Senior Microsoft Azure Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer

USAID ASHAR

SENIOR CLOUD ENGINEER — MICROSOFT AZURE

Nagawara, Manayata Tech Park, Bengaluru - 560045 960-***-**** *****.*****@*****.*** linkedin.com/in/usaid-ashar PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Results-driven Senior Cloud Engineer with 4+ years of progressive experience designing, deploying, and optimizing enterprise-grade cloud solutions across Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Microsoft 365. Promoted to Senior Cloud Engineer in March 2026 in recognition of technical leadership and the successful delivery of complex, large-scale migrations - including the migration of ~1,000 servers from AWS to Azure for Turbify with zero data loss. Deep expertise in Azure IaaS/PaaS, hybrid identity, networking, Azure Virtual Desktop, disaster recovery, cost optimization (FinOps), and infrastructure security. Adept at driving architectural decisions, performing root cause analysis on critical incidents, mentoring junior engineers, and serving as a trusted technical point of contact for enterprise clients. CORE TECHNICAL SKILLS

Cloud Platforms - Microsoft Azure (Primary), AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft 365 Azure IaaS/PaaS - Virtual Machines & VMSS, Storage (Blob, File, Queue, Table), App Services, Azure Functions, Container Instances, AKS

(familiarity), Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Azure CDN Networking - Virtual Networks, Subnets, NSG, UDR, Azure Firewall, Traffic Manager, Front Door, P2S/S2S VPN, ExpressRoute (familiarity), Private Endpoints, DNS Zones

Identity & Security - Microsoft Entra ID, Hybrid Identity (AD Connect), RBAC, Conditional Access, PIM, MFA, SAML, OAuth 2.0, SSO, Azure Policy, Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Azure Virtual Desktop - Host pool deployment, session host management, FSLogix profile containers, Workspace/AppGroup configuration, image management

Backup & DR - Azure Backup, Recovery Services Vault, Azure Site Recovery (ASR), failover/failback, DR drills, business continuity planning Monitoring - Azure Monitor, Log Analytics Workspace, KQL, Application Insights, Diagnostic Settings, Action Groups & Alerts IaC & Automation - Terraform, ARM Templates, Azure CLI, PowerShell (Az module), AzCopy, Bash, Azure DevOps (CI/CD, Repos, Boards) Databases & Data - Azure SQL DB, Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, SQL Server on-prem M365 & Migration - Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, G Suite to M365, Google Drive to OneDrive, AWS to Azure, on-prem to Azure

OS & On-Prem - Windows Server 2012-2022, Active Directory DS, DNS, DHCP, IIS, Linux Methodologies - ITIL principles, high availability, zero-downtime migration, infrastructure auditing & compliance, Agile/Scrum, technical documentation

CERTIFICATIONS

• AZ-305 - Azure Solutions Architect Expert

• AZ-140 - Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty

• AZ-104 - Azure Administrator Associate

• AZ-204 - Azure Developer Associate

• DP-300 - Azure Database Administrator Associate

• DP-900 - Azure Database Fundamentals AZ-900 - Azure Fundamentals SC-900 - Security, Compliance & Identity Fundamentals

• MS-900 - Microsoft 365 Fundamentals AI-900 - Azure AI Fundamentals AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

SENIOR CLOUD ENGINEER, Xencia Technology Pvt. Ltd. Mar 2026 - Present Bengaluru

• Promoted to Senior Cloud Engineer after leading multiple high-impact enterprise cloud projects and demonstrating technical leadership across client engagements.

• Lead architecture reviews and solution design sessions for client cloud environments, advising on Azure landing zones, networking topology, identity models, and security baselines.

• Led technical readiness and documentation for the Microsoft Infrastructure and Database Migration Audit (Module A & B), a direct contributor to the organization achieving Advanced Specialization status.

• Drive cost optimization using Azure Advisor, Cost Management, and Reserved Instance analysis; reduced monthly Azure spend by 15- 20% across 7-8 client environments through right-sizing and resource cleanup.

• Serve as primary L3 escalation point for critical incidents spanning Azure networking, identity, and compute; perform root cause analysis and implement permanent fixes, improving incident recurrence rates by 25-30%.

• Architect and deploy end-to-end Azure Virtual Desktop environments: host pool configuration, FSLogix profile containers, master image management, and AppGroup/Workspace assignment for 200+ enterprise users.

• Author and maintain Terraform and ARM Template infrastructure-as-code for repeatable, version-controlled provisioning, cutting environment deployment time by 50%.

• Mentor a team of 6-8 junior cloud engineers on troubleshooting methodology and Azure best practices, and partner directly with client stakeholders on requirements and delivery.

CLOUD ENGINEER, Xencia Technology Pvt. Ltd. Jul 2024 - Feb 2026 Bengaluru

• Co-led the migration of ~1,000 servers from AWS to Azure for Turbify, achieving zero data loss and minimal downtime across the full transition.

• Deployed multi-tier infrastructure via Terraform using custom golden images, standardizing provisioning and eliminating configuration drift across client environments.

• Provided L2 support for Azure infrastructure and Active Directory, resolving critical incidents within SLA across network connectivity, application performance, and authentication.

• Managed hybrid identity solutions: Azure AD Connect configuration, Conditional Access policy design, RBAC assignments, and domain controller management/migration.

• Deployed and maintained Azure IaaS/PaaS services including VMs, Storage Accounts, Load Balancers, Application Gateways, Azure Site Recovery, and Backup vaults.

• Contributed to architecture and documentation for new client cloud environments in line with the Azure Well-Architected Framework.

• Orchestrated end-to-end technical documentation and readiness for the Azure Modernization and Migration Program (AMMP). ASSOCIATE CLOUD ENGINEER, Pentagon System & Services Oct 2022 - Feb 2024 Mumbai

• Designed and executed an on-premises-to-Azure migration strategy; assessed and prepared virtual and physical machines using Azure Migrate for minimal-disruption cutovers.

• Configured Azure Site Recovery for Nutanix VMs; ran DR drills and executed production failovers/re-protection to meet business continuity SLAs.

• Provisioned users, groups, distribution lists, and shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365; executed full G Suite to Office 365 and Google Drive to OneDrive migrations.

• Deployed and managed Azure Virtual Desktop environments, configuring host pools, session hosts, and user access controls.

• Configured AD DS authentication over SMB for Azure File Shares and Point-to-Site VPN for remote users; automated on-prem-to-Azure file sync using AzCopy and Task Scheduler.

• Built a data pipeline using Azure Data Factory, Data Lake, Azure SQL DB, and Synapse Analytics; reverse-engineered it into a parameterized ARM template for one-click deployment. CLOUD INTERN, Rapit Technology Services Nov 2021 - Apr 2022 Mumbai

• Assisted senior engineers in deploying and configuring cloud infrastructure across Azure, AWS, and GCP, including virtual machines, virtual networks, and storage.

• Configured Azure AD Connect for hybrid identity between on-premises Active Directory and Azure AD; supported SSO integration using SAML and OAuth.

• Troubleshot Azure AD authentication and authorization issues, ensuring seamless user access across integrated applications.

• Authored cloud architecture documentation, runbooks, and process guides to support knowledge sharing and team efficiency. PERSONAL PROJECTS

• Azure Cost Optimization Tool (Python) - Built a Python-based tool with live Azure Retail Prices API integration to analyze VM rightsizing, orphaned resources, disk spend, and governance gaps; produces Excel and HTML dashboard outputs. Independently solved non-obvious pricing challenges including Reserved Instance structures, Windows license delta computation, and disk-tier matching.

• Azure Architecture Discovery & Visualization Tool - Building a tool to automatically discover and visualize Azure environment architecture, aimed at accelerating client onboarding and architecture review sessions. EDUCATION

• B.E. in Electrical, Electronics & Power Engineering - BNCOE, Pusad, Maharashtra CGPA: 8.38

• Diploma in Electronics & Telecommunication - Dr. N. P. Hirani Institute of Polytechnic, Pusad, Maharashtra 60.82%

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