SHRIKANT DESAI
Sr. Pre-sales / Sales Engineer.
Mumbai, MH
Summary
Pre-Sales / Systems Engineer with 16+ years of expertise in Next-Gen Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Routing, Switching & Wireless Technologies. Demonstrated track record of driving technical excellence, delivering impactful solutions, and contributing to organizational success. Highly motivated professional with strong functional, communication, and organizational skills, seeking to excel in a Technical Pre-Sales role while supporting strategic business goals.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
13
13
Certifications
Work History
Sr. Systems Engineer | Commercials
Fortinet
02.2023 - Current
- Tenure :: 27th Feb 2023 till present date.
- Collaborated with set of accounts to understand the need and advise appropriate Fortinet solutions.
- Solution presentations to key stake holders & PoC to prove the solution effectivity.
- Competition analysis.
- Tech Days & Fast Track session with customers & partners.
- Solution BoQ Preparation & based on customer needs.
- Partner enablement & Event presentation.
- Funnel/pipeline Generation.
- Working closely with sales counter partner to close the commit deals.
- RFP validation for tenders.
Sr. System Engineer.
Sophos Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
11.2021 - 01.2023
- Tenure :: 1st Nov 2021 to 17th Jan 2023.
- Presenting Product Portfolio to prospects & C-level executives for value selling.
- Working on CSPM, XDR, MDR, IR products & services.
- Generating Cross-sell & up-sell opportunities by working with Enterprise customers.
- Channel eco-system enablement & development.
Cyber Technology Specialist
Darktrace
02.2021 - 10.2021
- Tenure :: 1st Feb 2021 to 30th Oct 2021
- Showcasing technology features to customers and discussing technical details to overcome objections.
- Preparing & delivering Presentations at Customers / partners.
- Technical Objection handling.
- Helping customers in Forensics & investigating incidents.
- Helping prospects to understand the Darktrace AI based Email Security technology.
- Demonstrating & justifying Darktrace Enterprise Immune System features & it's components on Physical Infra, SaaS & IaaS.
Regional Pre-Sales Specialist - West
Sophos Technologies Pvt Ltd
04.2015 - 01.2021
- Tenure :: 2nd April 2015 to 8th January 2021.
- Designing Solution Architecture for Enterprise & Mid-Enterprise networks specifically for Endpoints, Encryption & Next-Gen Firewalls.
- Forensics & investigation for incident response.
- Solution Automations for rapid deployment.
- Requirement gathering & BoQ designing.
- Scope of work documentation.
- PoC's as per requirement & Demonstrating Product feature.
- Product trainings for Partners & customers.
- Preparing & delivering Presentations at Customers / Partners / Technology events.
- Objection handling & Competition awareness.
- Involved in Tender process & pre-bid.
- Testing the newly launched functionalities in the lab setup, educating partners & customers about the same.
- Advocating enterprise customers for best possible solutions.
Sr. Network & Security Engineer
One Network Consulting Pvt.Ltd
04.2009 - 03.2015
- Tenure :: 29th April 2009 to 31st March 2015
- Maintaining & Administering Security/Network Infrastructure and all connecting peripherals 24/7 for various customers. .
- Responsible for lease line, MPLS & internet links installation, patching, monitoring and configuration as per AMC & contracts..
- Responsibilities include integrating AD /LDAP / RADIUS server with a firewall for user authentication.
- Defining rights for internet access.
- IPSec VPN establishment between devices over the internet & routing failover after primary link goes down. .
- Attending presales meeting & suggesting clients regarding best solutions against their requirements..
- Conducting PoC's at customer premises to justify the product features..
- Testing setup & Lab setup creation..
- Preparing documentations for activities, Downtimes & project sign-off.
- Taking cares of escalations from subordinates. .
- Be involved in project tasks as requested..
- Comply with change and configuration management procedures. .
- Provision of training (workshops generally together with individual training of new joiners) as laid down by the IT Manager. Major Achievements:.
- (July 2020) Sophos Endpoint With EDR of 4,000 endpoints & 200 servers.
- Pre-Sales involvement to stay ahead of competition & Solution designing as per best practice.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce -
Mumbai University
Mumbai, MH 03.2007 - 2009.03
HSC - Commerce
HSC
Maharashtra Board 02.2005 - 2007.03
Skills
Pre-sales, Competition analysis, Objection handling, Solution Design
NGFW, ZTNA, PAM, SD-WAN, NAC, Authenticator, E-Mail Security, Next-Gen Endpoint, Encryption
AI Based NDR solution, Cyber-Security, Routing & Switching
Wireless Solutions, WAN-Optimizations, IP-Telephony
Routing & Routed Protocols, Cloud Platform Architecture
Certification
Certified Ethical Hacker v.11
Accomplishments
- SE of the year 2017 (India SAARC)
- SE of the Quarter Q3 2019 (APJ)
- SE of the Month (March 2019, Sept 2019 & Feb 2020) (India SAARC).
Additional Information
- Next-Gen Firewall :: Juniper(SRX,SSG, ISG), Cisco (ASA), Sophos(XG, UTM9), Fortinet (E, F, G Series)
- Next-Gen Endpoint :: Sophos Endpoint+XDR (On-prem & Cloud), Symantec.
- Routing & Switching :: Cisco (Nexus, Catalist), Juniper (EX Series), Extreme, HP.
- Wireless Solutions :: Aruba, Rukus, Juniper, Cisco, Sophos.
- Encryption Solution :: Sophos (On-prem & Cloud), MCafee, Trend-Micro.
- WAN-Optimization :: Riverbed SteelHead, Silver Peak.
- IP-Telephony :: Cisco CUCM.
- Email-Protection :: Trend-Micro, Mimecast, Sophos, Fortimail (Gateway & API based)
- Virtualization :: VMWare work Station, ESXi, Virtual-box.
- Cloud platform :: Cloud Firewalls, CSPM solution.
- Remote connectivity & security :: ZTNA, SD-WAN.
- Authentication :: Forti-Authenticator, FortiTrust Identity.
- SASE :: FortiSASE.
- ZTNA :: FortiClient-EMS
Major Projects in Fortinet
1) Polycab Wires Ltd – SD WAN
Shortly after joining Fortinet within three months, played a pivotal role in stitching and winning a strategically important SD WAN opportunity for 60 nationwide locations. The competitive landscape included Versa Networks and FatPipe, both strongly positioned, which required a differentiated and consultative approach.
2) Nucovo Vistas Ltd – Multi Product Fabric
Demonstrated strong TCO benefits, consolidation advantages, and simplified operations that provided a clear competitive edge.Successfully secured a multi location SD WAN and security fabric consolidation deal and helped the customer build an integrated, cost efficient, and performance driven digital infrastructure.
3) Fractal Analytics – FortiFlex
Closed a 60K FortiFlex deal in Phase 1. Built a strong value case and opened a 150K Phase 2 opportunity for Q1 2026. Successfully upsold and cross sold FortiRecon, Security Rating Service, and Cloud NGFW, expanding Fortinet’s footprint across multiple business units.
Major Projects in Sophos
- ICICI Bank : Sophos Encryption Solution Designing & PS for 1 Lakh+ Nodes.
- YES Bank : Sophos Encryption Solution Designing & PS for 18,000 Nodes.
- Godrej Industries : Sophos Encryption for 10,000 Users & Sophos Central Endpoint+XDR for 5,000 users.
- Polycab Wires Ltd. : Sophos Central Endpoint+XDR for 4,000 nodes.
- JM Baxi Ltd. : Sophos Endpoint, Encryption & XGS Firewall for 7,000 Nodes.
- BITS Pillani Goa : Sophos XGS 5500 Firewalls for 8,000 campus.
- Siyaram Silk Ltd.: Sophos XG 450 Firewalls for securing 5,000 users.
- ShareKhan : Sophos XG 450 Firewall for securing 3,000 users network.
Personal Details
- Date of Birth :: 25th December 1988.
- Language :: English, Hindi, Marathi.
- Passport No. :: J7006991
Timeline
Sr. Systems Engineer | Commercials
Fortinet
02.2023 - Current
Sr. System Engineer.
Sophos Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
11.2021 - 01.2023
Cyber Technology Specialist
Darktrace
02.2021 - 10.2021
Regional Pre-Sales Specialist - West
Sophos Technologies Pvt Ltd
04.2015 - 01.2021
Sr. Network & Security Engineer
One Network Consulting Pvt.Ltd
04.2009 - 03.2015
Bachelor of Commerce -
Mumbai University
03.2007 - 2009.03
HSC - Commerce
HSC
02.2005 - 2007.03