Pankaj Parmar
Bengaluru
Summary
Senior Technical Advisor with 12+ years of experience in Exchange Online, Identity, Security, and Compliance within Microsoft 365 environments. Skilled in managing hybrid and cloud deployments, driving SCIM-aligned identity lifecycle management, and embedding enterprise-grade security frameworks.
- Deep expertise in Microsoft Entra ID, SCIM, Exchange Online, Microsoft Purview, and implementing Conditional Access, MFA, RBAC, and Zero Trust architectures.
- Proven leadership in technical advisory roles, providing SME guidance, resolving escalations in authentication and access, and enabling customers to adopt security and compliance best practices.
- Progressive career growth across messaging and identity management, from enterprise disaster recovery and RCA at Bertelsmann → hybrid identity and Exchange migrations at Convergys → enterprise messaging security and compliance at HCL → to current advisory leadership at Microsoft.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Partner Technical Advisor
Microsoft
08.2018 - Current
- Delivered SME guidance on Exchange Online and Entra ID (Identity) across hybrid and cloud models, ensuring secure, scalable, and compliant deployments for enterprise customers.
- Acted as primary escalation point for authentication, directory sync, and access control challenges, with a strong focus on SCIM-based provisioning, deprovisioning, and identity lifecycle automation.
- Designed and advised on end-to-end SCIM integrations to streamline user onboarding/offboarding across SaaS applications, improving security and reducing operational overhead.
- Partnered with stakeholders to implement Conditional Access, MFA, RBAC, and Identity Protection policies, embedding Zero Trust principles into identity and access strategies.
- Guided organizations in configuring and optimizing EOP, anti-phishing, journaling, and retention policies, aligning with regulatory compliance and data governance standards.
- Produced actionable insights for Microsoft product engineering, directly shaping improvements in identity diagnostics, SCIM adoption patterns, and compliance tooling.
- Designed and delivered readiness programs, workshops, and playbooks on EXO + Identity + SCIM best practices, reinforcing customer adoption of secure identity lifecycle management.
Track Lead - Messaging
HCL Technologies
08.2016 - 08.2018
- Directed operations of enterprise messaging platforms (Exchange / O365), embedding security, DLP, journaling, and retention policies to ensure compliance.
- Collaborated closely with AD/Identity teams to strengthen authentication, RBAC, and Conditional Access controls within hybrid messaging environments.
- Led hybrid migrations (Exchange → O365), ensuring seamless identity synchronization, authentication reliability, and compliance alignment.
- Served as SPOC for escalations at the intersection of identity, messaging, and compliance — developing expertise that directly supports SCIM-driven lifecycle management.
- Introduced automation for recurring identity-linked tasks in messaging, improving efficiency and aligning with modern identity lifecycle governance principles (early SCIM alignment).
Technical Lead - Exchange Online
Convergys
01.2014 - 08.2016
- Administered Exchange Hybrid environments and implemented Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) for multi-forest identity synchronization — an early SCIM-aligned responsibility in lifecycle governance.
- Configured and enforced RBAC policies to secure messaging access and ensure compliance with internal controls.
- Managed federation and authentication workflows via Microsoft Federation Gateway, enabling secure cross-org collaboration.
- Delivered Exchange migrations (cutover, staged, PST imports) with strong oversight on compliance and retention policies.
- Served as escalation point for identity, access, and compliance gaps across messaging workloads, reinforcing secure hybrid adoption.
Senior Escalation Engineer
Arvato Bertelsmann Marketing
10.2010 - 01.2014
- Served as primary escalation point for Tier-2/3 incidents, resolving complex Acronis backup, recovery, and disaster recovery cases across on-premises and cloud environments.
- Supported Exchange Server (2010/2013) in scenarios involving backup/restore, DAG recovery, and mailbox database protection, ensuring high availability of enterprise messaging.
- Conducted deep Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) on recurring failures and collaborated with product engineering teams to drive permanent fixes and platform stability.
- Safeguarded business continuity by validating restores for mail flow, public folders, and user mailboxes, consistently achieving defined RPO/RTO targets.
- Partnered with enterprise clients to recover business-critical messaging data, often under high-pressure SLAs.
- Authored technical documentation and KBs, streamlining recovery playbooks and mentoring Tier-1 engineers for faster case resolution.
Education
Bachelor in Computer Applications - Computer Applications
Sikkim Manipal University
Gangtok, India08-2013
Skills
- Exchange Online & Messaging: Expertise in hybrid deployments, migrations, and enterprise messaging operations with compliance alignment
- Identity & SCIM: Strong background in identity lifecycle management, directory sync, provisioning/deprovisioning, and SCIM-aligned automation
- Security & Compliance: Hands-on with Conditional Access, MFA, RBAC, DLP, journaling, retention, and Zero Trust frameworks
- Disaster Recovery & Continuity: Proven ability in backup/restore, DAG recovery, and meeting RPO/RTO targets for mission-critical systems
- Technical Escalations: Experienced in Tier-2/3 troubleshooting, RCA, and cross-domain issue resolution involving messaging, identity, and compliance
- Customer Advisory & Enablement: Delivered SME guidance, workshops, and readiness programs shaping adoption of Microsoft 365 security and identity best practices
- Engineering Feedback Loop: Partnered with product teams to influence improvements in identity diagnostics, SCIM adoption, and compliance tooling
Timeline
Partner Technical Advisor
Microsoft
08.2018 - Current
Track Lead - Messaging
HCL Technologies
08.2016 - 08.2018
Technical Lead - Exchange Online
Convergys
01.2014 - 08.2016
Senior Escalation Engineer
Arvato Bertelsmann Marketing
10.2010 - 01.2014
Bachelor in Computer Applications - Computer Applications
Sikkim Manipal University