Ragavendra Kumar

• Lead and manage a diverse team of 15 employees, including 12 Engineers, 2 Tech Writers, and 1 Duty Manager, overseeing day-to-day operations and fostering individual development through objective setting, 1:1 meeting, and team meetings
• Responsible for effective team management, including recruitment, assessment, engagement, and development to ensure high performance and cohesion
• Implement and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), making continuous improvements to performance and aligning them with organizational objectives
• Interface with Technical Account Managers (TAMs), Field teams, and Customers on critical escalations, ensuring timely resolution and satisfaction
• Ensure adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and Operational KPIs, while also participating in strategic initiatives and cross-functional collaboration to drive success across the organization.

Key Specializations:

Recruitment and Onboarding of New Teams:

• Recruited over 200+ Engineers to establish round-the-clock Teams, particularly in the US and EMEA regions.

New Product Introduction

• Proactively managing support requests during product adoption, covering setup, configuration, and troubleshooting (Stage Manager, vCloud Director, vShield).

Engineering Collaboration

• Utilized Support Request data for trend analysis, helping the Engineering team prioritize enhancements for improved product versions.

Performance Management

• Engaging actively in yearly performance appraisal and bonus discussions, employing the Bell curve methodology to evaluate and reward team members' contributions.

Industry Collaboration

• Featured as a Speaker at VMworld (2011, 2017, 2018, & 2019), vForum, vMUG, VMware vThrive, and Customer Support Days in various global cities.

Community Engagement

• Spearheaded the creation of community outreach program, including initiatives like Ekalavya and Compass for Life, aligned with our EPIC2 Values.

• Integral part of Global Support as a L3 Escalation Engineer, adept at handling business and technical escalations worldwide from TAMs, Field Teams, and internal peer group
• Proficient in vSphere and its complete suite of products, with expertise in performing Root Cause Analysis for critical and production down situations
• Strong knowledge of iSCSI, Fiber Channel, NFS storage technologies, and advanced troubleshooting of storage with vSphere
• Extensive experience in visiting client sites globally for consolidation planning and implementing best practices.

• Managed HP Alpha servers across various series and Linux operating systems for Enterprise clients in the EMEA region
• Conducted simulations and generated reports for Engineering evaluation, ensuring effective resolution of customer issues
• Handled technical escalations, identifying root causes, and collaborating with Engineering to provide timely solutions, including the release of Customer Specific Patches (CSPs).

• Network Administration, Planning & Installation, including DHCP, DNS, WINS, FTP, CUPS, and configuration/administration of Windows, Netware, and Linux-based file/print services
• Administration of Linux Servers and Windows Client/Server environment, with responsibility for Disaster Recovery procedure planning, implementation, and documentation
• Maintenance of records concerning client infrastructure, as well as providing training sessions for team members and clients on new products.