☁ Richard Hooper Email & Phone Number

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Blogger and Founder of Pixel Robots.PixelRobots.co.uk is a blog about all things Azure from an infrastructure point of view.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom

• Spearheaded the move to Microservices using Azure Kubernetes Service using the cloud adoption framework.• Research and implement Infrastructure as Code for the AKS deployment.• Research and implement Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) using Azure DevOps• Designed and implemented an Azure governance solution to gain control of Azure subscriptions and Azure costs. 25% saving.• Migrated from Azure pay as you go to Azure enterprise agreement and implemented billing reports.• Improved stability of internal application by implementing server and application monitoring using Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics and Application Insights.• Identified issues with existing Active Directory, Office 365, and Azure estate. Created a plan of remediation and implemented.• Responsible for the IT needs including budgets and future planning.• Manage a team of support engineers.• Introduced the company to the Microsoft Partner Program and became a Gold partner in Cloud Platform.• Manage internal and customer security audits.• Implemented vulnerability scanning on all devices and customer end points.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

• Introduced Microsoft Azure to the company.• Assisted group architect on designing a new hybrid solution for IOT, including Microsoft Azure (PaaS, IaaS, VPN), Docker and Cassandra. • Designed and implemented a Microsoft LAPS (local administrator password solution) including installation guide.• Clean-up of Active Directory including creation of scripts to automate process going forward.• Identified issues with Hyper-V clusters and storage. Created a plan of remediation and executed. Performance, manageability, and maintenance improved due to remediation.• Identified issues with Exchange 2013. Created a plan of remediation and executed.• Implemented new Server 2016 cluster.• Brought new technologies to the test environment including Storage Spaces Direct.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

• Part of the design team of a full Office 365 Hybrid utilizing Azure AD Connect and ADFS. • Designed a remote access system to customer site using Microsoft Azure IaaS including Remote Desktop and Azure VPN.• Designed an application packaging solution for internal use at HPE including storage, compute, and networking. • Solution architect for a full Active Directory design including High Level Design, Low Level Design, Installation Guide, and implementation utilizing RBAC (role-based access control) and PowerShell across multiple sites for a large government customer.• Customer site visit prevented a major delay to a large government project.• Creation of a Windows 10 Image using DISM and third-party tools for a large government customer.• Designed a Microsoft LAPS (local administrator password solution) including installation guide.

Sunderland, United Kingdom

• Migration of backup and DR to Microsoft Azure.• Introduced Microsoft Azure to the company.• Introduced a change request/management solution.• Maintained Office 365 for site; provided training and support for helpdesk.• Technical lead for a p2v project of the existing Citrix server estate to a new cluster with iSCCSI San• Deploying updates to web apps based on IIS.• Introduced and documented internal IT operating policies, procedures and best practices; designed bespoke solutions.

Oxford, United Kingdom

• Proactively maintained a mixed infrastructure of Cisco, NetGear and HP hardware and WAN, VPN and MPLS links.• Maintained Office 365 and Azure for all companies; provided training and support for local, mobile and satellite users.• Introduced and documented internal IT operating policies, procedures and best practices; designed bespoke solutions.• Technical lead for server estate virtualisation and replication to 2 HP servers and HP SAN running Hyper-V at 2 sites for DR.• Migrated a production environment from VMware to Hyper-V over a weekend; confirmed a suitable window with customers.• Liaised with the IT Manager for a Cluster Upgrade from 2008r2 to 2012r2; this was completed on time with no loss of data or system downtime.• Configured and installed Cisco Maraki wifi solution at all sites.• Positively interacted with suppliers to resolve issues related to SLA and technical contact for external contractors.• Provided first class 1st/2nd/3rd line helpdesk support for Blackberry, iPhone, Android devices and 3G dongles.