Stuart Lupton

Opening Statement:

I am a proven Cloud Solutions Architect with over 15 years of IT experience across a variety of different sectors. I have a passion for learning and using new technology. I have a delivery focused customer centric approach with a great balance between managerial, technical hands on and soft skills. I am a solid self-starter with a strong analytical skill set which is combined with the drive and determination to see work through to completion. I am consistently commended for my ability to work as a team member or independently while achieving critical deadlines.

General Capabilities and Experience:

  • Lead Architect for multiple application migrations/deployments to AWS.
  • Lead Architect/Technical authority for several server/data centre migration projects on-prem > AWS.
  • Public speaking experience – AWS Summit London, AWS User Groups, Partner Webinars & Exhibitions.
  • Consultation, design & POC of AWS and Azure solutions.
  • Mentorship for junior & mid level technical colleagues.
  • Contributor to the AWS Community Group – Sheffield.
  • Customer facing consultancy and proven communication skills to all levels.
  • Experience of leading a technical team.
  • Deep experience of designing and building Microsoft Infrastructure solutions.
  • Technical lead on multiple o365 migration projects.
  • Experience building business cases for up to executive level.

Education & Certifications:

  • AWS Certified SA Associate, Developer Associate, Sys Ops Admin & SA Professional.
  • Azure AZ103 Administrator & AZ300 Architect Technologies.
  • Microsoft 13x MCP (up to 2012 R2), MCSA, MCSE, MCITP (Messaging).
  • CompTIA Certified A+ Technician.
  • ITIL v3 Foundation.
  • Prince v2 Foundation.
  • Experts Exchange 2015 Annual Award Top 5 (Messaging).

Professional Experience:

DB Systel UK – Cloud Solutions Architect.

Nov 2017 – Present

Lead the design of cloud solutions to meet customer requirements. Engage with suppliers to solve business and technical problems on their platform and within their ecosystem. Act as an escalation point (Subject Matter Expert) for cloud technical issues and decisions. Present our service offerings at partner and community events, technical specialist for webinars/exhibits on cloud topics.

Key Projects
  • Lead Architect in several migration projects migrating workloads from on-premise to AWS.
  • Technical Lead in migration of 400 servers from on-premise to AWS.
  • Lead in developing a DB ‘Migration Factory’ using CloudEndure.
  • Lead Cloud Architect in setting up a Multi-Tenant Hybrid Cloud Solution.
  • Introduced IAC and CI/CD methodologies using cloud agnostic OSS tools (Terraform, Packer & Ansible)
  • Cloud Consultancy, internal and external to the DB Group – AWS and some Azure.
  • Lead Architect of numerous application migrations / new provisions to AWS.
  • Establish product & service set for external DB portfolio inc service design, marketing.
  • Lead Architect / Technical authority for large scale EKS deployment supporting global customers.

DB Systel UK – Server and Storage Engineer (Projects).

July 2014 – Nov 2017

Design solutions based on customer requirements, joint creation of PID with PMO & creation of design documents. Build of complex solutions and handover to support teams. Cloud SME. Technical escalation for Messaging & Cloud services to BAU team. Assist in resolution of Major Incidents (P1). Create documentation and upload to the relevant stores for reference by support teams. Manage own workload working to multiple strict project timelines. Provide OOH support cover for critical services. Work with architect team assisting in designs and resolution of complex issues for new and existing group customers. Involved in commercial bid proposals, providing design and technical input.

Key Projects
  • Technical Lead - Multiple datacentre migrations (VMware to VMware, HyperV to VMware).
  • Technical Lead - Several Microsoft Exchange projects including deployment of Exchange 2010-2013, consolidation, adding resiliency using DAGs.
  • Technical Lead - o365 Migration (500+ users).
  • Windows Specialist - Creation of a multi-tenant on-premise solution (RDS, Exchange, A/V, Proxy Solution).
  • Technical Lead - Citrix Farm upgrade - XenApp 6.5 to 7.12.

Direct Group – Data Centre and Server Engineer.

March 2013 – July 2014

Assist in the design, build and implementation of new data centre & Infrastructure at new company headquarters. Professional Services - Implementing services such as load balancers, HyperV, Exchange & Microsoft solutions. Support various technologies such as Hyper-V, ESXi, Equalogic SAN’s, SCOM, VDI, Force10/PowerEdge switches and Exchange 2010. Manage service transition of systems from companies brought into the group through acquisitions. Recommend, design and implement service improvements for systems moved into the group data centre. Provide OOH on-call cover for data centre environment and managed systems hosted within.

Key Projects
  • Technical Lead – Datacentre consolidation project.
  • Technical Lead - Exchange Migration from 2003 to 2010.
  • Technical Lead - Good For Enterprise MDM Deployment inc GFE, Share, Connect and Proxy.
  • Technical Lead - Build of 2012 RDS Farm for internal call handlers.
  • Technical Lead - Deployment of Patching solution for internal servers and products.

Thales Group – Senior Server and Storage Analyst.

April 2012 – March 2013

To design technical solutions to meet customer requirements. Install and configure server and storage components of services to agreed designs, timescales and budgets. Effective management of third-party suppliers and Staff Mentoring to Level 1 Server Analysts. Create design documents for proposed solutions and document and maintain technical standards.

Thales Group – Server and Storage Analyst.

December 2010 – April 2012

Incident, Problem and Service Request resolution within SLA including obtaining required information and evidence for diagnosis. Represent the Server Team at Problem & Change Advisory Board. Implementation of technical changes and contributing technically to service improvement. Provide on-call cover to meet service requirements. Documenting current systems or enhancements, reporting on opportunities to eliminate problems. To creatively apply technical knowledge to complete non-routine and unpredictable tasks.

Thales Group – Operations Control Centre Analyst.

November 2009 – December 2010

Second Line support service to be delivered as part of the Incident and Problem process. Includes Server device management and response to system alerts, ensuring these are progressed as appropriate, and pro-active management of the IT infrastructure to reduce the volume of business-affecting incidents. Providing management and control of Operational Task Management, including devices managing intrusion and gateway interfaces (IPS, IDS, IronPort, Web Gateway). Management of the Backup and Recovery process, ensuring that physical and logical tape management is performed according to Customer requirements including off site management. Environmental Infrastructure Management of Thales Datacentre’s, for local and remote locations.

Thales Group – Systems Analyst 2nd Line Support.

October 2008 - November 2009

Responsible to carry out all duties performed by the 1st line Support Analysts including working on incidents passed to 2nd line support.

Thales Group – Systems Analyst 1st Line Support.

Jan 2008 – October 2008

To provide IT support to 5000+ business users, logging incidents in the Service Desk incident management tool then diagnosing and managing these incidents, to resolution, in adherence with strict ITIL focused SLA’s.

Danum School Technology College - IT Operations Technician.

Sept 2005 – Jan 2008

To implement agreed procedures and provide technical support in line with the school’s IT support service definition, also to support and promote the appropriate use of IT to all pupils and staff in the school. (2000+ users).