Ernest D.

Highly accomplished IT & Information Security Professional with 15+ years of experience in Cybersecurity, Network, Cloud, and IT Systems. Proven expertise in developing and executing strategic security initiatives, architecting enterprise-grade solutions, and leading cross-functional teams. UPWORK experience: 10,000+ work hours, 100% Job Success, Top Rated Plus, Expert-Vetted. I have successfully delivered complex projects across heterogeneous environments such as Telco/ISP providers, SMB, and Large International Enterprises in USA, Europe & Globally. Main offered services include: • Cybersecurity Architect • Information Security Manager • Network Architect • System Architect • Cloud Architect • Digital transformation • Solution design and implementation • IT strategy development • vCTO | vCISO • Executive Consultant Highly experienced SME in the following technology fields: Information Security & Cyber Security • Develop & enhance Cybersecurity management frameworks. • Develop, implement & monitor strategic, comprehensive enterprise information security & IT risk management programs. • Develop and maintain cybersecurity programs, strategies, policies, standards, baselines, guidelines, and procedures. Network/IT/System Security • Firewall, UTM, NGFW & NG-IPS: PaloAlto, Fortigate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, Cisco (ASA FirePower), Barracuda, pfSense, Checkpoint, SonicWall, WatchGuard • Email Security: Cisco, Barracuda, Mimecast, Microsoft • Web Security: Cisco, Barracuda, Fortinet, McAfee, Zscaler • Proxy and Reverse Proxy: Squid, Nginx, Dante • IPSec VPN & SDWAN: Cisco DMVPN, HPE ADVPN, Fortigate ADVPN • SSL VPN: Fortigate, Cisco, PaloAlto, Barracuda, SonicWall, OpenVPN, pfSense, Swan, OpenConnect • Network Access Control (802.1X, Radius, Tacacs+…), BYOD and MDM : Aruba ClearPass, Cisco ISE, PacketFence, NPS, Genians, Intune... • SASE, SSE and ZTNA Expert with Prisma Access, Cloudflare and all leading multi-vendor solutions • IAM SSO SAML2 Oauth: OKTA, Keycloack, Auth0 • DLP & CASB Bitglass, Forcepoint • EDR McAfee, Sophos, SentinelOne... • SIEM and SOC solutions - Wazuh, Fortinet, Splunk... IT Cloud/Systems/Virtualization/Backup/DR • Hybrid Cloud, Multi Cloud Architecture • Cloud Infrastructure Security, Networking, Storage, VPC (AWS, Azure, OVH, OpenStack...) • Virtualization planning, implementation, tuning (VMware, Proxmox, KVM, Hyper-V) • Hyperconverged HCI solutions ESXi & vSAN, Proxmox & CEPH • Linux Systems deployment, administration and development (Debian Ubuntu OpenSuSE CentOS RedHat) including performance optimization, hardening, scripting, HA, backup & restore • Windows Server architecture & administration (Hyper-V, AD, GPO, DNS, DHCP, PKI, File Server) • SAN (FC/FCoE), ISCSi, NAS(File) • VDI and Virtual App (Microsoft, VMware, Citrix) • Load Balancer/Application Delivery: HAproxy, Nginx, Barracuda, F5 • ElasticSearch & OpenSearch design & implementation • Critical HA Database clusters: PostgreSQL & MySQL • HA, Backup & Disaster Recovery planning & deployment (Veeam, VMware, Proxmox, Linux, AWS, Azure, Windows...etc) Network technologies • Switches: Cisco, HPE, Comware, Aruba OS, Arista, Alcatel, Juniper, Dell • Routers: Cisco, HPE, Comware, Alcatel, Juniper, Mikrotik • WiFi Mobility: Aruba OS & Central, Cisco, Meraki, Ubiquity, Mikrotik • MPLS L2/L3 VPN, MP-BGP, VPLS, SDWAN • BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP routing protocols • FRR, VyOS, Bird • VLAN, QinQ, VXLAN, EVPN L2 scalable overlay networks • ACL, PBR, NAT, QoS, NAS; large-scale DHCP/DNS • IGMP L2 and PIM L3 multicast • Secure WiFi planning: controller managed & cloud-managed • NMS, EMS, FCPAS and OSS/BSS systems - LibreNMS, Zabbix, Nagios, Cacti Some of the most notable certifications I hold are: • CISSP - ISC2 • HPE Master Accredited Solution Expert - Network Solutions • HPE Accredited Solutions Expert - Network Architect • SUSE Cert. Linux Admin.: SLES In addition to technical skills, I deliver proven business operations experience for: • Project Management • Team building and management • RFP preparation Proposal preparation (technical/commercial) • Pre-sales & Sales Management • Business development, planning, and acquiring the correct technology • Project Management • Team building and management • RFP preparation Proposal preparation (technical/commercial) • Pre-sales & Sales Management • Business partnership enablement and management with leading companies such as HPE, Aruba, Fortinet, Cisco, IBM, Dell, Microsoft… and many more I am an avid learner, enabling me to swiftly adapt to new business environments and new project needs. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills combined with my long experience in team-leading & management enable me to collaborate strongly and work in global project teams with multiple members (in both leading and supporting roles).