Ben Schaefer Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Chicago, Il, Us

● Configured new cloud storage, networking, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in AWS and Azure, manually and via Terraform, while consolidating workloads to reduce our spend by 35%● Monitored and maintained Entra ID RBAC in conjunction with Okta to keep our SSO processes securewhile ensuring compliance with Valent’s parent corporation’s regulations● Managed thousands of M365 resources within our Azure tenant in order to keep operations assmooth, secure, and efficient as possible● Reduced licensing fees by $37,000 by customizing a solution in Tanium which broadened endpoint visibility and automated the monthly maintenance weekend’s patching ● Elevated 12 legacy workflows from Nutanix NX devices into the cloud to while repurposing the hardware to create a proper test environment for the development teams ● Visualized our entire hybrid infrastructure across 15+ sites via Brainboard/Azure Monitorto decrease administrative overhead and boost responsiveness during outages

Chandler, Arizona, Us

● Transformed a minimal starting inventory of existing client assets into a comprehensive migrationplan for over 300 servers from Server 2012 to Server 2016/2019● Surveyed the entire infrastructure with a customized PowerShell script to account for all servers and hand-checked them all to verify their upgrade readiness● Achieved a 60% reduction in hardware footprint by virtualizing and consolidating traditional servers to Dell VXRail hyperconverged infrastructure and Azure VMs ● Finished the migration significantly under budget and ahead of schedule due to the aforementioned hardware reduction as well as our highly organized and documented migration process● Completed an AD domain functional level upgrade on the client’s primary domainwhile removing over 20 unused legacy GPOs

Schaumburg, Illinois, Us

● Maintained and monitored hundreds of on-prem and cloud servers daily for any signs of instability and to smooth out the working conditions of our DevOps sister team● Deployed temporary and permanent pieces of new infrastructure via ARM templates across multiple development environments ● Modified and grew massive amounts of automation through the use of PowerShell, scheduled tasks, and other custom scripting● Utilized the ELK stack for data ingestion and as an SIEM tool to survey potential security vulnerabilities and configuration changes which could smooth out inefficiencies● Provided leadership by training two junior systems administrators while documenting the team’s onboarding process from scratch

Schaumburg, Illinois, Us

● Assumed ownership of multiple existing infrastructure responsibilities for maintenance,updates, security, and performance from the outgoing administrator● Maintained Active Directory/Group Policy for an entire multi-forest environment● Created a proof of concept for moving and consolidating member servers into Azure from older hardware to shift expenditures from CapEx to OpEx● Worked hand in hand with another administrator to ensure maximal uptime of all production VMs,VMware hosts, NetApp storage, and Cisco networking● Mentored the junior administrator on our team while planning and creating projects in-house to promote team chemistry and cohesion

Chicago, Il, Us

● Supported end-line technicians and other technical staff through an imaging technology migration between HPCA/SCCM 2007 to SCCM 2012/NOMAD● Executed a runbook to correct inconsistencies on the back end through the SCCM console and AD Sites & Services to aid software distribution for 100+ remote sites● Migrated and consolidated numerous Sharepoint sites from on-premise servers to Sharepoint Online

Redmond, Washington, Us

● Architected and engineered cloud solutions for SMB clients from start to finish, ranging from single-server shops to high-availability SQL clusters● Diagnosed and troubleshot issues throughout the entire range of Office 365 and M365 productsincluding Exchange Online and Azure Active Directory● Utilized PowerShell to securely connect onsite resources to online O365 tenants andgather information for in-depth problem resolution● Analyzed problems in Exchange and Office migration projects leveraging hybrid setups and staged migrations to offset legacy Exchange limitations

Us

● Served as the sole North American member of a global team dedicated to the health of 65virtualized Domain Controllers and over 100 member servers● Spearheaded a last-minute operation with a VAR during my first day on the job to migrate 4800 users into Azure AD in order to secure $160,000 worth of free services for use in Office 365● Led a project to explore the benefits of directory synchronization and a hybrid AD environment● Headed up the domain services and server aspects of a weekend-long project virtualizing over 50 production SAP hosts with high executive visibility● Assisted with migrating our full contingent of DCs and verifying their health during a forklift move from one datacenter to another

North Chicago, Illinois, Us

- Monitored and managed 100+ domain controllers globally for issues with AD replication, DNS propagation, and DHCP scopes.- Troubleshot and solved a widespread issue with Kerberos token bloat that was affecting users from multiple domains and organizations. Co-created a simple web-based tool for direct support technicians to use in order to fix the issue.- Interfaced directly with development teams and project managers to issue guidance in the use of our multi-forest LDAP authentication.- Kept watch over MIIS/Forefront Identity Manager servers to ensure maximum uptime of global, high visibility and mission critical web-based applications. Was entrusted with 24/7 manipulation of all resources and re-creating entire VMs utilizing Avamar backups in critical situations.

Lake Zurich, Il, Us

- Managed 25+ virtual servers running the company's entire IT software infrastructure. Decommissioned antiquated servers and re-allocated limited resources to prioritize mission critical SQL servers and ESX hosts.- Managed Exchange 2010/Exchange online server maintenance and upkeep, alongside policing user mailbox and Online Archive size limitations.- Reorganized the Active Directory infrastructure for more efficient management, as well as more streamlined and accurate application of Group Policy.- Optimized Insight’s backup and disaster recovery solution utilizing a robotic tape library through Backup Exec, and sent tapes to Iron Mountain in accordance with a backup schedule modified to fit the company's existing DR plan.- Worked with users to remedy problems ranging from small hardware failures to those with enterprise-wide impacts such as Exchange server outages.- Collaborated with other staff to maximize performance for mission-critical ERP and proprietary data warehousing applications. - Manually altered SQL databases using queries after hours to conform with legacy software requirements under the leadership of an in-house DBA.

Finance (Associate'S) / Computer Information Systems/Finance (Bachelor'S)

Certifications, A+/Network+

Certifications, Mcsa/Mcse 2000/2003