Virtualization & Automation Specialist

Ervin Kershaw

*************@*****.*** 336-***-**** www.linkedin.com/in/ervin-kershaw

VMware Engineer Virtualization / Infrastructure Engineer

VMware Engineer specializing in enterprise virtualization and infrastructure operations. Experienced supporting VMware vSphere (6.7/7.x/8.x), ESXi, vCenter, and UCS-based platforms, with strengths in troubleshooting, lifecycle upgrades, performance optimization, and disaster recovery. Skilled in automation with PowerShell/PowerCLI (and Python exposure) and in creating clear runbooks and documentation.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Infrastructure Automation VMware vSphere & UCS Performance Optimization Disaster Recovery Troubleshooting & Root Cause Analysis PowerShell/PowerCLI, Bash & Terraform

Incident Management Lifecycle Upgrades Capacity Planning ServiceNow Technical Documentation Independent Work Stakeholder Engagement Operational Procedures

TECHNICAL SKILLS

VMware vSphere (6.7/7.x/8.x), ESXi, vCenter Aria Operations (vRealize) Aria Automation (vRA) / Orchestrator (vRO) SolarWinds

NSX and vSAN (exposure) VDI with Citrix Nutanix Prism Cisco UCSM PowerShell/PowerCLI, Bash, Terraform (IaC) AWS (EC2, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch), Azure (exposure) Zerto GitHub

CERTIFICATIONS

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (2026)

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (2025)

WORK HISTORY

KPMG LLP – Digital Nexus Technology Organization, Raleigh, NC - Remote

Temporary Senior Systems Engineer – VMware/UCS June 2025 – Dec 2025

Supported VMware vSphere (6.7/7.x/8.x) environments by administering ESXi clusters, vCenter, and Aria Operations, improving platform stability and operational visibility.

Built custom dashboards, health scorecards, and rightsizing reports in Aria Operations to identify optimization opportunities and reduce resource waste by ~15%.

Automated routine VMware operations with Aria Automation and PowerShell/PowerCLI (VM builds, disk expansions, post-build validation), cutting provisioning time by ~40%.

Administered Cisco UCS compute infrastructure: service profiles, firmware updates, and hardware troubleshooting to maintain high availability.

Integrated ServiceNow with Aria Operations for automated alerting and incident creation, reducing manual monitoring overhead and improving response times.

Provided Tier 2/3 escalation support for production incidents; performed root-cause analysis and coordinated with vendors and cross-functional teams to restore service quickly.

Contributed to capacity planning and performance optimization by tuning compute, storage, and network resources for large-scale workloads.

Ervin Kershaw *************@*****.*** Page 2

Documented technical standards, build procedures, and operational runbooks to improve repeatability and speed onboarding for new engineers.

Truist Bank, Charlotte, NC - Remote Lead Infrastructure Engineer May 2012 - Nov 2024

Designed, configured, and optimized enterprise virtualization platforms (VMware vSphere, Nutanix) for stability, performance, and cost efficiency.

Administered VMware vSphere (6.x/7.x) including ESXi hosts, vCenter, clusters, HA/DRS, and VM lifecycle operations.

Automated VM provisioning and routine administration using Aria Automation and PowerShell/PowerCLI, reducing manual effort by ~50%.

Built and managed Cisco UCS VMware clusters; coordinated firmware and patch cycles using Lifecycle Manager to meet compliance requirements.

Partnered with storage teams on datastore availability and performance, applying best practices for capacity planning and operational readiness.

Supported disaster recovery planning and testing using Zerto; maintained recovery documentation and validation procedures for business continuity.

Mentored junior engineers; authored troubleshooting guides, operational procedures, and infrastructure standards to improve consistency and supportability.

Key contributor to the SunTrust and BB&T merger program, supporting virtualization and UCS integration activities at enterprise scale.

Implemented Terraform-based automation to improve deployment consistency and reduce delivery time by ~50%.

Lowe's Corporate, Mooresville, NC - Hybrid April 2008 – May 2012

IT Engineer

Supported virtualization and VDI initiatives, VMware migrations, backup strategies, and disaster recovery operations.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science – Computer Science

Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC

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