Kirk Williams Email & Phone Number

Kennesaw, Ga, Us

Downers Grove, Illinois, United States

• Provides direct oversight and management of provided services, support, and reporting in the Azure cloud environment, as the leader of the Azure Services team.• Oversees day-to-day operations of a team that provides 24/7 cloud service to meet appropriate service levels.• Supports cloud infrastructure design, migrations, and administration as well as deployment and updates.• Monitors, reports, and improves overall infrastructure health.• Ensures incident, problem, configuration, change, and service management.• Performs rigorous Root Cause Analysis, ensuring compliance to minimum Ensono standards.• Streamlines security, monitoring, and performance guidelines.• Ensures documentation met compliance needs and compliance to operational processes and services.• Leverages leadership skills to coordinate with other department leaders and identify optimization opportunities.• Creates reports that are clear and transparent and that inform the decisional process.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

• Provides direct oversight and management of provided services, support, and reporting in the Azure cloud environment, as a member of the Carrier GCS Operations team. • Oversees day-to-day operations of a team that provides 24/7 cloud service to meet appropriate service levels. • Supports infrastructure design, setup, and administration as well as deployment and updates. • Monitors, reports, and improves overall infrastructure health. • Ensures incident, problem, configuration, change, and service management. • Performs rigorous Root Cause Analysis, ensuring compliance to CSO standards. • Streamlines security, monitoring, and performance guidelines. • Provides capacity planning and availability management as well as disaster recovery and backup services. • Ensures documentation met compliance needs and compliance to operational processes and services. • Leverages leadership skills to coordinate with other department leaders and identify growth opportunities. • Creates reports that are clear and transparent and that inform the decisional process.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Senior member of the account leadership team that supported the company’s largest customer and helped determine technical direction, customer requirements, and overall architecture. • Liaised with customer’s senior management and executive teams to ensure that project direction, scope and long-term viability is in-line with business objectives. • Engaged high-profile Fortune 100 customers and partners to assess performance across multiple systems, while identifying performance risk areas and suggesting solutions. • Proposed best practices for leveraging legacy mainframe platform as part of a broader modernization initiatives. • Provided leadership for senior technical engineers in regard to datacenter migrations or enterprise expansion into Azure, AWS and GCP cloud platforms using IaaS for Fortune 100 businesses. • Provided technical direction with senior technical leads in regard to application refactoring for cloud native applications within Azure, AWS and GCP cloud platforms using both IaaS and PaaS for Fortune 100 businesses. • Led development and migration projects utilizing Agile/Scrum, Lean, and Parallel approaches to project management. • Utilized Six-sigma framework for critical decision making and getting to root cause with various challenges and issues. • Provided technical leadership across multiple Fortune 500 company projects and provided RFP responses. • Addressed prescribe solutions considering Capex and Opex expenditures as reflected in desired business outcomes. • Suggested innovative approach for volume and performance testing. • Mobilized internal and external teams to execute on all performance test plans and troubleshot key areas by utilizing a hands-on approach. • Became a trusted authority and advisor to onsite and offshore teams, while effectively communicating with C-level stakeholders.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Tasked with management of systems for a company with 100+ sites and $98 billion in annual revenues via management of CCR Wintel tower, and remote storage and backup systems. • Provided leadership for escalated and high priority issues and directed efforts of near-shore and off-shore support teams and vendors as it applies to enterprise systems support and maintenance. • Supported and planned initiatives for Co-Lo and Edge-of-Cloud infrastructure hosting, application migration to SaaS solutions, prioritizing business risk and performance cloud environments. • Managed on-prem infrastructure while balancing need for storage and compute to support AWS/Azure/Virtustream/IBM Cloud initiatives, reducing risk of increased Capex. • Utilized Agile/Scrum project management methodologies to maximize flexibility as well as address and mitigate challenges as they arise within the migration process or the cloud landscape. • Strategized and implemented business plan to vacate primary data center post Cloud Migration, to include decommissioning of logical and physical infrastructure, while continuing to reduce Opex. • Managed AWS, Microsoft Azure and Virtustream Cloud providers to include developing OLA’s, SLA’s, DR planning/testing, security evaluations, and cost analysis. • Oversaw the semi-annual disaster recover exercises and worked with CCR accounting organization for yearly reporting and auditing of operational costs and devaluation of assets. • Managed datacenter to cloud migration for 300+ applications and supporting infrastructure. • Managed multi-track high-risk projects as well as Wintel, Storage, Backup, Active Directory, and Datacenter teams and vendor costs in terms of monthly invoice and quarterly vendor performance reviews. • Led the decommissioning of 3,600+ servers from 350 distribution centers, 50 production facilities, and the ETC datacenter.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Partnered with other company leadership for provide direction and planning for this start-up, which successfully created a patent-pending alternative to contemporary media streaming. • Delivered a media delivery and management platform that delivers real-time simulcast content to any internet connected platform at a fraction of the cost of live streaming services. • Created patent-pending technology that delivers simulcast audio/video content without requiring multicast/streaming technologies. • Designed and created content and playback management system for MD1 media delivery platform. • Implemented a scalable cloud-based framework that supports an unlimited number of broadcast and radio networks. • Managed cost in terms of DevOps project and cloud deployment and hosting. • Designed a world-class hybrid infrastructure with Azure and AWS to support the global and geo-specific delivery of online broadcast content.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Director of IT and Engineering for a $24 million non-profit media company that creates and delivers content globally through internet and terrestrial means. • Provided leadership and management of IT and Media Production systems including migration from 100mbps internet backhaul to 1Gbps network and migration from analog phone system to an IP based telecommunications system. • Managed the budgets and several direct reports within IT and Engineering departments as well as the IT and broadcast engineering staff. • Oversaw the 1-10Gbps low-latency Avid-based media production network and Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending and auditing. • Managed multi-track high-risk projects simultaneously, while working cross-functionally with other department heads and executives to define and develop business cases and build a consensus for technology initiatives. • Managed Windows-based network within vSphere Cloud Infrastructure environment as well as Amazon EWS cloud storage solution. • Implemented perimeter system using FireEye (Mandiant), Cisco VPN w/ RSA 2-Factor authentication, Cisco ASA Firewall and Symantec Endpoint Manager. • Led helpdesk and end user support efforts for desktop and peripheral support. • Coordinated with Ministry services to design and implement migration from Local MPower MPX CRM to Microsoft Dynamics-based solution hosted in AZURE cloud environment.

Atlanta, Ga

• Provided roadmaps and direction for this technology and media consulting firm focused on delivering cost-effective sustainable solution to medium and small businesses and school systems. • Consulted with E- and C-level professionals to understand the gaps between systems and technology infrastructure and business objectives. • Designed and architected solutions to meet client needs and worked with contractors to deliver solution, training materials and support on schedule and on budget. • Managed Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending and auditing, while handling multiple projects across the IT and DevOps business units seamlessly. • Defined and refined system testing procedures and staffed and led software team from product design to delivery. • Managed IT Infrastructure, QA, and issue tracking, and delivered technical briefings and announcements. • Participated in business case development and trade studies and ensured customer support and satisfaction. • Managed technology vendor relations, account management, and budget development. • Staffed and managed staff and local and off-shore developers and established project objectives and gates and scheduled using Agile and Scrum methodologies.

Atlanta, Ga

• Managed development and IT teams for this social media startup that focuses on delivering a niche platform for social interaction targeting the continent of Africa. • Accelerated the delivery of a solution that met business objectives by providing advanced technical direction, roadmaps, and research to maximize processes. • Managed multipole high-risk projects concurrently as well as Opex and Capex for yearly budgets, spend, and audits. • Managed IT Infrastructure as well as code reviews and defined and refined our system testing procedures. • Led the software development team from requirements gathering through product delivery. • Created technical briefings and made technical press announcements. • Ensured high quality customer support and customer satisfaction. • Participated in business case development and trade studies. • Established and managed budget for software development, IT and support departments. • Managed vendor communications, account management, and local and off-shore developers. • Established project objectives, gates and schedules and utilized Agile and Scrum methodologies. • Designed and deployed application infrastructure in AWS.

Atlanta, Ga

• Managed development, architecture, and IT teams for this social media startup focused on delivering a niche platform and ecosystem for social interaction targeting entertainment industry and trendsetters. • Accelerated design, architecture and delivery of a sustainable solution that met business objectives while operating within a costeffective world class infrastructure. • Provided direction, developed roadmaps, performed research, and maximized development standards. • Established a budget for development, IT, and support departments and managed Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending and auditing. • Managed multi-track high-risk projects simultaneously across IT and DevOps business units. • Led code reviews and defined/refined system testing procedures. • Staffed and led the software team from product design through product delivery. • Managed QA, issue tracking, and the IT Infrastructure and delivered technical briefings and announcements. • Ensured high quality customer support and customer satisfaction. • Participated in business case development and trade studies. • Managed technology vendor relations and account management. • Established project objectives, gates and scheduled and lead projects utilizing Agile and Scrum methodologies

Greater Atlanta Area

• Implemented technology solutions in the classroom and policies to support teachers and local technology staff, while establishing high-level relationships with technology companies in the education space for the fifth largest school district in Georgia with a $240 million operating budget. • Served as a member of senior staff and executive leadership to provide guidance and direction to support the agenda of the Superintendent. • Managed a $12 million technology budget as well as Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending, and auditing and vendor relations. • Managed multi-track high-risk projects simultaneously for infrastructure projects and new school openings. Established sponsorships with technology vendors. • Secured free technology equipment via CDC partnership and worked with department heads to build consensus regarding technology roadmap for short-term and long-term initiatives. • Implemented technology in the classroom initiative. • Virtualized server environment consisting of 60 servers and established and improved network policies. • Hardened network perimeter via firewall, end point management and VLAN strategies.

Panama City, Florida Area

• Led the architecture team to design energy efficient modular homes built to Dade County standards to resist high winds and other forces of nature for this developer and builder of sustainable homes and communities. • Oversaw the community development team to procure licenses, permits, community buy in and easement permissions required to break ground for new communities. • Managed Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending and auditing. • Provided updates and reported directly to the President/COO and Founder. • Managed multiple projects across IT and real estate development. • Staffed and managed IT and Telephony Departments and planned, scheduled, and executed schedules. • Managed community connectivity and technology selection and procurement. • Negotiated and managed vendors and account management. • Managed development pre-visualization and visual packaging. • Led and managed office IT staff, architects, and engineers. • Utilized Six Sigma, Agile, and Scrum methodologies to manage projects and teams.

Atlanta

• Managed projects and training plans for this software development firm that is focused on the creation of the TruCore framework, which deals with the complexity of big data utilizing proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence to make complex information relative in an intuitive manner. • Managed application development and deployment of custom business applications based on TruCore framework. • Managed Opex and Capex for yearly budgeting, spending and auditing. • Managed multi-track high-risk projects simultaneously across IT and DevOps business units. • Established project objectives, gates and scheduled and lead projects. • Led projects with Six Sigma, Agile, and Scrum methodologies. • Provided status updates and reports to executive team and provided client communications and managed customer expectations. • Managed application QA testing and establishing tagged releases and builds. • Documented and trained clients and TruCore developers. • Supported COO and marketing team and helped the CTO establish best practice development procedures and guidelines with quality control gates.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Providing engineering and architectural support for this research and development organization focused on accelerating concept development and business case development with a focus on wireless technology and WiFi (business case was developed for the new WiFi technology at the time Agere was created to service the emerging market. Agere was later purchased by Proxim). • Served as the Technical OEM Account Manager for multi-million dollar OEM accounts including Avaya, Motorola, Dell, Hewlett Packard and Verizon. • Responsible for technical training, product roadmap synchronization, supporting large sales opportunities and operating as a technical liaison between Proxim development and OEM development, program management and marketing teams. • Provided high-visibility communications and representation for technical issues to both OEM partner and Proxim Executive Teams. • Partnered with marketing, product management and systems test team to build consensus, define product specifications, test requirements and project timeline. • Served as technical liaison with partner marketing, development, support and release management teams. Assessed, prioritized and reported gating issues along with probable solutions to executive management to better ensure efficient prioritization and financially successful quarters. • Delivered technical briefs and as well trade show support for Global OEM sales and technical training conventions. Managed OEM accounts for HP, Dell, Verizon, Motorola and Avaya and maintained relationships with executives, senior management and senior engineers with my accounts through site visits and constant communications.