alcatel 7750 Service Routers and Cisco ASR9000, and evaluated new features to optimize core network performance and convergence.

● Delivered knowledge transfer and training (TOI) sessions to Bell Canada management and technical staff on new devices, convergence features, and MPLS network design.

● Presented a five-day MPLS Network Design and Deployment workshop for SANOG 20 (link), sharing best practices and lessons learned from large-scale core network deployments. Technical Leader

Cisco Systems Inc. Jun 2003 to Dec 2010

● Served as SME for IOS-XR features across Cisco C12K, CRS-1, CRS-3, focusing on BGP NSR, L3VPN, 6VPE, 6PE, Multicast, MVPN, BFD, L2VPN, CFM, VPLS, MPLS TE/FRR, QoS, ACL, and Route Reflector capabilities.

● Directed testing, scalability validation, and field deployment readiness for major IOS-XR releases on core and edge platforms.

● Led customer-focused “Tiger Teams” to minimize migration risks during live deployments.

● Designed complex lab topologies to simulate customer environments, accelerating adoption of advanced IPv4/IPv6 and multicast features.

● Enhanced test efficiency with automation scripting (TCL, Unix Shell, Perl), supporting global carriers such as BT and SAVVIS during early field trials.

● Delivered in-house technical training, contributed to CCIE preparation programs, and mentored engineering teams.

● Presented a five-day MPLS Network Design & Deployment workshop at SANOG 11, (Link) System Test Engineer

HyperChip Inc. Nov 2002 to May 2003

Network Engineer/Security Analyst

Compaq Canada. Oct 2001 to Oct 2002

Education

Scaler Academy 2022-23

Scaler Academy course of Programming Constructs, Data structure and Algorithms and System Design. Post Graduate Program in Cloud Computing 2021-2022 University of Texas at Austin

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering 1992-1996

N.E.D University of Engineering & Technology • Karachi, Pakistan Certifications

Link to Rizwan Jamal’s Credly Badges

Cisco Systems

● CCIE # 23989 (Service Provider + Data Center)

● Cisco Certified Design Specialist

● Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies

● CSS (Cisco Qualified Security Specialist)

● Cisco Certified Specialist - Data Center Core

● Cisco Certified Specialist – Service Provider Core Cloud Certifications

● AWS Educate Machine Learning Foundation.

https://www.credly.com/badges/c3348858-d17d-4158-81d7-19a08c70d4a7

● AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty

https://www.credly.com/badges/9f970cd0-c67e-4f13-ab5f-c9130fe1531d/public_url

● Aviatrix Multicloud Network Security Specialty

https://www.credly.com/badges/dd0ed041-0311-458d-b2e2-aec2ac03275b/public_url

● Aviatrix MultiCloud Network Professional

https://www.credly.com/badges/58296158-873e-4a1f-9e4d-afbebdbe8ed5/linked_in_profile

● Aviatrix Multicloud Network Operations Specialty https://www.credly.com/badges/df77e922-1f48-4af7-a738-32ae4d63397b/public_url

● Aviatrix Multicloud Network Cloud Backbone Specialty https://www.credly.com/badges/cfae68ce-a4eb-44a2-a9ce-67dcd298cf58/public_url

● Networking in Google Cloud

https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/specialization/NHVXWJKUNBQ4 SKILLS

Cloud Networking, AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, API Gateway, IAM, CloudFormation, CloudTrail, and CloudWatch

Openstack, Cisco VPP, Linux QEMU/KVM, Hyper-V, ESX, SmartNIC, SR-IOV/VFIO, Kubernetes and Docker Containers, Service Mesh Istio, AWS EKS, Fargate, ECS, Azure AKS, GCP GKE, GCP Cloud run, VMWARE, AVS, Cloud Technologies Virtualization, Cloud Computing, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, NaaS, CaaS, Hybrid Cloud, Private Cloud, Public Cloud

Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Neural Networks, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Infini band, RDMA, Cluster Networking, RoCE

Model Driven Telemetry, OpenFlow, YANG, RestConf, Prometheus, Grafana, gNMI, RPC, ELK Stack CICD Pipeline, git and other IaC tools like terraform, Ansible, scripting Programming languages like Python, Java Script, as well as web development tools such as HTML1.1-3.0 Networking SDN, SDWAN, BGP, MBGP, TCP/IP, OSPF/OSPFv3, EIGRP, IS-IS, HSRP, VRRP, GLBP, BFD, FRR, BIRD, GOBGP, NFV (Network Function Virtualization), NFV-MANO, Network Slicing, MPLS, MPLS, RSVP, LDP, MLDP, Segment Routing, SR Flex-Algo, SRv6, SRTE, L3VPN, L2VPN, VPNv4, VPNv6 VPLS, MPLS-TE, FRR, P2MP tunnels, GMPLS (RSVP-TE), L2TPv3, Atom, VPLS, H-VPLS, ACI EVPN, Vxlan, Data Center fabric,, Datacentre SAN switches, Cisco MDS 9000, SAN, FCoE, FCIP, Fiber Channel Macsec, IPsec VPN, GetVPN, DMVPN, FlexVPN, IPsec, IKE, PKI, Cisco VPN 3000 / 5000 IPv6, 6PE/6VPE, 6RD, CGN NAT, IPv6 Migration

Netflow, IPFIX, Sflow

Cybersecurity, CyberDefense, Intrusion Detection, Network Security Control, Threat Knowledge, ISO 27001, NIST, and SOC 2

NextGen Firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortigate, F5, Checkpoint, Cisco ASA etc), Distributed Cloud Firewall (DCF), eBPF, WAF, LoadBalancer, IDS, IPS, Cyber Security, CyberARC, Concentrator, ISS System Scanner Console, ISS Internet Scanner, SATAN, ISS, Portscan, Nmap

Multicast v4 and v6, MSDP, BSR, MVPNv4, MVPNv6

QOS, VoIP

Cisco NCS 5500, 6000, ASR-9K, ASR-1K, ASR-5K, Nexus 1000v, Cisco Nexus Switches 2k, 3k, 5k,7K, 9K Catalyst 6500, Juniper MX series, Nokia 7750 Service Routers, F5 and A10 IOS-XR, IOS-XE, Nexus OS, IOS, Junos, Nokia SR OS, Arcos etc Name servers using Infoblox, BIND DNS, Route 53, and Microsoft DNS, Web servers using IIS, Apache and MS Index server, FTP servers using Wu- Ftpd, NcFtpd, MS Ftp, Proxy/Cache server using Squid and MS Proxy and ISA, Ethernet 10G, 100G, 400G, tunable XFP, tunable SFP+, 40G QSFP, 100G CFP, 802.1ad, 802.3ah, 802.1ag, Mobile and wireless technologies like, 4G, LTE, WiMax, WiFi, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11 ac, and Wireless controllers from Cisco and Aruba.

Tools like Confluence, Coda, Sharepoint, Skilljar, Evolve authoring, Cloud FinOps Apptio, Zerto

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