Freelance ICT Consultant

Many organizations face a growing demand to connect applications with other parties. Security, government, availablity and managabilty essential. An API gateway is a perfect solution to centralize all incoming and outgoing data connections. I have a good understanding and knowledge of the CA API Gateway (former Layer7). A strong value of the CA API Gateway is policies are very customizable, to accommodate different capabilities that your trading partners actually have.

My speciality is the technical installation. I developed software installtions for organiszations that won't allow appliance installs.

My skill in this workfield are:

• Experience with CA Layer 7 API gateway
• Knowledge and understanding of Unix commands, and other scripting languages
• LDAP experience
• Active Directory experience
• Experience with Web Services Security
• Apache proxy experience
• VMWare VM experience
• HTTPS/SSL/Client certificate/Security knowledge
• Problem analysis / root cause analysis proficiency
• Install new / rebuild existing servers and configure the Layer 7 API gateway, peripherals, services, settings, directories, storage, etc. in accordance with BIS standards and project/operational requirements.
• Develop and maintain installation and configuration procedures.
• Research and recommend innovative, and where possible, automated approaches for system administration tasks.
• Perform system and gateway monitoring, verifying the integrity and availability of all hardware, server resources, systems and key processes
• Ensure operational integrity of the Layer 7 infrastructure by driving backup and redundancy deliverables
• Identify needs / opportunities for expanded use of the API gateway services
• Integrate gateway services with LDAP and Active Directory as needed
• Maintain and update security certificates
• strong communication skills both verbal and written

Many years working in the ICT industry gained me a substantial, but general, knowledge of hardware, software and storage systems. I also have a working experiance as mid-office and data connection specialist.

This enables me to understand the various levels of requirements, the domain, the viable technologies, and anticipated development.

My work includes determining multiple design alternatives, assessing such alternatives based on all identified constraints (such as cost, schedule, space, power, safety, usability, reliability, maintainability, availability, and so on), and selecting the most suitable options for further design.

My skills in this fiel of operation are:

• Interfacing with the user(s) and sponsor(s) and all other stakeholders in order to determine their (evolving) needs.
• Generating the highest level of system requirements, based on the user's needs and other constraints.
• Ensuring that this set of high level requirements is consistent, complete, correct, and operationally defined.
• Performing cost–benefit analyses to determine whether requirements are best met by manual, software, or hardware functions; making maximum use of commercial off-the-shelf or already developed components.

• Ensuring that a maximally robust design is developed.

• Generating a set of acceptance test requirements, together with the designers, test engineers, and the user, which determine that all of the high level requirements have been met.

I have a working experience with Netapp, EMC storage + VPLEX and Datadomain storage systems.

I managed a NetApp FAS to EMC VNX / VPLEX migration project including writing a tender, design, implement end educate the end user.

Working in the ICT industry as a Systems Designer I have seen many flaws in datacenter designs. I have recoverd numerous datacenter disaster who no one saw coming.

Installing a adequate back-up strategy is important but not enough: regular failover testing along with planning for unexpected distastrs is a must.

Most plans and procedures in place plan for scenaroius we can think of beforehand. A complte shutdown of one site for instance. But what if a spontaneous fire extinguishing disable a whole array of storage?  (Such things really happen, it's one of the recovery projects I have done.)
Most of the systems at that site won't notice this direct (if at all), and yet there is a big los of data. In such a case normal plans don't work. Be prepared for such occasions.

My first education as electrical engineer was followed by working experience in large heating and cooling projects. From the I gained a lot of knowlege as a technician wich today is of great value in my working experience as a ICT datacanter consultant.