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Experienced CTO | TED | R&D | Design & Architecture Development | Programme Management | Cloud Solutions | DevOps | Cloud Transformation | Agile Transformation
Ali Aktar
,
Romford, United Kingdom
Experience
Other titles
Skills
I'm offering
Chief Technology Officer (CTO), innovative, versatile & commercially-led, with 20+ years of experience as a leader in R&D, design, architecture & implementation, applying cutting-edge technology to underpin business success and improve overall performance.
Collaborative approach to technology and digital leadership, engaging with stakeholders at C-level and 3rd parties, bridging technical & non-technical gaps via teamwork, successfully ‘breaking down’ silos using agile methodology.
Extensive experience in data centre consolidation, infrastructure transformation, AWS, GCP public cloud adoption and migration projects with key aim to drive maximum benefit throughout different organisations across Telco, Oil & Gas, Media and Military Defence sectors
DevOps and Cloud expertise, utilising automation with DevOps best practices, blending private and public cloud usage and developing effective methods for users to utilise IaaS and PaaS services in public, private and hybrid cloud environments.
Integration and Compliance Specialist, implementing cross-platform integration, multi-cloud integration & orchestration across full project lifecycles from analysis through to support and handover.
Collaborative approach to technology and digital leadership, engaging with stakeholders at C-level and 3rd parties, bridging technical & non-technical gaps via teamwork, successfully ‘breaking down’ silos using agile methodology.
Extensive experience in data centre consolidation, infrastructure transformation, AWS, GCP public cloud adoption and migration projects with key aim to drive maximum benefit throughout different organisations across Telco, Oil & Gas, Media and Military Defence sectors
DevOps and Cloud expertise, utilising automation with DevOps best practices, blending private and public cloud usage and developing effective methods for users to utilise IaaS and PaaS services in public, private and hybrid cloud environments.
Integration and Compliance Specialist, implementing cross-platform integration, multi-cloud integration & orchestration across full project lifecycles from analysis through to support and handover.
Markets
United Kingdom
Links for more
Once you have created a company account and a job, you can access the profiles links.
Language
English
Fluently
Ready for
Larger project
Ongoing relation / part-time
Full time contractor
Available
My experience
2018 - 2019
freelance
HEAD OF ENGINEERING / CTO
V-Nova Ltd.
Responsible for technology leadership, including R&D and engineering functions, enhancing delivery
• Leading team of 40+, comprising of developers and engineers, with full remit for a £5m p.a. budget
• Introducing Agile & Scrum methodologies, enhancing delivery of projects across the organisation
• Delivering full hybrid cloud architecture utilising both Agile and DevOps methodologies from the outset
• Bringing about organisational transformation around security and compliance. Introducing security and continuous compliance using codified inspec in CI/CD pipeline. Convincing stakeholders that security,
continuous compliance, documentation are part of the agile sprint deliverables.
• Engaging with CEO and COO to drive change and align with core technology and intellectual property
Key deliverables and business outcomes included:
• Architected new cloud operating model, defined design patterns & engaged with vendors & 3rd parties
• Worked with developers and engineers to bring about a holistic approach to security conscious delivery
• Tools matrix introducing SAST tools like sonarqube, sonarlint, snyke and chef-continuous compliance.
• Introduced 'infrastructure as code' using terraform throughout the teams thereby allowing the DevOps
function to properly test infrastructure before deployment. Versioning was a major achievement.
• Grew engineering team to 40 staff, mentoring in strategies and customer-focused product development
• Oversaw existing staff training, mitigated skills shortage, defined job requirements & drove recruitment
• Entrenched Agile methods in HR and accounting department to enable increased flexibility for change
• Developed operating models establishing internal & external partnerships for flexible resourcing model
• Established 'secure by design/principle of least privilege' operating in the cloud using aws and gcp.
• Costed and budgeted for external near-shore specialist consultancy to provide development resources
• Created cross-functional teams to deliver projects with clearly defined backlog and owner responsibility
• Established growth trajectory based on metric data to measure cost-benefit for customer engagements
• Implemented mechanism to bill all collaborative work undertaken with partnerships on a SOW basis
• Replaced annual review process with more granular performance-based metrics under Agile changes
• Evaluated & selected AWS and GCP as cloud platforms of choice
• Defined Git branching methodologies across entire organisation, harmonising team ways of working
• Established one core CI/CD deployment capability using Concourse-CI allowing the organisation to rapidly move away from Jenkins and Gitlab-CI and start collaborating using one capability. Concourse
treats everything as 'first candidate' pipeline. Therefore, code compilation, libs vulnerability scanning,
infrastructure testing, artefact scanning, internal and external pen testing our AWS/GCP estate
were all made possible.
• Introduced single sign-on & OKTA federation services using SAML & OAUTH2 secure by design
• Drove public cloud adoption as a change agent, removing data centre 'clutter' to reduce complexity
• Leading team of 40+, comprising of developers and engineers, with full remit for a £5m p.a. budget
• Introducing Agile & Scrum methodologies, enhancing delivery of projects across the organisation
• Delivering full hybrid cloud architecture utilising both Agile and DevOps methodologies from the outset
• Bringing about organisational transformation around security and compliance. Introducing security and continuous compliance using codified inspec in CI/CD pipeline. Convincing stakeholders that security,
continuous compliance, documentation are part of the agile sprint deliverables.
• Engaging with CEO and COO to drive change and align with core technology and intellectual property
Key deliverables and business outcomes included:
• Architected new cloud operating model, defined design patterns & engaged with vendors & 3rd parties
• Worked with developers and engineers to bring about a holistic approach to security conscious delivery
• Tools matrix introducing SAST tools like sonarqube, sonarlint, snyke and chef-continuous compliance.
• Introduced 'infrastructure as code' using terraform throughout the teams thereby allowing the DevOps
function to properly test infrastructure before deployment. Versioning was a major achievement.
• Grew engineering team to 40 staff, mentoring in strategies and customer-focused product development
• Oversaw existing staff training, mitigated skills shortage, defined job requirements & drove recruitment
• Entrenched Agile methods in HR and accounting department to enable increased flexibility for change
• Developed operating models establishing internal & external partnerships for flexible resourcing model
• Established 'secure by design/principle of least privilege' operating in the cloud using aws and gcp.
• Costed and budgeted for external near-shore specialist consultancy to provide development resources
• Created cross-functional teams to deliver projects with clearly defined backlog and owner responsibility
• Established growth trajectory based on metric data to measure cost-benefit for customer engagements
• Implemented mechanism to bill all collaborative work undertaken with partnerships on a SOW basis
• Replaced annual review process with more granular performance-based metrics under Agile changes
• Evaluated & selected AWS and GCP as cloud platforms of choice
• Defined Git branching methodologies across entire organisation, harmonising team ways of working
• Established one core CI/CD deployment capability using Concourse-CI allowing the organisation to rapidly move away from Jenkins and Gitlab-CI and start collaborating using one capability. Concourse
treats everything as 'first candidate' pipeline. Therefore, code compilation, libs vulnerability scanning,
infrastructure testing, artefact scanning, internal and external pen testing our AWS/GCP estate
were all made possible.
• Introduced single sign-on & OKTA federation services using SAML & OAUTH2 secure by design
• Drove public cloud adoption as a change agent, removing data centre 'clutter' to reduce complexity
Infrastructure, Technology, Compliance, Engineering, Security, Recruitment, Growth, Transformation, Cto, Architecture, Testing, Ceo, Development, Organization, Patterns, Hybrid, Agent, Agile, Git, Scrum, AWS, Product development, DevOps, Budget, Training, Jenkins, Design, Cloud, R, Deployment, Mentoring, Design Patterns, Leadership, Test
2018 - 2018
freelance
HEAD OF ENGINEERING
Dentsu Aegis Network.
Responsible for leading cloud and engineering teams to define TOM for multi-cloud adoption initiative
• Part of business leadership team, total budget of £15m with 40k+ employees globally & siloed brands
• Operated under Agile and DevOps principles, grew team from the ground up totalling 15 people
• Built the Cloud Centre of Excellence, recruitment and job specifications, interviews and shortlisting
• Engaged with brands to understand and architect cloud landing zones to meet specific requirements
• Conducted application affinity assessment for all data centre applications, defining appropriate criteria using the 6R's (rehosting, repurchasing, re-platforming, refactoring, retire, retain)
• 'Hands-on' coding & leadership by example for cloud adoption across organisation network & brands
• Ran POCs and demos for cloud providers, defining provider and DAN private platform operating models
• Developed infrastructure as code processes, utilising Chef, Chef-inspec and continuous compliance,
Terraform and AWS CloudFormation tools
• Implemented Vault as SaaS and encryption and Nomad for cluster, container and microservice platform
• Acted as lead architect, engineer and cloud expert for AWS, GCP and Azure cloud services
• Engaged up to CEO and CTO level to drive change from top down and bottom up in agile and DevOps
• Worked closely with each brand, delivering £10k+PM in cost savings via workload cloud migrations
• Part of business leadership team, total budget of £15m with 40k+ employees globally & siloed brands
• Operated under Agile and DevOps principles, grew team from the ground up totalling 15 people
• Built the Cloud Centre of Excellence, recruitment and job specifications, interviews and shortlisting
• Engaged with brands to understand and architect cloud landing zones to meet specific requirements
• Conducted application affinity assessment for all data centre applications, defining appropriate criteria using the 6R's (rehosting, repurchasing, re-platforming, refactoring, retire, retain)
• 'Hands-on' coding & leadership by example for cloud adoption across organisation network & brands
• Ran POCs and demos for cloud providers, defining provider and DAN private platform operating models
• Developed infrastructure as code processes, utilising Chef, Chef-inspec and continuous compliance,
Terraform and AWS CloudFormation tools
• Implemented Vault as SaaS and encryption and Nomad for cluster, container and microservice platform
• Acted as lead architect, engineer and cloud expert for AWS, GCP and Azure cloud services
• Engaged up to CEO and CTO level to drive change from top down and bottom up in agile and DevOps
• Worked closely with each brand, delivering £10k+PM in cost savings via workload cloud migrations
Engineering, Processes, UP, Assessment, Organization, Ceo, Infrastructure, Cto, Recruitment, Cloud services, AWS, Compliance, Network, Leadership, Saas, Cloud, Agile, Budget, DevOps, Azure
2016 - 2018
freelance
LEAD TRANSFORMATION ARCHITECT
Inmarsat Plc.
Transformational leadership on a major project to migrate from multi-DC to multi-vendor infrastructure
• Led team of 15 SMEs to analyse all aspects of cloud migration, devising training plans for existing staff
• Devised testing & automation strategy & built teams utilising DevOps principles across business units
• Acted as SME, defining the organisational roadmap to adopt cloud computing and DevOps methods
• Engaged with stakeholders to demonstrate software & solution capability, automation & orchestration
• Designed full stack & deployment of Terraform, Consul, Consul Template, Nomad & Vault capabilities
• Architected with lead-by-example in projects utilising cloud computing and DevSecOps methods
• Implemented infrastructure as code and continuous compliance frameworks based on CIS framework
• Managed vendor RFI and RFP processes and NDA frameworks with on-boarding and rapid POCs
• Transformed thinking, tooling, onshore / offshore development, engineering, deployment & automation
• Created development standards, deployed IDAM and other capabilities to onboard SAML and OAUTH2
• Developed software defined network & network function virtualisation on customer ships & vessels
• Deployed OpenStack & KVM solutions based on DC setups with intelligent traffic routing & analysis
• Mentored operations and development teams in adoption of Agile methods and drove DevOps adoption
• Led configuration of private cloud environments, set-up & configured cloud-based & DC-based POCs
• Led team of 15 SMEs to analyse all aspects of cloud migration, devising training plans for existing staff
• Devised testing & automation strategy & built teams utilising DevOps principles across business units
• Acted as SME, defining the organisational roadmap to adopt cloud computing and DevOps methods
• Engaged with stakeholders to demonstrate software & solution capability, automation & orchestration
• Designed full stack & deployment of Terraform, Consul, Consul Template, Nomad & Vault capabilities
• Architected with lead-by-example in projects utilising cloud computing and DevSecOps methods
• Implemented infrastructure as code and continuous compliance frameworks based on CIS framework
• Managed vendor RFI and RFP processes and NDA frameworks with on-boarding and rapid POCs
• Transformed thinking, tooling, onshore / offshore development, engineering, deployment & automation
• Created development standards, deployed IDAM and other capabilities to onboard SAML and OAUTH2
• Developed software defined network & network function virtualisation on customer ships & vessels
• Deployed OpenStack & KVM solutions based on DC setups with intelligent traffic routing & analysis
• Mentored operations and development teams in adoption of Agile methods and drove DevOps adoption
• Led configuration of private cloud environments, set-up & configured cloud-based & DC-based POCs
Offshore, LED, Processes, UP, Framework, OpenStack, Software, Development, Testing, Infrastructure, RFP, Transformation, Operations, Engineering, Compliance, Network, Leadership, Deployment, Cloud, Automation, Agile, Training, DevOps
2015 - 2016
freelance
LEAD DEVOPS ARCHITECT
Raytheon UK Ltd.
Raytheon UK Ltd.
Responsible for utilising cutting-edge technology in R&D project to 'prove out' big data compute power
• Developed hyperscale compute, using bleeding edge technology to process very large amounts of data
• Implemented private and public cloud platforms for auto-scaling and auto-healing workload distribution
• Developed hyperscale compute, using bleeding edge technology to process very large amounts of data
• Implemented private and public cloud platforms for auto-scaling and auto-healing workload distribution
Big Data, DevOps, Cloud, R, Technology, Power
2015 - 2015
freelance
LEAD DEVOPS ARCHITECT
Kainos NHS.
Responsible for bringing together a mix of technologies to supply digital services to major NHS Trusts
• Led WebOps team across 2 Scrum teams, architecting private, public & hybrid cloud platform solutions
• Delivered automatable & scalable API layers with modular apps & blueprint for multi-cloud deployment
• Organised tenders from cloud providers & analysed guidelines, data security & location requirements
• Designed solutions with emphasis on geolocation of patient data, N3 network connectivity and security
• Held daily stand ups and utilised Kanban boards and setup POCs to ascertain cloud provider suitability
• Evaluated and verified suitability of DevOps tools to find most appropriate mix of tools for environment
• Analysed PaaS solutions include Cloudify and Cloud Foundry to break away from proprietary tooling
• Delegated tasks and managed team workloads alongside completing compilation of policy documents
• Led WebOps team across 2 Scrum teams, architecting private, public & hybrid cloud platform solutions
• Delivered automatable & scalable API layers with modular apps & blueprint for multi-cloud deployment
• Organised tenders from cloud providers & analysed guidelines, data security & location requirements
• Designed solutions with emphasis on geolocation of patient data, N3 network connectivity and security
• Held daily stand ups and utilised Kanban boards and setup POCs to ascertain cloud provider suitability
• Evaluated and verified suitability of DevOps tools to find most appropriate mix of tools for environment
• Analysed PaaS solutions include Cloudify and Cloud Foundry to break away from proprietary tooling
• Delegated tasks and managed team workloads alongside completing compilation of policy documents
Scrum, API, DevOps, Cloud, Deployment, Kanban, Network, Security, Apps, Hybrid, LED, Amazon Web Services, Linux, Git, Mysql, Software development
2013 - 2015
freelance
DEVOPS ARCHITECT
BP.
Responsible for designing a resilient portal using ServiceNow & multi-service cloud platform solutions
• Worked with BP cloud governance board to obtain sign off on design principles around cloud adoption
• Designed cloud service project VPC with cloud formations scripts and built out strategic environments
• Implemented software including Consul, Consul Template, Chef, ServiceNow, FileServer and GitLab
• Utilised AWS Multi-AZ to implement full-stack delivery of cloud portal system for purchasing and orders
• Created cookbooks & recipes to automate application, database, domain joins and stack configuration
• Liaised with global business segments for on-boarding, user-case analysis, solution design and delivery
• Tested infrastructure connectivity and handed-over each user-case after completion with documentation
• Worked with BP cloud governance board to obtain sign off on design principles around cloud adoption
• Designed cloud service project VPC with cloud formations scripts and built out strategic environments
• Implemented software including Consul, Consul Template, Chef, ServiceNow, FileServer and GitLab
• Utilised AWS Multi-AZ to implement full-stack delivery of cloud portal system for purchasing and orders
• Created cookbooks & recipes to automate application, database, domain joins and stack configuration
• Liaised with global business segments for on-boarding, user-case analysis, solution design and delivery
• Tested infrastructure connectivity and handed-over each user-case after completion with documentation
Design, Database, Cloud, Service, Infrastructure, ServiceNow, Software, Portal, Software development, Mysql, Amazon Web Services, AWS, DevOps, Agile development, Cloud services
2013 - 2013
freelance
SENIOR DEVOPS ENGINEER, Swrve
unknown.
Responsible for evaluating implementation, assisting & advising DevOps on automation & deployment
• Analysed and sanitised Nagios monitoring tool implementation, ensuring alerts were not false positives
• Assisted DevOps to automate provision into AWS & automate Tomcat builds & deployments via Chef
• Created Chef cookbooks and recipes for Chef managed hosts, services, hostgroups and servicegroups
• Consulted on best practice for automated deployment, systems management, monitoring & convention
• Analysed and sanitised Nagios monitoring tool implementation, ensuring alerts were not false positives
• Assisted DevOps to automate provision into AWS & automate Tomcat builds & deployments via Chef
• Created Chef cookbooks and recipes for Chef managed hosts, services, hostgroups and servicegroups
• Consulted on best practice for automated deployment, systems management, monitoring & convention
AWS, DevOps, Automation, Deployment, Management, Tomcat, Implementation, Monitoring, Nagios
2013 - 2013
freelance
Chef
DEVOPS SYSTEMS ARCHITECT, Which.
roll-out, including automation & deployment
• Advised DevOps on automating provisioning into RackSpace & Tomcat builds, & deployment via Chef
• Organised development and staging environment to better cater for developer crash and burn hosts
• Designed improved practices so DevOps intervention not required with new environments are needed
• Prepared wrapper Bash scripts for Chef provisioning and deployments with automated iptables entries
• Debugged & troubleshooted dev & staging environment problems, organising & sanitising system rules
• Advised DevOps on automating provisioning into RackSpace & Tomcat builds, & deployment via Chef
• Organised development and staging environment to better cater for developer crash and burn hosts
• Designed improved practices so DevOps intervention not required with new environments are needed
• Prepared wrapper Bash scripts for Chef provisioning and deployments with automated iptables entries
• Debugged & troubleshooted dev & staging environment problems, organising & sanitising system rules
DevOps, Automation, Deployment, Bash, Developer, Tomcat, Development
2011 - 2013
freelance
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION ARCHITECT
Burberry UK Ltd.
Responsible for designing the Burberry World 2.0 project including AWS service solutions & migration
• Oversaw implementation of SSO using MS AD LDAP authentication including cross-platform solutions
• Developed identity management with support for multiple devices and web browsers, including testing
• Designed automation processes for Linux, Unix and AWS instances, using Chef SaaS for configuration
• Created Chef recipes using Ruby scripting & deployed multiple systems including databases & VPNs
Early career details include
• Oversaw implementation of SSO using MS AD LDAP authentication including cross-platform solutions
• Developed identity management with support for multiple devices and web browsers, including testing
• Designed automation processes for Linux, Unix and AWS instances, using Chef SaaS for configuration
• Created Chef recipes using Ruby scripting & deployed multiple systems including databases & VPNs
Early career details include
Linux, Ruby on rails, AWS, Automation, Scripting, Unix, Saas, Management, Integration, Service, Support, Implementation, Testing, Web, Processes, Infrastructure, Cloud, DevOps, Web development, Software development
2010 - 2011
freelance
Senior Unix / Linux System Engineer
EADS Astrium, UK & UAE.
Linux, Unix
2010 - 2010
job
Systems Engineer
NetBenefit.
2009 - 2010
temp
System Engineer
CGI.
2009 - 2009
temp
System Engineer
Gala Coral Group.
2007 - 2008
job
Team Lead / System Automation Engineer
BT Global Services.
Automation
2004 - 2007
job
Senior Unix Engineer
AOL UK.
Unix
2003 - 2003
job
Solaris System Administrator
SSA Software Ltd.
Administrator
2001 - 2003
job
System Administrator
Colt Telecom Group Plc.
Administrator
1999 - 2000
job
System Administrator
First Telecom Plc.
Administrator
1998 - 1999
job
System Administrator
PJB Publications Ltd.
Administrator
1997 - 1998
job
Programmer / Support Analyst
UBL International.
IT, software & technical capabilities
Data Centre Operations, Amazon Cloud (AWS) Google Cloud (GCP), Google Container Engineer (GKE)
Cloud Formations, VPC, VPN Connectivity ITSM (ServiceNow), Consul and Consul Template
IBM Softlayer and VMware Vcloud API Chef 11+ (Configuration Management)
RDS, GITLAB, Entire Stack Automation CI / CD, GoogleSearch Appliance Implementation
PingFederate / PingOneIdentity Management SSO, Salesforce, SAS SSO Provisioning, DevOps
Windows 2008R2-2012 and AD Integration LDAP Authentication, SSO, Unix / Linux Cross Platform
Opsware System, Redhat, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX Network Function Virtualisation (NFV)
Full System Lifecycle Development, Agile Advanced Level J2EE (Java) Experience
Large Scale Sun Solaris v2.5-2.10 Rollouts HP and DELL (DL380, DL580) Hardware
RethinkDB (nosql DB), MYSQL, Sybase Oracle Configuration, SQL Programming
Professional accreditation & courses
ITIL ITIL Foundation
Red Hat Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
Sybase Infocentre Sybase Fast Track to SAP ASE v11-15
Cisco Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Sun Solaris
Sun Solaris 2.8 Fault Analysis
Sun Solaris 2.8 Unix and Windows Advanced Integration
Sun Solaris 2.8 System Administration Part 1 and 2
Sun Solaris 2.7 System Administration Part 1
HPE Support Centre HP-UX 11 System Administration
Data Centre Operations, Amazon Cloud (AWS) Google Cloud (GCP), Google Container Engineer (GKE)
Cloud Formations, VPC, VPN Connectivity ITSM (ServiceNow), Consul and Consul Template
IBM Softlayer and VMware Vcloud API Chef 11+ (Configuration Management)
RDS, GITLAB, Entire Stack Automation CI / CD, GoogleSearch Appliance Implementation
PingFederate / PingOneIdentity Management SSO, Salesforce, SAS SSO Provisioning, DevOps
Windows 2008R2-2012 and AD Integration LDAP Authentication, SSO, Unix / Linux Cross Platform
Opsware System, Redhat, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX Network Function Virtualisation (NFV)
Full System Lifecycle Development, Agile Advanced Level J2EE (Java) Experience
Large Scale Sun Solaris v2.5-2.10 Rollouts HP and DELL (DL380, DL580) Hardware
RethinkDB (nosql DB), MYSQL, Sybase Oracle Configuration, SQL Programming
Professional accreditation & courses
ITIL ITIL Foundation
Red Hat Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
Sybase Infocentre Sybase Fast Track to SAP ASE v11-15
Cisco Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Sun Solaris
Sun Solaris 2.8 Fault Analysis
Sun Solaris 2.8 Unix and Windows Advanced Integration
Sun Solaris 2.8 System Administration Part 1 and 2
Sun Solaris 2.7 System Administration Part 1
HPE Support Centre HP-UX 11 System Administration
Analyst, Hp-ux, Integration, SAS, System administration, Windows, J2EE, Network, CCNA, It, Support, Management, Implementation, Hardware, Development, ServiceNow, Amazon, Software, Configuration Management, Sybase, Aix, Google, SAP, Sql, Java, Linux, Administration, API, AWS, UX, Oracle, Operations, DevOps, Mysql, ITIL, Agile, VMware, Cisco, Automation, Cloud, Salesforce, Unix, NoSQL, Google cloud
My education
University of West London
BSc, Business Information Systems
BSc, Business Information Systems
Tower Hamlets College
Hndhncorequivalent, Computer Studies
Hndhncorequivalent, Computer Studies
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