Senior IT Application & Cloud Engineer (Hybrid MN)

Richard Ogandah

(Local to Prescott Blaine MN, and comfortable doing hybrid for Saint Paul MN office location)

Professional Summary

Dynamic IT Application Systems Engineer with over 16 years of experience supporting, implementing and managing mission critical systems and driving application and infrastructure performance.

Proficient in CI/CD methodologies, automation using PowerShell and incident management. Proven ability to collaborate with development teams, ensuring seamless application and infrastructure deployments.

Successfully managed and enhanced security certificate processes and established automated workload processing.

Ready to leverage technical expertise and dedication to quality in delivering innovative solutions to meet organizational needs.

Expert in system configuration, tuning, and hardening, ensuring optimized and secure environments.

Proven track record in cloud migration strategies, including assessment, lift-and-shift, re-platforming, and refactoring, with strong experience in Microsoft Azure services.

Skilled in troubleshooting complex infrastructure and application issues across Windows, Linux, and Azure environments.

Hands-on experience with payment systems support, ensuring reliable transaction processing and adherence to security standards.

Strong background in CI/CD pipelines, automation, and workflow orchestration using PowerShell, Bash, Ansible, Jenkins, and Azure DevOps.

Experienced in monitoring and alerting using Splunk, AppDynamics, Logic Monitor, and other observability tools to maintain high availability and performance.

Adept at patch management, security hardening, and certificate lifecycle management to protect enterprise applications and customer data.

Demonstrated ability to collaborate with development and cross-functional teams to deploy, validate, and optimize applications efficiently.

Skilled in documentation, compliance, and audit preparation, ensuring systems meet internal policies and regulatory standards.

Strong project management and process expertise in incident, change, and configuration management.

Proficient in workload automation and job scheduling using Autosys and scripting solutions for operational efficiency.

Strong focus on system resilience and disaster recovery planning, ensuring minimal downtime and data integrity.

Track record of implementing security best practices, mitigating vulnerabilities, and enforcing least-privilege access

Skills

Automated builds and deployments using Jenkins

Scripting knowledge of Windows PowerShell, bash and Ansible scripting

Version control systems: GitHub, Bitbucket, Subversion, TeamCity, Octopus

DevOps

Azure DevOps

Configuration management using Satellite, Puppet and Ansible

Operating Systems: Windows Server, Microsoft Azure, Linux

Implementing and maintaining monitoring systems such Logic Monitor, Splunk

Project management Documentation maintenance Change, incident and problem management

Professional Summary

Amani Haven Healthcare June 24 – Dec 25

Systems Admin

Installed, configured, and maintained servers, operating systems, and enterprise applications.

Applied security patches, updates, and hotfixes to operating systems and software.

Monitored system performance, availability, and capacity; tune configurations as needed.

Maintained configuration baselines and standard operating procedures for all systems.

Automated routine tasks using scripts (PowerShell, Bash).

Managed user accounts, permissions, and group policies across environments.

Ensure systems comply with internal policies, regulatory standards, and security guidelines.

Documented system configurations, patch histories, and changes for audits and troubleshooting.

Troubleshooteded hardware, software, and network issues impacting system stability.

Coordinated system upgrades and configuration changes to minimize downtime and impact.

Wells Fargo Bank Minneapolis Aug 2022 – Aug 2023

Sr Systems Operations Engineer

Executed enterprise L2/L3/L4 escalated operational support tasks.

Troubleshot application incidents, conducted root cause analysis (RCA), restored services, change management and applied patches/fixes.

Monitored application and infrastructure performance, utilizing Splunk and AppDynamics.

Collaborated with development teams on code testing and deployment through CI/CD methodology.

Assess on-premises applications for cloud readiness and compatibility with Azure services.

Plan and execute migration strategies, including lift-and-shift, re-platforming, or refactoring.

Configure Azure resources such as VMs, storage accounts, networking, and security groups.

Ensure migrated applications meet performance, scalability, and availability requirements.

Automated routine operational tasks and repetitive workflows using scripts or automation tools.

Monitor and maintain system health, performance, and reliability across all environments.

Harden systems by applying security patches, updates, and best-practice configurations.

Implement safeguards to protect customer data and ensure compliance with security policies.

Optimize and strengthen the technology stack by evaluating and deploying modern tools or solutions.

Manage user accounts, permissions, and role-based access to enforce least-privilege principles.

Document system configurations, security measures, and compliance procedures for audits.

Collaborate with IT teams to assess risks and implement proactive security enhancements.

Test and validate backup, disaster recovery, and incident response procedures to protect data integrity.

Build and maintain monitoring, alerting, and reporting systems to proactively detect issues.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve operational efficiency and system resilience.

Managed the issuance and renewal of security certificates.

Configured, automated and executed workload processing using Autosys.

Streamlined repetitive tasks through automation with PowerShell, bash, ansible scripting and Jenkins.

Coordinated Security vulnerability remediations.

Performed operational support for MS SQL databases including updates, creating running queries, stored procedures, backups and participated in decommissioning retired databases.

Fastenal Company Nov 2018 – Nov 2021

System Admin / IT DevOps Engineer

Jenkins, Azure DevOps, TeamCity, GitHub Installed and managed application server environments on IIS, Microsoft Azure, WebSphere and JBOSS.

Enhanced operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks with Jenkins,

Configure and maintain servers, applications, and network devices according to best practices.

Implement security measures and access controls to safeguard applications and data in the cloud.

Automate deployment and configuration using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates or IaC tools.

Monitor migration progress, troubleshoot issues, and resolve application or infrastructure errors.

Validate post-migration functionality, performance, and connectivity of applications.

Implement security configurations to protect systems from unauthorized access or vulnerabilities.

Apply patches, updates, and hotfixes to maintain system integrity and reduce risk exposure.

Develop and enforce policies to safeguard customer data and sensitive information.

Monitor system activity and audit logs to detect and respond to security incidents.

Ensure systems comply with regulatory standards, internal controls, and security frameworks PowerShell, bash, and ansible scripting.

Maintained, improved, and documented systems using JIRA, Confluence and ServiceNow.

Performed operational support tasks such as troubleshooting application

incidents, RCA, and service restoration.

Setup and maintained monitoring systems including Logic Monitor, AppDynamics, and Splunk

United Health Group (Optum) Nov 2007 – June 2017

Sr Technical Support Engineer

Oversaw production deployment and support of web based applications, hosted on Windows, Microsoft Azure and Unix/Linux platforms.

Acted as a technical liaison between various technical services and business teams.

Managed application, change, incident, problem, and configuration management processes.

Document migration processes, configurations, and lessons learned for future reference.

Collaborate with developers, network, and security teams to optimize applications for cloud operations

Conducted root cause analysis on incidents and formulated recommendations or solutions.

Directed program lifecycle management (PLM) activities, including requirements gathering, design, installation, and configuration plus versioning

Provided 24/7 on-call support for high-priority incidents, ensuring swift resolution.

Thomson Corporation Eagan, USA June 2006 – Nov 2007

Systems Engineer

Managed applications and infrastructure change, problem, and configuration management.

Collaborated with developers to deploy code and implement applications in production environments.

Documented procedures, policies, resolutions, and root cause analyses forvarious incidents.

Served as a liaison between business units and technical services to resolve customer issues.

Participated in a 24/7 pager rotation, providing weekend coverage and ensuring service availability.

Education

University of St. Thomas Master's in Software Systems

Certification

MCSA: Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator

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