Pat Somers Email & Phone Number

Rockaway, Nj, Us

Morristown, Nj

Lead Network Engineer, Crum and Forster 11/2009 – present Designed, configured, installed, and now support new MPLS infrastructure for the company encompassing a Tier 1 MPLS network along with a Tier2 secondary solution; reducing network costs by half. Design includes WAN connectivity to 6 data centers as well as LAN support of 4 of them. Utilizing BGP as routing protocol over Cisco routers, switches, and firewalls. Team of 3 support the LAN/WAN and security of over 32 sites in the Continental US, Hawaii, and India. Instrumental in seamlessly integrating the data and voice networks of 2 acquired companies. Support L2L VPNs, remote access, and internet facing corporate applications. Have also supported company’s token-ring environment and UPS infrastructure. Assisted facilities with major office moves around the country with every site being fully functional their first day back.

Within the span of five weeks installed, configured and migrated into production the network infrastructure for a new company consisting of a data center and three remote offices. Network consisted of Cisco 2800/3800 routers, 6500/4500/3560 switches, ASA 550x series firewalls and a Cisco Firewall Services Module. Firewalls were set up with VPN remote access, L2L VPN tunnels as well as point-to-point partner connections. Remote offices had a primary VPLS connection and a site-to-site backup connection as well as wireless access for external users.Worked with project manager, development staff, and technical personnel to establish requirements and establish standards for new infrastructure.

reviewed corporate network infrastructure and provided recommendations to comply with Cisco SAFE blueprint and security enhancements. Currently, in process of implementing 'best practice' recommendations for routers and switches in data center environment consisting of Cisco equipment.

Within the span of five weeks installed, configured and migrated into production the OSPF network infrastructure for a new company consisting of a data center and three remote offices. Network consisted of Cisco 2800/3800 routers, 6500/4500/3560 switches, ASA 55xx series firewalls and a Cisco Firewall Services Module. Firewalls were set up with VPN remote access, L2L VPN tunnels as well as point-to-point partner connections. Remote offices had a primary VPLS connection and a site-to-site backup connection as well as wireless access for external users. Currently, supporting their day-to-day network infrastructure.Worked with project manager, development staff, and technical personnel to establish requirements and establish standards for new infrastructure.

Planned, installed and maintained suitable hardware/software communications infrastructures to provide an operating environment for world-wide business units and facilities. Supervised and coordinated the activities of five technical data engineers in the design, implementation and monitoring of all mainframe and IP network software and hardware.

CIT provides financial solutions to the transportation and vendor industry as well as corporate financing with lending, leasing and small business loans.Recognized for successfully leading data engineering staff with planning, installing, and maintaining communication infrastructures consisting of Cisco 7500s, 6500s, CSMs, NAMs and providing exceptional operating environments for global business units on a 24X7 basis.Earned recognition for expertise and customer service through such awards as; Phenomenal Woman Award, Values Award and Team of the Year Award. Many received multiple years. Reduced file transfer times by 88%. Used interpersonal and communication skills to lead installation of WAN Riverbed optimization devices in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Additional results included substantially improving application response times.Worked with Data Center Facilities to develop and install a modular network design of Cisco 6513 server/distributed/access switches and 7500 routers along with CSMs and NAMs.Successfully reduced web application transaction time 76%. Used multiple network monitoring tools such as OPNET and Observer to resolve long standing issue within a week. Success increased customer service efficiency thus raising customer satisfaction.Improved availability of corporate home intranet site by 28%. Installed, configured, and tuned Cisco Content Switches (CSM) to improve web and Instant Messaging applications.

Provided technical expertise supporting mainframe network systems ( SNA and MVS ) as well as migration to IP networks. Ensured flawless migration to a router/EIGRP network. Designed, installed and supported the IP infrastructure including routers, switches, DSU/CSU equipment running over a frame-relay network. Successful transition completed with no downtime. Successfully installed new remote offices running over TCP/IP protocol. Target timeframes were met and CIT personnel had minimal business disruption.Identified system bottlenecks and recommended immediate and cost effective solutions in the field by utilizing network monitoring equipment. Provided problem determination on complex corporate applications through network analyzers, scopes, and Cisco NAM.

Proactively managed client relationships and developed strategic technical/marketing support plans for large customers.Earned recognition for expertise and success through such awards as Regional Manager's, Branch Manager's, Mean Service, Quality, and Team Achievement. Facilitated installation, implementation and training as well as provided ongoing technical support and problem determination. Evaluated business processes and technology for key large client accounts to identify and recommend the best solutions to meet customer needs.

Education record

Ba, Mathematics