Senior IT Systems Engineer with Citrix Expertise

Blake Farrell

********@*****.*** 618-***-****

SUMMARY

Microsoft Certified IT Professional and Senior Systems Engineer with over two decades of hands-on experience supporting, designing, and optimizing enterprise IT infrastructure across on-premise and cloud environments. Proven subject matter expert in Citrix technologies, Windows Server ecosystems, virtualization, and large-scale enterprise operations. Served proudly as a military veteran IT professional, which concluded with an Honorable Discharge.

SKILLS

Citrix Hypervisor

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD)

Citrix Cloud & Cloud Connectors

Citrix ADC / NetScaler

Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS)

Machine Creation Services (MCS)

Project Lead for upgrading thousands of Citrix Hosts and CVAD

Various Virtualization Platforms

(Citrix Hypervisor, VMWare, Azure, Hyper-V)

Ivanti Administration (Environment Manager, Management Center, User Profile Management)

FSLogix Administration

Mentoring and other leadership capabilities

Enterprise Infrastructure Support

Enterprise Systems Troubleshooting

Technical Lead and Mentorship

Microsoft Windows Server Administration

Active Directory & Group Policy

System Performance Optimization

Disaster Recovery & High Availability

Network & VPN Administration

CyberArk Administration

System Center Configuration Manager

MSSQL Server Administration

EXPERIENCE

Senior Systems Engineer / Centene Corporation 11/2019 – 09/2025

Successfully designed, implemented, and completed over tens of thousands of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) upgrades from Windows 2008 to 2016, and then again to 2019/22.

Maintained Citrix Cloud Connectors and ADC infrastructure

Monitored performance using Citrix Director

SME supporting over 1,000 Citrix Hypervisor hosts

Deploy and manage Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) – both on-premises and in Citrix Cloud

Maintain and optimize Citrix Cloud Connectors for high availability and performance

Manage Citrix NetScaler (ADC) for secure remote access and load balancing

Proficiency utilizing Citrix Director/Monitor for session monitoring and performance tuning

Extensive experience with Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) and Machine Creation Services (MCS) for efficient image streaming and management

Subject Matter Expert (SME) working with Citrix XenServer (or Citrix Hypervisor)

Extensive experience with multiple operational monitoring tools, including Citrix DAAS, Dynatrace SolarWinds, SCOM, etc.

Provided direct support and guidance to peers in troubleshooting endpoint-related incidents and outages

Worked closely with peer endpoint teams on root cause analysis of endpoint issues and built long-term preventive solutions

MSSQL DB administration, troubleshooting in direct support of Citrix environment operations

Provided after-hours support to critical issues and outages

Implementation of the DEX Strategy that drove continuous improvements of the end-user compute experience

Planned and unplanned reporting efforts on status updates to senior and executive leadership

Coordinated problem and incident management with 3rd party vendors

Mentor and coach peer multidisciplinary system engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement

Facilitated Agile ceremonies (planning, stand-ups, various, etc.) to drive team performance and deliver high-quality outcomes

Collaborated with Product Owners, Customer Success, Architecture, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to prioritize backlogs and align engineering efforts with business objectives

Work with team peers to manage the escalation process for critical incidents and solution outages related to End User Technologies, ensuring timely resolution and effective communication with stakeholders

Established and refined incident management procedures, including root cause analysis and post-mortem reviews to prevent recurrence

Coordinate with support teams, vendors, and other IT functions to address complex technical issues and restore services efficiently

Use monitoring and reporting to identify, track, and trend endpoint-related performance issues impacting end users and DEX score

Identify opportunities to automate processes, reduce manual effort, document procedures, and increase the reliability of End User Technologies

Ivanti administration streamlining user experiences and improving performance

Maintained knowledge of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to drive innovation within the DEX domain

FSLogix implementation within a complex Enterprise environment.

Provided interdepartmental coordination for SCCM/SCOM environment for large amount of Citrix assets

Dedicated to compliance with all policies and standards

Systems Engineer / TekSystems 03/2019 – 11/2019

Contract to Hire position with Centene Corporation

Tier 3 Citrix Administrator

Escalation point for service desk issues needing advanced support

Project member routinely individually tasked with performing system upgrades & replacements

Systems / Network Administrator / The Maschhoffs 09/2011 – 01/2019

·Level 3 Systems Administrator including VPN, Video Surveillance and Data Protection

·Designed and deployed networks for remote sites

·Primary administrator for multiple MS System Center Applications (SCOM/ SCCM/ VMM/DPM)

·Sole administration for all System Backup applications and configurations

·Led infrastructure planning and procurement program

·Single handedly supported Citrix small footprint infrastructure envirmonment

Command Center Hosting Service Engineer / SAVVIS 07/2005 – 09/2011

·Level 3 technical support for Windows Servers managing normal operations of over 3,300 Windows Servers and related network components (Load Balancers, VMware environments)

·MSSQL DB Administration, job scheduling and performance evaluation and troubleshooting

·Communicate operational malfunctions and remedy actions taken to repair servers to clients in an extremely prompt and efficient manner

·Mid-level Linux administration

Technical Systems Engineer / NISC 02/1998 – 04/2005

·Consult, develop system interfaces, install, train, and troubleshoot PC Networks, Document Imaging Systems, and E-Commerce Web Solutions

·Entrusted as sole representative of NISC to visit, implement, train and manage over 150 networked and non-networked client computer systems nationwide

·Primary installation administrator, and technical support of specialized Linux systems in support of proprietary E-Commerce Web Solutions

·Lead administrator to install and support remote MS Exchange environments nationwide.

Network Administrator / Supervisor / US Navy 06/1983 – 03/1998

·Senior Network Administrator with 20 subordinate LAN Administrators

·Senior Novell NetWare Administrator

·Senior GroupWise E-mail Administrator

·Personally responsible for IT requirements for several flag-level officers for multiple branches of the US military

·Procurement Manager, responsible for ordering automated data processing equipment and maintaining over $1,000,000 annual budget

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Associate of Applied Science (AAS): Computer Information Systems - Helpdesk

Southwestern Illinois College - Belleville, IL

CERTIFICATIONS

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)

MCITP: Database Administrator 2008

MCITP: Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator

MCITP: Windows Server 2008 Server Administrator

MCTS Certifications

MCSE: Windows NT 4.0

ITIL Certification

Contact this candidate