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Mohammad Smadi, IT Project Management Developer in Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad Smadi

IT Project Management Developer in Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia

Member since December 3, 2020
Mohammad is an enterprise environment expert, cloud and cloud security architect, hybrid IT environment expert, and data center manager with over ten years of experience. He has hands-on experience in IT project management and working with Microsoft and open-source technologies, including Azure IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, WVD, WAF, Active Directory, Kubernetes, Office 365 migration, and securing Windows Server environment. He worked with leading companies, universities, and governmental bodies.
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Portfolio

Experience

  • Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP) 10 years
  • IT Project Management 10 years
  • Office 365 8 years
  • Azure 8 years
  • Azure Security 3 years
  • Azure VDI 3 years
  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) 2 years
  • Kubernetes 2 years

Location

Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), IT Project Management, Office 365, Azure

The most amazing...

...project I've led is a compromised environment recovery by managing the recovery plan, security postures, implementing PAW, tiering accounts, and AD hardening.

Employment

  • Cloud Architect | Enterprise Architect | Data Center Manager

    2018 - PRESENT
    Ministry of Media of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
    • Architected solutions using MS Azure PaaS services such as SQL Server, Insights, Service Bus, Azure AD, Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS), and Azure Application Gateway (WAF).
    • Defined cloud architecture, design, and implementation plans for hosting complex application workloads on MS Azure.
    • Led the recovery team in the recovery of a compromised environment. Identified the compromised servers and accounts, recovery plan, cleanup plan, and security postures.
    • Recovered the compromised environment by implementing PAW, tiering management accounts, conducting post-remediation sweep and AD hardening, and reviewing the firewall policies.
    Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Azure Active Directory, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Windows Server, Office 365, Hyper-V, Azure, Kubernetes, Windows, Cloud Architecture

  • Senior Systems Consultant | Presales Engineer

    2016 - 2018
    Arabic Computer Systems
    • Led a Hyper-V Server Farm project for Saudi Electronic University (SEU). Designed a Hyper-V system based on Windows Server 2012. Implemented a Hyper-V cluster consisted of 12 servers and enabled Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV).
    • Converted 120 physical servers and VMs to Hyper-V and upgraded Active Directory from 2008 to 2012 R2 on the same project for SEU.
    • Managed Azure Site Recovery for the SEU. Prepared Azure Site Recovery design, deployed ASR agents on Hyper-V cluster and replicated Hyper-V virtual machines to Azure.
    • Deployed ASR process server, replicated the physical server to Azure, and performed failover and failback.
    • Held an Azure IaaS workshop for the Arab National Bank (ANB). Configured Azure subscription and demonstrated Microsoft Azure features, IaaS, and its features to the ANB's IT team.
    Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Hyper-V, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Cloud Infrastructure, Azure VDI, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture

  • Head of the Operating System Department

    2012 - 2016
    Majmaah University (MU)
    • Architected solutions using Windows Server services, such as Active Directory, Hyper-V cluster, SCVMM, SCCM, and SCOM.
    • Conducted an Office 365 migration project, where I migrated 25,000 mailboxes from G-Cloud to O365.
    • Configured a hyper-converged infrastructure based on Microsoft S2D technology to host a Hyper-V cluster.
    Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Cluster, Server Backups, Hyper-V, Windows Server, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture

  • Microsoft Certified Trainer

    2008 - 2012
    SBS Computer Training Center
    • Delivered Microsoft official courses for MCSE Private Cloud 2012.
    • Held training to deliver Microsoft official courses for Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) 2008 and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) 2003.
    • Provided advanced Windows and technical support for the center.
    Technologies: MS Exchange, Hyper-V, Virtualization, DHCP, DNS, MCSE | Private Cloud, Windows Server, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture

  • System Admin

    2005 - 2008
    Balkis Ceramic Industry
    • Planned, implemented, and troubleshot Active Directory, MS Exchange, and Windows Server infrastructure.
    • Managed and maintained the network infrastructure. Managed archiving, system backups, and PC hardware maintenance.
    • Administrated the servers at the company and provided software support.
    Technologies: IT Project Management, MS Exchange, DNS, Virtualization, Windows Server, Azure Active Directory, Windows

Experience

  • Azure Kubernetes Services Project

    I planned, designed, and implemented Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) setup for the Ministry of Media of Saudi Arabia. I configured the integration needed for Azure DevOps to help the e-services team (developers) perform their dev tasks efficiently and deploy applications using Azure DevOps and Azure Kubernetes. I configured Azure Application Firewall (WAF) on Azure Applications Gateway to publish the web apps.

  • Hosting Azure Kubernetes Services On-premises

    Planned, designed, and implemented Azure Kubernetes Services as an on-premises service to migrate AKS workload to the on-premises datacenter for the Ministry of Media of KSA. I configured the integration needed for Azure DevOps to help the e-services team perform their tasks efficiently and deploy apps using Azure DevOps and Azure Kubernetes. I migrated the workload from Azure to on-premises Kubernetes to comply with regulatory constraints. I had to do admin tasks such as cluster upgrade, troubleshooting, security, and monitoring.

  • Azure Hybrid Data Center Setup

    Ministry of Media at KSA decided to connect its data center to Azure and benefit from IaaS and SaaS. I managed the project and also did a part of the technical work. I configured site-to-site VPN, Azure WAF, AD Connect, Azure DR Site, and O365 hybrid setup.

  • Recovery Team Lead for the Compromised Environment Recovery

    Active Directory and some other application servers got compromised by multiple hacking groups. I was the recovery team leader in managing and cleaning the environment with the FireEye security team's help. I had to handle the following actions while the business was running:

    - Installed FireEye agent on all servers.
    - Scanned the environment.
    - Identified the compromised servers.
    - Identified the compromised accounts.
    - Prepared the recovery plan.
    - Prepared the cleanup plan.
    - Implemented security postures.
    - Implemented Privileged Access Workstations (PAW) and tiered management accounts.
    - Post-remediation sweep.
    - AD hardening.
    - Firewall policies review.

  • Windows Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (WVD)

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to work from home and provide secure access to all of the Ministry of Media applications and resources. I had to plan, design, and implement Azure WVD to fulfill the requirements. I completed the following tasks:

    - Created a custom master image.
    - Created personal and pooled pools.
    - Set up monitoring solutions.
    - Configured Active Directory GPOs.
    - Assigned access to clients.
    - Troubleshot issues.

  • Migration from the Legacy Physical Approach to Virtualization-based Approach on Hyper-V

    Ministry of Media decided to convert and migrate all physical servers to virtual machines using Hyper-V 2016. My role was to set up a Hyper-V cluster based on Microsoft best practices and migrate all servers to the cluster.

    I faced many challenges, but I've managed to overcome all of them. Some of the challenges in this project were:

    - Legacy applications.
    - Lack of support from the application development team.
    - Too many application dependencies.
    - The work was conducted in a running environment.

Skills

  • Tools

    Hyper-V, Cluster, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), MS Exchange, Azure Web Application Firewall

  • Platforms

    Azure, Windows Server, Azure IaaS, Kubernetes, Windows

  • Storage

    Azure Active Directory

  • Other

    Office 365, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Azure Security, MCSE | Private Cloud, Server Infrastructure, Cloud Infrastructure, Training, Information Security, Azure VDI, Virtualization, Server Backups, DNS, DHCP, Network Architecture, IT Project Management, Training & Training Content Development, Cloud Architecture, Server Migration

  • Languages

    JavaScript

  • Paradigms

    Azure DevOps

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology and Computing
    2015 - 2019
    Arab Open University - Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Certifications

  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
    NOVEMBER 2020 - NOVEMBER 2022
    Microsoft
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
    JULY 2020 - JULY 2022
    Microsoft
  • Microsoft Certified Solution Expert: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
    SEPTEMBER 2016 - PRESENT
    Microsoft
  • Microsoft Certified Solution Expert: Private Cloud
    MARCH 2016 - PRESENT
    Microsoft
  • Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)
    APRIL 2009 - PRESENT
    Microsoft

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