Balaji Ganesan - SR. DevOps Engineer - Cognizant Technologies Solutions

Summary

Results-driven Sr. DevOps Engineer with extensive experience at Cognizant Technologies Solutions. Expert in optimizing cloud resources and implementing CI/CD pipelines, achieving significant cost reductions. Proven leadership in mentoring teams and enhancing project transparency. Proficient in Terraform and skilled in Agile methodologies, ensuring efficient and secure cloud operations.

Overview

6

years of professional experience

2

Certifications

Work History

Sr. DevOps Engineer

Cognizant Technologies Solutions

10.2019 - Current

Project - E.oN Energy

Role: DevOps Lead

Duration: June 2019 - June 2025

• Optimized cloud resource usage by analyzing cost metrics and recommending efficient configurations, leading to a 15% reduction in infrastructure costs.

• Developed and maintained Terraform scripts, reducing deployment time

by 20%.

• Created and managed CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps and GitLab, streamlining deployments and reducing errors by 30%.

• Configured Azure and AWS cloud environments for Dev, QA, and Prod, ensuring efficient operations across stages.

• Implemented encryption for EBS, RDS, S3, and other services, boosting data security and compliance with standards.

• Automated EC2 patching via AWS Systems Manager, cutting manual tasks and downtime.

• Led cost optimization initiatives through RI and CRI, achieving further reductions in cloud expenses.

• Designed and implemented GitLab runners to enhance CI/CD pipeline efficiency.

• Provided real-time project updates through Teams dashboard, enhancing client transparency.

• Successfully migrated legacy applications to cloud platforms, ensuring high performance.

• Set up self-service options for developers to spin up resources on-demand.

• Mentored DevOps interns, teaching best practices and tool utilization.

• Contributed to architectural decisions, ensuring scalability and maintainability.

• Well Expertise in Jira admin technical skills like Jira configuration, workflow management, and user administration, along with experience in Agile methodologies and project management.

• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to achieve project goals on time and within budget

Education

Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering

Jeppiar SRR Engineering College

Chennai, India

04.2001 -

Skills

Cloud Platforms: AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, IAM, Systems Manager, CloudWatch, EFS, SNS, AWS Backup) & Azure (Virtual Machines, Blob storage, App registrtaion, Active Directory, App services)

DevOps and CI/CD: Terraform (Infrastructure as Code), AWS (CloudFormation), GitLab CI/CD, Docker

Scripting and Automation: Python, Bash

Automation of cloud infrastructure and processes using AWS Systems Manager

Security and Vulnerability: Vulnerability assessment using Qualys and Microsoft Defender, AWS IAM, Encryption (EBS, S3, RDS, EFS), Security best practices for cloud infrastructure, and DevOps pipelines

GitLab – GitLab Administration, Administered GitLab platform for source code management, CI/CD automation, and project collaboration across development teams, Integrated GitLab with tools like SonarQube, JFrog, and cloud platforms to streamline DevOps processes, Monitored system performance, performed upgrades, and ensured high availability and compliance with organizational standards, GitLab runner management and ensure the availability of runners for the jobs

Sonarqube – Sonarqube Admin, Integrated SonarQube with CI/CD pipelines (eg, Gitlab) to automate static code analysis & Configured quality gates, custom rules, and project onboarding workflows to ensure compliance with coding standards

Jfrog - Jfrog Admin, Configured local, remote, and virtual repositories for Maven, npm, Docker, and other package types, Integrated Artifactory with CI/CD tools (eg, Jenkins, Azure DevOps) to streamline build artifact deployment & Implemented access control, repository cleanup policies, and artifact promotion workflows to optimize storage and security

Jira administration - configuring, maintaining, and optimizing a Jira instance to meet an organization's specific needs, including user management, project setup, workflow configuration, and ensuring the system aligns with business processes

Certification

AWS Cloud Practitioner

Workshops & Volunteering

Built and hosted personal projects on GitHub Pages and AWS as part of coding challenges. Built and hosted personal projects on GitHub Pages and AWS as part of coding challenges.
Helped faculty or teams automate internal processes using Bash/Python scripts.
Attended workshops on Kubernetes and Terraform conducted by Internal Organization.
Actively participated in internal organization coding contest Vibe coding, showcasing problem-solving skills and algorithmic thinking.

Timeline

AZ 104 Azure Administrator Associate

04-2025