MD ZABIULLAH AHMED
New Delhi / Noida
Summary
Seasoned Associate Consultant and Cloud Migration SME with 17 years of IT infrastructure expertise in Microsoft Azure, GCP, AWS, IBM Cloud, and VMware. Specialises in Azure administration, infrastructure migration, cloud security, and incident management. Delivers controlled production changes by effectively coordinating with application, security, and infrastructure teams.
Overview
1
1
Certification
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Associate Consultant - Azure Infrastructure
HCLTech
04.2021 - Current
- Manage and support enterprise-scale Azure infrastructure with focus on availability, performance, security and operational stability.
- Provisioned, configured, and troubleshot Azure Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts, VNets, NSGs, Load Balancers, Application Gateways, and related platform services to ensure optimal functionality.
- Implement and maintain high-availability, backup and disaster-recovery solutions using Azure-native capabilities.
- Monitor cloud services through Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights and Grafana, and perform proactive alert triage and incident resolution.
- Optimised Azure cost and performance through comprehensive resource reviews, capacity planning, and precise right-sizing recommendations, enhancing overall resource utilisation.
- Automate infrastructure deployment and repetitive operations using ARM templates, Terraform, PowerShell and Azure CLI.
- Administer Microsoft Entra ID access, RBAC, managed identities and Key Vault integrations in accordance with least-privilege principles.
- Review and remediate Microsoft Defender for Cloud recommendations and coordinate security exceptions where application dependencies require controlled risk acceptance.
- Coordinated assessment and architecture inputs for end-to-end migration activities of on-premises workloads to Azure using re-platforming approaches.
- Plan and execute infrastructure changes, maintenance activities and version upgrades using the ITIL change process and required approvals.
- Collaborated with application, database, security, and infrastructure teams to validate requirements and dependencies, ensuring production readiness and seamless deployment.
- Provide technical guidance to support engineers and ensure incidents and requests are completed within agreed SLA and quality standards.
- Provide escalation support to L1/L2 teams for complex Azure networking, identity, storage, authentication and connectivity issues.
- Prepare runbooks, build sheets, HLD/LLD documents, RCA records, SOPs and post-change evidence for governance and audit requirements.
- Projects: DB Cheques, PepsiCo CAVO Migration and KDRP
GCP Infrastructure Lead / Cloud Migration SME
Maven Wave Partners
03.2020 - 04.2021
- Provisioned and managed workloads across GCP, Azure and AWS and supported infrastructure build activities using manual and automated methods.
- Led VMware virtualization and cloud migration activities and provided technical guidance to administrators, engineers and consultants.
- Defined migration approach, migration waves, timelines, target environment preparation, test migration, final cutover and post-migration validation.
- Conducted discovery and assessment of on-premises infrastructure, applications and databases, focusing on dependency analysis, configuration review, and planning for migration.
- Used Velostrata for migration and CloudPhysics for discovery and assessment activities.
- Worked with Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Git/GitHub, Jenkins and Concourse CI/CD for infrastructure delivery and automation exposure.
- Administered VMware vSphere environments including vMotion, HA, DRS, affinity rules, vCenter, storage migration, P2V migration, distributed switches and resource pools.
- Developed and maintained HLD, LLD, technical solution documents, build sheets and runbooks, ensuring compliance with ITIL change controls.
Migration SME - Data Center & Cloud Migration
IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
12.2010 - 02.2020
- Planned and delivered complex data centre and cloud migrations, leveraging discovery outputs from BlueBench, RVTools and ADE to meet client needs.
- Executed migration waves and move groups with VMware Converter, Zerto and HCX, ensuring seamless transitions across VMware and IBM Cloud environments.
- Prepared technical solution documents, build sheets, HLD/LLD documents and operational runbooks based on customer requirements and existing workload characteristics.
- Administered VMware vSphere environments including ESXi, vCenter, HA, DRS, FT, vMotion, Storage vMotion, VMFS datastores, standard and distributed switches and virtual machine lifecycle operations.
- Configured and supported Windows Server, Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, file services and print services.
- Managed physical server operations and remote hardware interfaces, including DRAC, iLO, AMM and IMM, to ensure system reliability and performance.
- Performed incident, problem and change management, technical investigation and resolution within SLA.
- Remediated server vulnerabilities through approved patching, hotfixes and registry changes.
- Performed server and site decommissioning after successful migration and business validation.
- Selected Migration Projects: WPP APAC - China and Shanghai, WPP APAC - Hong Kong Hardware Refresh, WPP APAC - Ogilvy / Oppco, TD Bank Canada, Baker Hughes, CNA and McKesson.
Data Center Operations Engineer
GOIP Global Services Pvt. Ltd.
02.2010 - 07.2010
- Coordinated end-to-end data center build activities for Wipro Infotech in Mumbai, ensuring timely project delivery.
- Built multiple servers for Uniron project and developed management reports to track progress and performance.
- Examined facility layouts and data to manage work locations and required equipment.
- Prepared detailed reports on production performance, highlighting successes and areas for action.
- Provided data-driven recommendations for operational planning support, capacity analysis and process improvement.
Technical Support Engineer
CMS Computers Ltd.
08.2008 - 02.2010
- Delivered BAU technical support for Nokia Siemens Networks, managing day-to-day Windows Server activities to ensure operational stability.
- Facilitated incident and change management processes in enterprise operations environment, ensuring timely resolution and minimal disruption.
- Provided clear and concise step-by-step technical support to guide clients.
- Responded to customer emails, calls and live chat regarding technical malfunctions and issues to fix remotely.
- Helped customers set up new systems, applications and software.
Technical Coordinator
IBM Daksh Pvt. Ltd.
04.2007 - 08.2008
- Coordinated technical support calls, logged and assigned tickets to engineers, and tracked ticket progress to ensure timely resolution.
- Prepared daily call reports for IT management and liaised with vendors to ensure adherence to SLA timelines.
- Supervised junior technical staff, providing guidance and feedback to foster professional development.
- Conducted tactical troubleshooting to identify faults.
- Established a knowledge base of technical issues and solutions, accelerating problem-solving processes.
Education
B.A. (Hons.) - Political Science
University of Delhi
Skills
- Azure Virtual Machines
- Azure Storage Accounts
- Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
- Virtual Networks
- NSGs
- DNS
- Application Gateway
- Load Balancer
- Microsoft Entra ID
- RBAC
- Azure Key Vault
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud
- Azure Monitor
- Log Analytics
- Grafana Monitoring
- Azure Backup
- Recovery Services Vault
- PowerShell
- Azure CLI
- ARM Templates
- Terraform
- Cloud Migration
- Modernization
- VMware vSphere
- HCX
- Windows Server
- AD
- DHCP
- Incident Management
- Problem Management
- Change Management
- RCA
- Runbooks
- SOPs
- HLD
- LLD
- Security
- Compliance
- Audit Readiness
Certification
- Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-103)
- Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies (AZ-300)
- Google Cloud Certified - Associate Cloud Engineer
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
- VMware Certified Professional - Data Center Virtualization 5.5
- ITIL Foundation V3
- Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA)
Custom
Administration and troubleshooting of VMs, storage accounts, managed disks, virtual networks, NSGs, load balancers, Application Gateway and private connectivity., Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, managed identities, Key Vault, Microsoft Defender for Cloud recommendations, security remediation and governed exceptions., Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights and Grafana for monitoring, alert triage, incident resolution, performance analysis and operational reporting., Discovery, assessment, dependency analysis, migration wave planning, landing-zone readiness, test migration, cutover, validation and decommissioning., Azure Backup, Recovery Services Vault, high availability, disaster recovery planning and business continuity support., PowerShell, Azure CLI, ARM templates, Terraform, change governance, audit evidence, cost optimization and capacity planning.
Timeline
Associate Consultant - Azure Infrastructure
HCLTech
04.2021 - Current
GCP Infrastructure Lead / Cloud Migration SME
Maven Wave Partners
03.2020 - 04.2021
Migration SME - Data Center & Cloud Migration
IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
12.2010 - 02.2020
Data Center Operations Engineer
GOIP Global Services Pvt. Ltd.
02.2010 - 07.2010
Technical Support Engineer
CMS Computers Ltd.
08.2008 - 02.2010
Technical Coordinator
IBM Daksh Pvt. Ltd.
04.2007 - 08.2008
B.A. (Hons.) - Political Science
University of Delhi