Allan Guan, Developer in Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Allan Guan

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

As a solution architect, technology leader, and consultant, Allan has over 15 years of proven success in designing innovative solution architecture for clients in the public and private cloud across different industries. His technical expertise includes cloud platforms, DevOps, site reliability, big data, SaaS software development, and process automation. Allan excels in leading large-scale and complex digital enterprise transformation initiatives.

Portfolio

OpsGuru
Terraform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Helm, Databases, Python...
Harbdata
PHP, SQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Data Processing, Azure...
VMware
VMware, VMware vCloud, VMware vCenter, VMware, Azure

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Python, Solution Architecture, Back-end, Data Processing, Databases, Amazon API Gateway, AWS Control Tower

The most amazing...

...thing I've done is co-found a startup company focusing on data analysis in the retail industry, building everything on AWS and growing the team from 2 to 70.

Work Experience

Solution Architect (Contract)

2020 - PRESENT
OpsGuru
  • Participated in cloud-native solution designs and delivered high-quality solutions to the customer as part of the OpsGuru Vancouver team.
  • Provided deep technical expertise and leadership across several technologies, including cloud migration, Kubernetes, Helm, data lake, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code (IaC).
  • Drove architecture design and tool selection, resolved complex engineering issues, and guided best practices.
  • Led teams of cloud engineers to execute project roadmaps, guiding them in technical tasks and priorities and providing technical assistance when needed.
  • Recommended cloud-based solutions that improved the operational efficiency of public cloud operations.
  • Advised on best practices for configuration management and IaC.
  • Developed CI/CD pipelines and future state architectures.
  • Communicated with clients on a business level and translated their needs into technical cloud solutions.
Technologies: Terraform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Helm, Databases, Python, DevOps, Cloud Migration, Data Migration, PostgreSQL, Azure Administrator, Azure, Amazon API Gateway, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Cognito, AWS CloudFormation, AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM), Identity & Access Management (IAM), AWS DevOps, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon EKS, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), HIPAA Compliance

CTO

2015 - 2019
Harbdata
  • Oversaw technology operations as co-founder and CTO of this data technology company providing SaaS-based retail data intelligence to retail enterprises.
  • Wrote most of the back-end and data-processing system code. Utilized PHP for the back end and SQL on PostgreSQL for ETL and algorithm-based batch jobs.
  • Designed, implemented, and configured the solution architecture for transforming the product delivery model into a DevOps process with Kubernetes and Jenkins automation software.
  • Improved processes by developing standard toolkits for collecting and processing desensitization data from customers, decreasing manual labor and cost by 70%, increasing processing speed by 50%, and enhancing data accuracy by 30%.
Technologies: PHP, SQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Data Processing, Azure, Azure Administrator, Java

Solution Architect

2012 - 2015
VMware
  • Managed large-scale, high-profile accounts for enterprise and government customers.
  • Provided consulting services to key customers for solution architecture and strategic planning, including server migration, server consolidation, virtual desktop management, disaster recovery, security, and private cloud computing.
  • Developed highly detailed proof of concepts (POCs) to establish the value of solutions for customers.
  • Spearheaded development efforts for the vRealize Suite of management solutions focused on increasing customer migrations from core server virtualization to software-defined data centers, DevOps, and private cloud.
Technologies: VMware, VMware vCloud, VMware vCenter, VMware, Azure

Solution Architect

2005 - 2012
Symantec
  • Collaborated with a global team as a developer for the Backup Exec software on the Linux platform using C++ and Perl scripts from 2005 to 2007.
  • Delivered comprehensive solution architecture support to the local sales team and the China Engineering Center team from 2007 to 2010.
  • Engineered highly effective architectures for data management and security solutions from 2010 to 2012.
Technologies: NetBackup, Storage, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR), Web Security

Cloud Migration from Oracle Cloud to AWS

One of Canada's most famous live meeting streaming vendors was expected to migrate all its core applications from Oracle Cloud to AWS. As the lead solution architect, I helped the customer start their AWS journey.

This project included terraforming all the AWS infrastructure, including Amazon: Virtual Private Cloud, Relational Database Service, Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Identity and Access Management, ElastiCache, and MQ. I also created Helm charts for all core applications, handled business continuity and disaster recovery, and performed blue/green deployments on Kubernetes. Additionally, I built a customized Kubernetes autoscaling tool on Oracle Cloud.

Cloud Migration and Data Lake Infrastructure

A fast-growing automation SaaS company expected to expand its footprint from GCP to AWS, following its cloud-agnostic strategy. Meanwhile, they wanted to leverage the industry-leading data platform Databricks on AWS to better manage their data in the data lake.

I drove the design and implementation of the infrastructure to support the core application running on Kubernetes and the data lake on Databricks.

DevOps and CI/CD

A leading online learning management system needed help building a new CI/CD pipeline with AWS Code Family, including CodeDeploy, CodeBuild, and CodePipeline. I led this project's solution design and implementation.

Database Modernization

A leading Canadian healthcare marketing company wanted to estimate the feasibility and effort of replacing the MS SQL database with a modernized Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. I took the leading role in designing the database migration strategy with AWS Database Migration Service and Babelfish on PostgreSQL.

Cloud Migration from On-premises to AWS

A leading Web Archive company considered migrating the core on-premise services to AWS.

I engaged as the subject-matter expert, helping customers assess the cost and feasibility of adopting the new services on AWS, including EKS, OpenSearch, Keyspaces, Cassandra, Ceph, and DataSync, when retiring the on-premise Elasticsearch. I also led the POC creation to verify the data migration on Elasticsearch and Cassandra.
2001 - 2005

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Shanghai Jiao Tong University - Shanghai, China

OCTOBER 2023 - PRESENT

AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions

Microsoft

SEPTEMBER 2022 - SEPTEMBER 2025

AWS Certified Database – Specialty

Amazon Web Services

AUGUST 2022 - AUGUST 2025

AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty

Amazon Web Services

OCTOBER 2021 - OCTOBER 2024

Certified Kubernetes Administrator

Cloud Native Computing Foundation | via The Linux Foundation

MAY 2021 - MAY 2023

Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect

Google Cloud

SEPTEMBER 2020 - SEPTEMBER 2023

AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional

Amazon Web Services

JUNE 2020 - JUNE 2023

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional

Amazon Web Services

Tools

Terraform, VMware, AWS CloudFormation, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon EKS, Helm, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Cognito, CircleCI, AWS PrivateLink, AWS CodeDeploy, AWS CodeBuild, AWS DataSync

Languages

Python, SQL, PHP, Java

Paradigms

DevOps, HIPAA Compliance

Platforms

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Azure, Databricks, Amazon EC2, Azure IaaS

Frameworks

AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM)

Storage

Databases, PostgreSQL, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Cassandra, Elasticsearch

Other

Cloud Migration, VMware, VMware vCloud, VMware vCenter, AWS Certified Solution Architect, Identity & Access Management (IAM), AWS DevOps, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Azure Administrator, Amazon API Gateway, AWS Control Tower, Solution Architecture, Back-end, Data Processing, Software Development, Hardware, Operating Systems, Data Migration, NetBackup, Storage, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR), Web Security, Data Analysis, Streaming Data, CI/CD Pipelines, AWS CodePipeline, AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

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