Senior SQL Server & Azure DBA with 10+ Years Experience
Resume:
Mebrat Demeke
*************@*****.***
Professional Summary
Senior SQL Server & Azure Database Administrator with 10+ years of experience providing senior-level, production database support for enterprise SQL Server environments. Core expertise in SQL Server DBA operations, with supporting and administering the SSISDB catalog, along with SQL Server platforms across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments.
Highly experienced in SQL Server Always On Availability Groups and other HA/DR technologies, including Failover Cluster Instances, Log Shipping, Database Mirroring, Replication, and Azure Geo-Replication. Proven ability to design, support, monitor, and troubleshoot highly available systems in mission-critical, enterprise-scale environments.
Extensive experience in SSISDB production support, including security configuration, execution monitoring, performance tuning, retention management, troubleshooting failed executions, and HA/DR integration within Always On Availability Groups. Extensive experience supporting dedicated application support teams responsible for SSISDB and SQL Server.
Strong background operating within enterprise ticketing systems, with deep hands-on experience using ServiceNow for incident, problem, and change management. Experienced in production issue resolution, root cause analysis, release coordination, and on-call support.
Experienced supporting utility and file-management servers integrated with SSIS workloads, ensuring reliable file ingestion, transfers, and downstream processing across distributed systems.
Proven ability to operate effectively in highly federated, global environments, collaborating with teams across the U.S., India, and other regions, including EY global delivery teams, Santander, HCSC, and Microsoft, while performing warm handovers to ensure seamless continuity of support and knowledge transfer across time zones.
Strong emphasis on security monitoring and governance, including stateside monitoring of suspicious activity, implementation of access controls, auditing, encryption, CyberArk, Azure AD integration, and compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, and financial-industry regulations. Successfully supported enterprise clients such as EY, Santander, HCSC, and Microsoft, delivering secure, reliable, and compliant database platforms in healthcare, banking, and technology sectors.
Expert in SQL Server performance tuning and operational stability, leveraging indexing strategies, execution plans, statistics, memory/cache analysis, query tuning, Extended Events, SQL Profiler, and DMVs. Extensive experience with backup and recovery using Ola Hallengren, Redgate, Cohesity, Dell EMC DD Boost, and Azure Backup.
Recognized for strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, consistently delivering reliable, highly available SSISDB and SQL Server platforms that meet strict SLAs in complex, enterprise-scale environments.
Notable Achievements
Cloud Migration: Successfully migrated over 20TB of on-prem data to Azure SQL with near-zero downtime.
Disaster Recovery: Designed automated failover strategies using geo-redundant backups and scripted runbooks.
Cost Optimization: Reduced Azure SQL by 25% via tier adjustments and performance tuning.
Security & Compliance: Implemented TDE, dynamic data masking, and auditing to meet regulatory standards.
DevOps Integration: Streamlined deployment using CI/CD pipelines, reducing manual errors and time to production.
Core Competencies
Databases: SQL Server (2005–2022), SSISDB, Azure SQL (PaaS/IaaS), ServiceNow Databases
High Availability & Disaster Recovery: Always On Availability Groups, Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Database Mirroring, Replication, Geo-Replication, Enterprise HA Architectures
Always On Availability Groups: Design & implementation, monitoring & health checks, backup & maintenance strategy, failover & disaster recovery, performance tuning & troubleshooting
SSISDB Management: Configuration & maintenance, security & access control, performance optimization, backup & recovery, high availability, patching & upgrades
Performance Optimization: Indexing strategies, query plans, statistics management, memory/cache behavior analysis, query tuning, Extended Events, Profiler, DMVs
Backup & Recovery: Ola Hallengren, Redgate, Cohesity, native SQL backups, Dell EMC DD Boost, Azure Backup
Automation & Scripting: T-SQL, PowerShell, SSISDB automation, Azure Automation, Redgate CI/CD pipelines
Security & Compliance: TDE, RBAC, auditing, encryption, CyberArk, Azure AD, HIPAA, GDPR, healthcare & financial compliance
Enterprise Operations & Support: ServiceNow ticketing, incident/problem/change management, warm handovers, global team collaboration (U.S., India, EY, and other enterprise clients), operational best practices
Monitoring & Tools: SSMS, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, PerfMon, Erwin, SentryOne
CI/CD & DevOps: Azure DevOps, Redgate deployment pipelines, Agile release management
Additional Platforms: Jump servers, hybrid cloud environments, enterprise utilities supporting SSIS and SQL Server
Education:
B.Sc. in Computer Science, St. Mary’s University College, Addis Ababa — May 2008
B.A. in Sociology & Social Administration, Addis Ababa University — June 2005
Certifications:
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCID: 14637232)
Microsoft AZURE Foundation certificate (AZ-900)
Postgraduate Certificate – Data Science & Machine Learning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) May 2023
Professional Experience:
Microsoft/Insight Global -July 2025 – Present
Sr. SQL Database Administrator.
Key Responsibilities & Achievements:
Lead production support for SQL Server and Azure SQL databases, including SSISDB catalog administration, ensuring high availability, security, and performance across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.
Designed, implemented, and monitored Always On Availability Groups, along with Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Mirroring, Replication, and Geo-Replication to support enterprise HA/DR strategies.
Administered SSISDB: configuration, security, performance tuning, backup & recovery, high availability integration, patching, and upgrades.
Provided enterprise database support via ServiceNow ticketing system, including incident, problem, and change management; ensured warm handovers for global teams (U.S., India, EY delivery teams).
Managed on-premises and cloud database environments (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, Azure SQL Managed Instances & VMs), delivering 24/7 production support and operational continuity.
Led performance tuning, indexing, query optimization, and root cause analysis to maintain database health, reduce blocking, and improve system efficiency across 150+ database instances.
Architected and deployed Azure SQL environments, including migrations from on-premises, integrating HA, Geo-Replication, and high-availability designs for mission-critical workloads.
Developed and maintained backup, recovery, and disaster recovery solutions, ensuring compliance with TDE encryption, compression, off-site retention, and long-term archival policies.
Collaborated with infrastructure, DevOps, application development, and business teams on release/deployment support, physical and logical database design, and network/system monitoring.
Automated administrative tasks using PowerShell, T-SQL, and Azure Automation, including database deployments via CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps and Redgate.
Managed user access and security through Azure AD and CyberArk, ensuring compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, and enterprise policies.
Built monitoring dashboards using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics to proactively track KPIs, database health, and performance bottlenecks.
Developed runbooks, compliance documentation, and DBA operational best practices; reduced duplicate master data by 30% through governance and cleansing strategies.
Supported utility and file-management servers integrated with SSIS workflows, ensuring reliable ETL execution and data integrity.
Technologies & Tools: SQL Server 2005–2022, SSISDB, Azure SQL (PaaS/IaaS), PostgreSQL, Snowflake, ServiceNow, PowerShell, T-SQL, Azure DevOps, Redgate CI/CD, Always On AG, Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Mirroring, Replication, Geo-Replication, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, PerfMon, CyberArk, Azure AD, backup/recovery tools (Ola Hallengren, Redgate, Cohesity, Dell EMC DD Boost, Azure Backup).
Microsoft/ Apex System- Feb 2025 – June 2025
Database Support Engineer (Azure / PostgreSQL / MySQL) Azure Open-source DE
Responsibilities & Achievements:
Delivered enterprise production support for Azure Database for PostgreSQL and MySQL, supporting business-critical workloads in a highly federated global Microsoft environment.
Utilized Microsoft Copilot to accelerate troubleshooting, query analysis, documentation, and incident resolution while maintaining compliance with Microsoft operational standards.
Monitored database health, performance, and capacity using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, native Azure metrics, and Copilot insights, proactively identifying performance bottlenecks and resource constraints.
Investigated and resolved query performance, locking, connectivity, replication, and configuration issues across Azure-hosted open-source database platforms.
Supported backup, restore, point-in-time recovery (PITR), and disaster recovery operations, ensuring data protection and service continuity.
Assisted with database migrations to Azure, validating schema, data integrity, security configurations, and post-migration performance.
Implemented role-based access control (RBAC), auditing, encryption at rest, and secure network connectivity in alignment with Microsoft security best practices.
Managed incident, problem, and change requests using ServiceNow, including on-call support, SLA adherence, and warm handovers across US and global support teams.
Collaborated with application teams, Azure engineers, SREs, and global stakeholders to resolve cross-platform issues involving networking, storage, and application dependencies.
Authored and maintained operational runbooks and knowledge articles, improving mean time to resolution (MTTR) and operational consistency.
Conducted root cause analysis (RCA) and post-incident reviews, recommending long-term fixes and preventive actions.
Technologies & Tools:
Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MySQL, Microsoft Copilot, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, ServiceNow, SQL, PITR, RBAC, Encryption, Linux, Azure Networking
Insight Global/Microsoft- Fort Worth city Water IT TX- assignment, TX
Sr. SQL Database Administrator Jun 2024 –Jan 2025
Key Responsibilities & Achievements:
Administered, maintained, and optimized SQL Server (2016–2019), SSISDB, Azure SQL (VMs & Managed Instances) on-prem databases across hybrid environments.
Provided enterprise production support using ServiceNow ticketing system for incident, problem, and change management, ensuring smooth operations and timely resolution of issues.
Designed, implemented, and monitored Always on Availability Groups, along with Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Replication, and Geo-Replication to meet HA/DR requirements for mission-critical City water IT workloads.
Led performance tuning, query optimization, indexing, and root cause analysis, proactively addressing blocking, bottlenecks, and space issues to maintain high availability and data integrity.
Architected and executed cloud and on-premises migrations, integrations, and operations with best practices for scalability, reliability, and high availability.
Developed and maintained backup, recovery, and disaster recovery solutions, implementing TDE encryption, compression, off-site retention, and long-term archival following corporate data retention policies.
Managed the SSISDB catalog, including configuration, security, performance optimization, patching, backup/recovery, and high availability integration.
Designed and implemented high-availability architectures and replication between on-premises and cloud environments to ensure business continuity.
Collaborated with infrastructure, DevOps, and application development teams to support releases, deployments, and production troubleshooting; ensured alignment with physical/logical database design and network/system monitoring.
Automated administrative tasks and deployments using PowerShell, T-SQL, Maintenance SQL native tools, Idera monitoring tools.
Managed user access and security via Azure AD and CyberArk, performed database refreshes, and enforced compliance with regulatory requirements.
Developed runbooks, operational documentation, and best practices, supporting the DBA team in managing over 50+ database instances across SQL Server and Azure environments.
Supported utility and ETL processes, ensuring reliable SSIS workflows, data governance, and master data management for enterprise systems.
Technologies & Tools: SQL Server 2005–2022, SSISDB, Azure SQL (VMs & Managed Instances), ServiceNow, Always On Availability Groups, Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Replication, TDE, RBAC, CyberArk, Azure AD, PowerShell, T-SQL, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Idera monitoring tool.
BCBS-HCSC, Richardson, TX — Feb 2023 – May 2024
Sr. DBA / Azure DBA
Key Responsibilities & Achievements:
Administered, maintained, and optimized SQL Server (2016–2019), SSISDB, across on-premises and cloud Azure SQL (Azure DB, Azure MI, VM) environments.
Provided enterprise production support using ServiceNow for incidents, problems, and change management, ensuring timely resolution and operational continuity.
Designed, implemented, and monitored Always on Availability Groups, along with Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Mirroring, Replication, and Geo-Replication to meet HA/DR requirements for mission-critical workloads.
Managed SSISDB catalog, including configuration, security, performance tuning, backup/recovery, patching, and HA integration.
Led performance tuning, indexing, query optimization, and root cause analysis, proactively resolving space issues, blocking, and performance bottlenecks.
Developed and maintained backup, recovery, and disaster recovery solutions for on-premises and Azure environments; implemented TDE encryption, compression, off-site retention, and long-term archival.
Ensured compliance with HIPAA, PII, PHI, and other regulatory frameworks by implementing security tasks, such as data masking, RBAC, audits, remediation plans, and secure data workflows across platforms.
Designed and implemented high-availability architectures, replication, and geo-replication between on-premises and cloud environments.
Managed user access provisioning and access control across SQL, Azure, Oracle, and mainframe platforms via CyberArk, maintaining strict compliance standards.
Collaborated with infrastructure, DevOps, and application development teams to support release and deployment cycles, troubleshoot production issues, and coordinate physical and logical database design with network and system monitoring.
Performed and led release deployments, elevated access approvals, and production support troubleshooting, ensuring minimal downtime for enterprise applications.
Conducted business analysis and requirements gathering to recommend cost-effective database solutions, optimizations, and enhancements.
Evaluated existing systems and implemented best practices and improvements leveraging modern database technologies, automation, and monitoring solutions.
Technologies & Tools: SQL Server 2016–2019, SSISDB, Azure SQL (PaaS/IaaS), Always On Availability Groups, Failover Clustering, Log Shipping, Mirroring, Replication, Geo-Replication, TDE, RBAC, CyberArk, Azure AD, PowerShell, T-SQL, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics.
Santander Consumer USA, Dallas — Oct 2019 – Dec 2022
TX- Sr. SQL Server DBA (Azure)
Responsibilities & Achievements:
Administered and supported enterprise SQL Server infrastructure across on-premises and Azure environments, including version upgrades, failover clustering, and Always On Availability Groups.
Served as a core production support DBA, managing 150+ database instances and providing 24/7 on-call support for OLTP, reporting, SSIS, and batch-processing workloads.
Owned and supported the SSISDB catalog, including configuration, security, performance tuning, backup/recovery, patching, and HA/DR integration with Always On Availability Groups.
Designed, implemented, and maintained high-availability and disaster recovery solutions, including Always On AGs, replication, log shipping, geo-replication, and cross-environment failover strategies.
Utilized ServiceNow ticketing for incident, problem, and change management, ensuring SLA compliance, accurate documentation, and warm handovers across global support teams.
Administered, maintained, and optimized SQL Server Databases, SSISDB, Azure SQL(Azure MI and VM), VM databases.
Led performance tuning initiatives, including index optimization, query plan analysis, stored procedure tuning, and root cause analysis to improve system stability and response times.
Automated database maintenance, monitoring, and operational workflows using PowerShell and T-SQL, reducing manual effort and operational risk.
Developed and maintained backup, recovery, and disaster recovery strategies for on-prem and cloud platforms, implementing TDE encryption, compression, off-site retention, and long-term archival aligned with enterprise policies.
Supported .NET application workloads, leading database migrations, integrations, and production operations using best practices for scalability, reliability, cost efficiency, and high availability.
Proactively monitored database health, SSIS job execution, batch processing, and resolving storage growth, blocking, performance bottlenecks, and failed ETL jobs.
Ensured compliance with banking security standards and regulatory requirements (PHI/PII) by implementing RBAC, data masking, auditing, access reviews, and remediation plans.
Oversaw user provisioning and privileged access management across SQL Server, Azure, and Oracle platforms using CyberArk.
Led release deployments, elevated access approvals, and complex production troubleshooting, collaborating with infrastructure, application, DevOps, and security teams.
Conducted business analysis and requirements gathering to recommend cost-effective enhancements and modernization initiatives.
Participated in daily DBA stand-ups, weekly team meetings, and continuous improvement initiatives within a highly regulated financial environment.
BCBS of South Carolina — SQL Server DBA (Azure)
Jul 2019 – Oct 2019
Participated in daily DBA stand-ups, weekly team meetings, and continuous improvement initiatives within a highly regulated financial environment.
Supported SQL Server installations, Azure DB, Azure MI, and HA/DR implementations, including Always On Availability Groups, failover clustering, and enterprise DR strategies.
Administered and supported SSIS packages and the SSISDB catalog, including execution monitoring, failure troubleshooting, index and statistics maintenance, and secure access management via CyberArk.
Performed index optimization, statistics updates, query plan analysis, and performance tuning to improve database stability and application response times.
Automated routine DBA operations such as index maintenance, statistics refresh, backups, monitoring, and deployments using PowerShell and T-SQL, reducing manual effort and operational risk.
Managed server upgrades, patching, and compliance configurations (TLS, .NET, IIS), ensuring alignment with enterprise security and regulatory standards.
Managed incidents, changes, and access requests through ServiceNow, maintaining SLA compliance, detailed documentation, and effective warm handovers across global support teams.
Ernst & Young, Dallas, TX - Mar 2018 – Jun 2019
Senior SQL Server database Administrator (On-prem & Azure) (SQL Server 2008–2016 Azure Always On Clustering SSISDB Performance Tuning/ServiceNow)
Responsibilities & Achievements:
Administered and supported SQL Server 2008–2016 across physical and VMware platforms, delivering enterprise-grade database services in a global EY DBA organization.
Installed, configured, upgraded, and standardized SQL Server instances (2008 to 2016), including failover clustering and Always On Availability Groups.
Designed and implemented high-availability and disaster recovery solutions, including Active-Active / Active-Passive clusters, multi-subnet AGs, geo-replication, and database mirroring.
Performed database migrations, backups, restorations, and DR failover testing across multiple data centers, ensuring business continuity and compliance.
Owned and supported the SSISDB catalog, including configuration, security, performance optimization, execution monitoring, backup/recovery, and HA/DR integration.
Conducted advanced performance tuning for large-scale databases (9TB+), including index maintenance, statistics management, query plan analysis, and deadlock resolution.
Automated SQL Server operations using SQL Agent, T-SQL, and PowerShell, covering backups, index/statistics maintenance, monitoring, and alerting.
Managed security and compliance controls, including logins, roles, auditing, TDE encryption, vulnerability remediation, and patching in regulated environments.
Supported SSIS deployments and enterprise scheduling (Control-M), along with PowerShell-based automation for repeatable and reliable operations.
Administered and supported Azure SQL (IaaS/PaaS), Snowflake, MongoDB, and Cosmos DB, focusing on availability, performance, and operational stability.
Managed incident, problem, and change management through ServiceNow, providing 24 7 production support, SLA adherence, and warm handovers across global teams.
Collaborated with application, infrastructure, and network teams on migrations, capacity planning, and database consolidation initiatives.
Technical Environment:
SQL Server 2008/2012/2016 SSISDB SSIS SSRS T-SQL SQL Agent Always On AG Failover Clustering Replication PowerShell Control-M Azure (IAAS/PAAS) Snowflake MongoDB Cosmos DB VMware Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 ServiceNow
Allegis Group — Enterprise & Cloud Database Services
Database Administrator
(SQL Server 2008–2012 Azure Always On Replication Automation)
Feb 2016 – Mar 2018 United States (Remote)
Responsibilities & Achievements:
Installed, configured, and administered SQL Server 2008/2012 on Windows Server 2008, 2012, supporting enterprise and remote workloads.
Managed SQL Server databases and infrastructure components across on-premises and Microsoft Azure environments (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).
Led SQL Server migrations (2005 to 2008, 2008 2012) with minimal downtime and comprehensive validation.
Designed and supported Always On Availability Groups across multi-subnet clusters and geographically distributed data centers.
Expanded clustered environments by adding nodes to improve scalability, fault tolerance, and system resilience.
Configured and supported transactional replication and log shipping for backup, reporting, and disaster recovery use cases.
Developed and enforced maintenance strategies, including backups, index rebuilds, statistics updates, and integrity checks.
Performed performance tuning, resolving CPU, memory, I/O, blocking, and deadlock issues through execution plan analysis and indexing improvements.
Deployed database code and SSIS packages through controlled release processes across environments.
Implemented Database Mail, Linked Servers, TDE encryption, and Auditing to meet security and compliance standards.
Authored Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for SQL Server installation, upgrades, patching, and recovery operations.
Automated administrative tasks using SQL Server Agent jobs, including index maintenance, statistics updates, and deadlock capture.
Planned and executed SQL Server upgrades, cumulative updates, and hotfixes, ensuring platform stability and security.
Provided production support through ServiceNow, managing incidents, changes, and problem tickets with SLA adherence.
Collaborated with application, infrastructure, and cloud teams to support migrations, modernization, and operational improvements.
Technical Environment:
SQL Server 2008–2016 Always On AG Failover Clustering Replication Log Shipping SSIS SQL Agent T-SQL Azure (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS) PowerShell Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 ServiceNow
HCA Healthcare — Feb 2015 – Jan 2016 United States
Database Administrator
(SQL Server 2005–2012 Always On SSIS HA/DR Healthcare Compliance)
Responsibilities & Achievements:
Installed, configured, and administered SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server 2003/2008, supporting clinical and operational healthcare systems.
Performed SQL Server migrations (2005 2008, 2008 2012), validating data integrity and application compatibility.
Designed and supported Always On Availability Groups across multi-subnet clusters and multiple data centers to meet high availability and disaster recovery requirements.
Created and maintained migration and rollback documentation, ensuring repeatable and auditable deployment processes.
Managed SQL Server security, including logins, database roles, permissions, and least-privilege access controls.
Deployed database scripts and SSIS packages from staging to production environments, ensuring controlled and compliant releases.
Conducted DBCC integrity checks, index fragmentation analysis, and performance tuning to optimize query execution and system stability.
Performed production-to-nonproduction database refreshes to support development, testing, and validation activities.
Diagnosed and resolved performance issues related to CPU, memory, disk I/O, blocking, deadlocks, and high transaction throughput.
Extracted and analyzed execution plans to improve indexing strategies and query performance.
Planned and executed SQL Server upgrades, patching, and hotfix deployments following change management procedures.
Developed and maintained SSIS packages, SQL Agent jobs, backups, and monitoring alerts for reliable batch and ETL processing.
Managed incident and change requests using ServiceNow, providing timely resolution and documentation in a 24 7 healthcare production environment.
Technical Environment:
SQL Server 2005–2012 Always On AG Failover Clustering SSIS SQL Agent T-SQL DBCC Performance Tuning Windows Server 2003/2008 ServiceNow
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