KANWALPREET SINGH KOHLI

KPMG is a global professional services firm and one of the Big Four auditors, alongside Deloitte, EY, and PwC. Based in Amsterdam, KPMG employs 174,000 people and offers three primary services: audit, tax, and advisory, with the latter further divided into specialized groups.

The KPMG Cloud Operations project focused on designing and implementing a Hub-and-Spoke model for core services such as authentication, remote access, and more, using Azure resources. Key tasks included deploying resources via ARM templates, PowerShell, Terraform, and the Azure Portal, and automating processes through PowerShell and Runbooks. The project also involved identity and access management (IAM) with Azure AD, hardening system images, and setting up security policies. KPMG handled virtual machine management, remote access solutions, and backup/patching strategies using Azure services. Additionally, they worked on configuring load balancing, encryption, and infrastructure automation using IAC.

Other responsibilities included implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), setting up CyberArk infrastructure, and ensuring secure connections between components. KPMG also managed regular meetings with clients and team members, tracked issues using Confluence and VSTS, and contributed to documentation and training for new team members. The project emphasized system testing, certificate renewals, and client secret management, ensuring smooth Azure resource deployment and operations.

KPMG, headquartered in Amsterdam, is a leading professional services firm and one of the Big Four auditors, alongside Deloitte, EY, and PwC. The company employs 174,000 people globally and provides services in audit, tax, and advisory. Its tax and advisory services are organized into various service groups.

As a Senior Cloud Support Engineer at KPMG US, I was involved in the design and implementation of the KPMG Cloud Operations project, focusing on the Hub-and-Spoke model for Azure. The project aimed to centralize core services such as authentication, remote access, and more, to be managed by the hub subscription for all spoke subscriptions in Azure. My responsibilities included:

• Deploying Azure resources using ARM templates, PowerShell, Terraform, and the Azure portal.
• Designing and automating processes with PowerShell and runbooks.
• Managing identity and access via Azure IAM, Conditional Access, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
• Implementing security measures like image hardening and Azure policies.
• Configuring and managing secure remote access using Microsoft Remote Desktop and Azure AD.
• Setting up automated build deployments and backups for virtual machines.
• Working on load balancing, patching, and encryption solutions (including Azure Key Vault and CyberArk).
• Involvement in IaaS, networking, compute, and storage management.
• Participating in meetings, tracking defects, and documenting processes and deployments.

Additionally, I supported team onboarding, developed SOPs and monitoring tools, and created trackers for certificate renewals and client secret management.

KPMG Company Overview & Sr. Cloud Solution Engineer Role Summary

KPMG, headquartered in Amsterdam, is a global professional services firm and one of the Big Four auditors, alongside Deloitte, EY, and PwC. The company employs 174,000 people and provides services in three main areas: audit, tax, and advisory, with tax and advisory services further divided into specialized groups.

As a Senior Cloud Solution Engineer at KPMG US, I contributed to the KPMG Cloud Operations project, which focused on designing and implementing a Hub-and-Spoke model in Azure. This architecture centralized core services, such as authentication and remote access, for management across multiple spoke subscriptions.

Key responsibilities included:

• Azure Resource Deployment: Using ARM templates, PowerShell, Terraform, and the Azure Portal.
• Process Automation: Designing and planning automation runbooks to manage tasks and processes.
• Identity & Access Management: Managing Azure IAM, Conditional Access, and implementing secure remote access solutions.
• Security & Compliance: Implementing image hardening, Azure policies, and data encryption with Azure Key Vault.
• Virtual Machine Management: Planning, deploying, and monitoring Azure VMs, including backups and patching solutions.
• Networking & Infrastructure: Configuring Virtual Network Gateways, Load Balancers, and Application Gateways for optimal communication and performance.
• Authentication & SSO: Planning and implementing Active Directory, Azure AD, and integrating Single-Sign-On with MFA.
• Collaboration & Documentation: Participating in team and client meetings, defect tracking, and creating documentation for process flows, architecture, and SOPs.
• Mentorship: Assisting new team members in understanding the cloud environment and support procedures.

Additionally, I worked on certificate renewals, client secret management, and developed tools for tracking and managing Azure resources.

Sr. Application Support Engineer | Xoriant Solutions Pvt Ltd | May 2017 - Jan 2019

At Xoriant Solutions, the Sr. Application Support Engineer supported KPMG’s global leasing and audit applications, including the KPMG Leasing Tool (IBM Tririga-based) used for lease portfolio management and compliance with IFRS 16 standards. Key responsibilities included managing user access, lease management, server infrastructure, process monitoring, and application upgrades. The role involved diagnosing and resolving issues related to application performance, supporting global users (including clients like Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft), and providing L2/L3 support for data quality concerns. Additionally, the engineer performed root cause analysis, developed automation to streamline daily tasks, and collaborated with global teams to manage outages and improve application functionality. A strong focus was placed on maintaining global platforms, user query resolution, and documentation for system enhancements.

• As an Application Support Engineer for Nomura, a global financial services firm, the software engineer provided support for critical risk management applications, including credit risk, market risk, and equity investment management systems. The role entailed handling identity and access control (IAC), infrastructure, and process monitoring while providing L1/L2 support to front and middle office users. The engineer worked extensively with UNIX, PL/SQL, and Autosys for application maintenance and troubleshooting, resolving data quality issues, and optimizing risk report generation (such as VAR and margin value reports). They also worked on automating tasks, managing production outages, and facilitating communication between global teams to ensure smooth application performance. Key expertise included financial services knowledge (equity markets, bonds, derivatives), service management standards, and enhancing application features through regular presentations and meetings

• Support using Oracle 10g and SQL
• Writing Scripts for report generation and optimize the existing scripts for better performance
• Debugging the issues, studying the logs and debugs of Switch Application
• Applying Fixes in the ATM Switch Application (Production) for issues observed during testing
• Monitor the Health and performance of the ATM Switch Application/Database
• Check if any issues in application when heavy load is observed during peak hours of the day
• Purging activity will be performed on the DB with the help of DBA
• Interaction with VISA, MASTER for network configurations for online transactions