Scott D. Kessman Email & Phone Number

Pompano Beach, FL, US

Toronto, Ontario, CA

Fort Lauderdale, US

• In this role, I oversee all Microsoft and Citrix verticals for a data center operations team of 10+. Additionally, I: Plan, manage and allocate IT budget of $10M+. Gather requirements from users and design solutions to.
• Orchestrated migration of 12,000+ endpoints to Microsoft Office 365 in under two years, significantly streamlining organizational effectiveness.
• Rapidly addressed critical breach in security shortly after hire, quickly mitigating issue and closing all holes.
• Revamped failed SharePoint migration to enable full compliance with current SharePoint best practices.
• Introduced Least Privilege security practices across cloud and on-premise environments.
• Spearheaded migration of Citrix infrastructure to cloud-based systems.

West Palm Beach, FL, US

• While here, I coordinated engineering and architectural oversight for an initiative to divest from a third-party vendor and bring IT department back in-house. Additionally, I: Administered all aspects of IT.
• Steered transition of 250 mailboxes to Microsoft Office 365 as well as transition from outdated network to leading-edge Fortinet network and security appliances.
• Conceptualized and implemented new helpdesk system for administering incoming calls and remote services.
• Revamped backup solution for optimizing cost-effectiveness and agnostic cloud storage.

• During this period, I directed IT operations for a government consultancy firm providing services to FTE, a business unit of the Florida Department of Transportation. Additionally, I: Functioned as direct liaison.
• Proposed and implemented recommendation to replace aging backup software with next-gen solution that significantly reduced RPO and RTO.
• Successfully turned around underperforming team with low morale and poor organization; engaged with team members to address critical issues and areas of concern and build consensus for strategies to rebuild team.
• Marshalled top-performing team and successfully presented business case to senior leadership to architect new "Security First" backend storage platform entailing migration of 2.5 petabytes of data.
• Partnered with cross-functional IT teams - including security, network, VMware, UNIX and Applications teams - in planning and coordinating project entailing ground-up design and development of new lab environment for.
• Orchestrated consolidation of teams to eliminate duplicate processes and establish policies for enhancing efficiency in staff and resource utilization.

Hollywood, Florida, US

• Here, I helmed all technical functions pertaining to backend technical services and the operation of two data centers and seven tribal reservations throughout Florida. Additionally, I: Oversaw team of 14 direct reports.
• Piloted development and implementation of disaster recovery / business continuity plan for entire department.
• Spearheaded restructuring of data center to highly redundant and scalable environment, reducing racks from 18 to four and boosting speed by 40%.
• Orchestrated migration of 2000 mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365, and coordinated server migrations from Windows 2003, 2008, and 2012 to 2016.

Hollywood, Florida, US

Sunrise, Florida, US

• I was engaged by a publicly traded health services provider and major medical back office provider to administer backend systems utilized by private doctors. Additionally, I: Handled all infrastructure management.
• Re-launched stalled project entailing migration to Office 365 from Exchange and FirstClass; overhauled project strategy by bringing in a third party, and developing new process and PowerShell scripts to streamline.
• Conceptualized and implemented new changes and client updates to streamline transition for physicians and office staff.
• Crafted new rules for security compliance on Office 365, including those for mobile and BYOD.

US

• I directed all backend technical services and operations of five nationwide offices. Additionally, I: Guided and coached world-class team of 12 multidisciplinary IT professionals, including two direct reports and 10.
• Championed migration to fully virtual environment via VMWare and Cisco UCS, leading to significant reduction in server footprint, and in American Media's data center overheads, and resulting directly in $20K in annual.
• Conceived and deployed full storage refresh by replacing all hardware with fault-tolerant EMC VNX 5500 SAN devices.
• Spearheaded rapid deployment of NY-based server farm with no interruption to operations to mitigate impact of Hurricane Sandy.
• Drastically minimized downtime through implementation of disaster recovery plan that reduced RTO/RPO time from days to minutes.
• Stewarded rollout of SharePoint Online across multiple departments, leading to significant improvements in internal collaboration.