Vipul Shah

• Identified opportunities for improvement within existing IT infrastructure and processes.

Suggested management to implement Watchguard firewalls at Pan India offices - Invested Rs. 4 lakhs = 3600 GBP for Quantity - 4 to ensure that all office networks, servers, CCTV, and PCs remain secure. Implemented NAS Box backup (cost Rs.1 lac = 900 GBP) for HO for 100 employees with 8 servers, with 4 bays, each having a 10 TB HDD, so that whenever needed, any data is available at just a click. By installing WatchGuard Firewall, I also make sure that antivirus and all firewall consoles are on the same console, making management easy and less time-consuming. I also implemented 2MFA for the firewall to ensure that admin console access rights are with authorized person.

Ultimately, my goal for implementing this project was to keep the network up by 95%.

Developed and implemented IT strategy to ensure alignment with business objectives.

Implemented cloud calling for new CRM purchased for sales team (40 users) with 100 different lines, for this we are paying Rs. 35K per month = 318 GBP for unlimited calls made through Softphone and VOIP headphones for echo cancellations. So, per user, we are paying just Rs 875 = 7.95 GBP per month for doing marketing for Flats, Villas, Farm Houses, and commercial places worth Rs. 75 lacs to 2 crores = 68,200 to 190K GBP.

• Recommended hardware and software acquisitions to help users assess needs and justify equipment and services.

Upgraded old PCs of the Marketing and Project Department from Core i3/Core i5 systems to Xeon Processors with Graphics cards, so that they could meet their design work deadlines. This was done for a team of 22 Graphics Designers, Content Writers, Digital Marketing, Architects, and MEP Engineers who work on CorelDRAW, Adobe Creative Cloud, AutoCAD, and SketchUp, etc., at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh = 18k GBP for projects worth millions of pounds.

• Globally managed several satellite IT locations, maintaining secure and operational corporate infrastructure.
• Provided company users with tech support for IT problems and account maintenance.

The company has live projects running in 4 cities with 9 projects. It also has marketing and project offices with PCs/Laptops, network devices, and CCTV. Out of these three offices, each having more than 40 employees, are secured with Watchguard firewall and Antivirus. Connected with IPsec VPN, and for roaming users, Global VPN/Mobile VPN securely connects to servers and applications from the office or home. This office has a Senior System Administrator who reports to me for approvals of procurement of IT parts, laptops, etc., and for technical help. I have one Senior System Administrator at HO who also reports to me and takes care of daily IT problems of HO and other remote offices, and escalates to me if problem not solved in TAT.

Recruited, trained and supervised IT department staff.

From my joining time till today, I have trained 7 IT engineers who have worked with me for a long time and supported me in all IT activities. Supervising them is one of my key responsibilities. Taking daily work report, monthly expenses for each office, how to do orientation for employees to teach them basics of IT. Trained, then not only in IT, but how to talk with employees, how to write emails, physical appearance, and how to talk with top management in case of my absence if needed.

• Created detailed documentation for all IT processes including system changes, upgrades.

Documents are maintained for IT expenses for HO and Pan India offices. For License Compliance, Email IDs, Users, and Passwords; Active Directory Users and Passwords; CCTV details for all offices; Admin console details for in-house servers; and cloud applications. Laptops/PCs given to employees with their name, location, department. Total Infrastructure consists of 275 PCs/Laptops, 8 Servers, around 300 Cameras around all offices (gradation in process). Total IT infrastructure costs of around $es (watched at HO), and 7 Cisco SF300 manageable switches (up to Rs. 10 Crores = 9 Lakh GBP and recurring expenses of Internet at all offices for lease line connections and other IT expenses per month, Rs. 8 lakh to 10 lakhs Indian Rupees = 7,500 to 10K GBP.

• Monitored vendor performance to ensure adherence to contractual agreements.

As the company has a Pan India presence, we have multiple vendor tie-ups for different types of problems and IT parts requirements. All these vendors report to the local IT person in their respective cities and to me at the head office. There are many remote construction offices where we do not have in-house IT engineers, so we take maintenance on an annual contract. (For 20 Pcs, 3 Printers, CCTV (20 Camera and DVR), and network) work, I fix the contract for Rs. 17,000 - 154 GBP per annum for 2 construction site offices, which include Project Container office and Marketing office, with RF internet from ISP. The agreement includes visiting offices once a week and checking for any type of problem, and whenever there is a call from the office. For any type of work, the vendor has to make a call sheet and take the sign of the user with narration. There is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) made between the company and the vendor for payment and service-related terms and conditions.

• Provided technical support and troubleshooting for customers' hardware, software, and network issues.

Worked at Einfochips' head office in Ahmedabad as a vendor named 'Sumisha Computers' had an annual contract to provide support for hardware, software, operating systems, and network-related problems. I used to report to the System Administrator and IT Head from 2007-2008 at Einfochips, and ultimately to the Director of Sumisha Computers. There was a ticketing system and TAT for attending to and solving problems, and then closing the ticket.

They had 4 offices in Ahmedabad, and all were interconnected and had NFS (Linux Network server) to install any version of Linux or Windows through the Network boot option. Also worked on VMware for installing Linux and Windows on the same PC.