David Custer Email & Phone Number

Herndon, Va

Build and lead an organization of over 40 diverse technical staff ranging from entry level to senior systems engineers and multiple subordinate managers in a DevOps environment. Lead this team in providing support for storage, automation, and messaging products primarily to US Government customers. Lead operational improvement and excellence initiatives for massively scaled AWS environments spanning the globe in all commercial and government AWS Regions. Interface with internal and customer facing teams for design, implementation, and support of new product initiatives and new feature launches for existing products.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Lead an organization of over 30 Managers, Network and System Engineers, and Help Desk Technicians to provide all external customer facing and internal information technology services. Responsible for meeting and exceeding SLAs for up-time and performance of LivingSocial's data center, website and eCommerce systems. Lead the development and management of engineering team OpEx and CapEx budgets ($20M). Oversee recruitment, retention, and development of staff.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Lead the teams responsible for all external customer facing systems as well as internal systems in support of custom software development in a DevOps, Open Source environment. The teams include Managers, Systems and Network Engineers, and Software Developers. Responsible for meeting and exceeding SLAs for up-time and performance of LivingSocial's data center, website and eCommerce systems. Lead the development and management of engineering team OpEx and CapEx budgets ($20M). Oversee recruitment, retention, and development of staff.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Manage a globally distributed team (US, Canada, India) of Engineers responsible for Windows, Linux, SAN, Data Center, Data Protection, Capacity Planning and more. Environment includes: Windows 2003/2008 Active Directory, Exchange, IIS, Clustering, CITRIX, MS SQL, SharePoint, VMware, SAN Storage (3Par & Promise), etc. Led change actions for process and policy related to systems infrastructure in support of SSAE16 and PCI certifications.

Washington, Dc

Managed the team responsible for all network, systems, security engineering and operations for a $4B publicly traded company.• Managed the implementation and operations of VMware server infrastructure migrating from zero virtualization to >90% virtualization substantially reducing and avoiding data center expenses.• Oversaw daily operations for all internal and customer facing systems in multiple distributed data centers.• Managed team through multiple data center migrations with zero customer impacting downtime.• Led IT integration of multiple corporate acquisitions. • Headed the design, implementation and operation of a global MPLS network and Internet connectivity replacing unreliable and more costly inherited nested point-to-point network.• Responsible for corporate Disaster Recovery planning and implementation.• Spearheaded the implementation of VoIP communications reducing costs related to local lines in globally distributed offices.• Managed the implementation and operation of multi-site, International High Definition Video Teleconferencing solution.• Led annual IT budget preparation process.

Managed the team responsible for all global messaging (email, mobile etc.) and Active Directory.• Managed team of staff and contractors during the conversion from Netscape Messaging to Microsoft Exchange supporting in excess of 25,000 mailboxes supporting users around the world.• Managed team responsible for Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus solutions for firm.• Managed relationships with external vendors, internal departments, and end users.• Led development of Systems Acceptance Process to govern acceptance of systems from internal groups or contractors.• Managed department budget.

Independent IT consultant providing management and technical consulting, product evaluations, planning, installation, upgrades, maintenance and related services. • Guided customers through better understanding and documenting their business and technical needs (LAN/WAN, server, security, desktop, telecommunications, wireless, DR/COOP etc.)• Identified, procured, implemented and supported solutions (hardware and software) to meet customer needs within budget. • Supported COTS and custom software for customers.• Provided end-user training as required.

Managed all daily operations of a world-class data center providing complex managed web hosting services in a 24x7x365 environment. • Managed staff during planning, installation, monitoring, and troubleshooting of systems on NT/2000 and UNIX platforms as well as all network components to include switches, routers, and load balancing devices.• Responsible for management, training, development, and retention of 8-12 direct reports. • Collaborated with team for hiring and training of technical staff worldwide.• Developed and implemented methods used globally to verify operational readiness of complex mission critical systems.• Developed and maintained relationships between operations and other internal groups for service delivery.• Managed relationships with various vendors in support of data center activities.• Assisted sales in presentations to potential customers. • Worked with worldwide corporate groups to develop and improve processes.• Developed and implemented change and problem management procedures.• Assembled, trained, and managed campus-wide Emergency Response Team for safety of personnel and facility. Proper training allowed for effective response, treatment, and evacuation of staff member electrocuted by 480V.