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Rob Harman

Technical manager with over 15 years of results-driven infrastructure design and solutions implementation. Top priority: secure systems built to scale. I fix root causes, not symptoms. I thrive in collaborative, open environments with a passion for computers, networking, and cybersecurity.

Professional Profile
›Windows Server 2003–2022, Azure, Hyper-V, Linux and UNIX systems administration, automation and maintenance.
›Process automation using PowerShell and automated policy-based systems management.
›Excellent understanding of DevOps and DevSecOps methodologies in holistic infrastructure design.
›Network-based security, threat management, penetration/vulnerability testing.
›Troubleshooting and issue resolution with a focus on permanent root-cause analysis.
›Scalable, resilient systems planning with redundancy and viable backup solutions.
›Values teaching, mentoring and improving the overall knowledge of the organization.
Systems Skills
›Azure management, deployment and architecture (ARM, PowerShell, Azure-CLI)
›Infrastructure as Code, automated deployments, dynamic infrastructure
›On-prem to Azure migrations: VMs, SQL Server, automation workloads
›PowerShell scripting, systems and process automation
›Windows Server 2000–2022; Desktop Experience and Core
›Linux server administration (Debian, Ubuntu)
›Nginx in webserver and reverse-proxy configurations
›Exchange Online in hybrid configurations and on-prem 2003–2016
›Server virtualization: Microsoft Hyper-V 2008–2022
›ZFS administration
Experience
Google Cloud
Cloud Solutions Developer Manager
April 2022 – Current Kitchener, ON [ expand ]

Cloud Solutions Developer Manager at Google Cloud.

Plan International Canada
Senior Manager IT Infrastructure and Security
May 2018 – April 2022 Toronto, ON [ expand ]

Plan International Canada is the Canadian arm of Plan International, a global non-profit focused on improving the lives of children in developing areas. I was the sole technical contact responsible for providing guidance to all internal projects with an IT component, building and designing Plan's cloud-based infrastructure, and implementing security enhancements while modernizing legacy systems.

›Introduced and developed automated DevOps processes for deploying all Windows and Linux infrastructure.
›Designed and built fully automated role-based secure server templates using GitHub, Azure Automation, DSC, PowerShell.
›Cleared a decade's worth of tech-debt through modular infrastructure replacement with cloud-first practices.
›Implemented automated vulnerability detection and alerting using Rapid7's InsightVM.
›Implemented MFA, conditional access policies, Just In Time access control.
›Automated multiple business processes using PowerShell saving the organization over 40 hours of work per week.
›Reduced on-prem virtual infrastructure by 50% without impacting production work or service availability.
›Automated multiple security incident responses allowing rapid containment of suspected malware and phishing emails.
›Replaced legacy systems running on unsupported SharePoint, Windows Server 2003 and 2008.
Right To Play
Technology Manager
June 2012 – April 2018 Toronto, ON [ expand ]

Right To Play is a non-profit developing communities and life skills in developing areas, working with children in 22 countries. I managed all IT vendor relationships, infrastructure changes, and wrote a comprehensive five year IT roadmap including migrating over 500 users across 5 countries from Windows XP/Server 2003 to Server 2012 and Exchange 2007 to Office 365.

›Created five year IT roadmap to simplify IT management, procurement and implementation.
›Created and implemented virtualization strategy including consolidation and standardization of virtual host hardware.
›Reliably identified and repaired Active Directory replication issues across four countries.
›Maintained 99.99% uptime across all key systems during upgrade and replacement projects.
›Created processes to automate and simplify onboarding/offboarding, server and desktop deployments.
›Designed infrastructure to support 15,000 volunteers in Africa, South-Asia and Latin America.
›Reduced number of physical servers from over 40 to less than 25.
›Replaced insecure site-to-site links with new IPSec based tunnels.
Jolera Inc
Senior Systems Administrator
June 2008 – May 2012 Toronto, ON [ expand ]

Jolera is an outsourced IT department specializing in the non-profit sector. Networks I maintained had 50–2,000 employees spanning Canada, the US, Africa, Asia and Europe. I assisted with escalated issues, server-side and network troubleshooting, maintenance, migration, new platform implementations and disaster recovery.

›Advanced troubleshooting of Windows Server 2000–2008 R2 hardware, software and configuration issues.
›Advanced Active Directory administration and troubleshooting in single and multi-domain configurations.
›Advanced troubleshooting of Exchange 2003–2010; upgrades and migrations.
›Low-level root cause analysis ranging from eventlog analysis to kernel dumps and live kernel debugging.
›Troubleshot VMware ESX(i) 3.5–5.0 in standalone and multi-SAN vCenter environments.
›Conducted technical interviews for second and third tier staff hiring.
The Columbia Connextion
Systems Administrator
March 2005 – May 2008 [ expand ]

Sole administrator for 10 client offices with 10–50 employees each. Responsible for all network and configuration troubleshooting, daily maintenance and disaster recovery operations.

›All troubleshooting for Server 2003 SBS configuration, software and hardware issues.
›Exchange 2003 maintenance, configuration, installation and troubleshooting.
›Configured firewalls using Cisco PIX, SonicWall, Barracuda.
›Implemented automated offsite backup solution via SCP/rsync across Windows and Linux servers.
Non-Professional
›Home Active Directory domain used to test configuration changes and duplicate work issues in a lab environment.
›Hyper-V 2019 with direct and iSCSI storage running multiple Linux/UNIX VMs; most services now in Docker containers.
›Ubuntu file server with ZFS-based storage array providing backups to multiple home systems.
›Avid reader of technology and industry news; closely follows IT security; contributor to small FOSS projects.

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