RAHUL RADHAKRISNAN
DUBAI,UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Summary
Experienced IT Professional with more than 15 years of experience in IT Systems, products, and solutions. Innovative professional with proven ability to identify, analyze, and solve problems to increase customer satisfaction.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
System Engineer
Zayed Authority for People of Determination
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
09.2023 - Current
- Managing and maintaining cloud infrastructure in Microsoft Azure, including virtual machines, storage accounts, backup vaults, and virtual networks.
- Designing, implementing, and managing security policies using Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Conditional Access, and Azure AD.
- Installing, configuring, and managing Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) for secure publishing of web applications.
- Implementing and managing BitLocker encryption and Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) policies through Intune and Group Policy to enhance endpoint security.
- Administering the Microsoft 365 environment including Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, and Defender for Office 365.
- Planning and performing migration projects from on-premises to Azure cloud, including virtual machines, backup solutions, and file storage.
- Managing Windows Server environments and core services including Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and Group Policy.
- Managing and maintaining VMware hyperconverged infrastructure and storage systems.
- Automating infrastructure tasks and user provisioning using PowerShell and Microsoft Graph API.
- Coordinating with internal teams and external vendors for the implementation of new technologies and compliance requirements.
- Coordinating with the Department of Government Enablement (DGE) for various IT requests and supporting them in implementing security and infrastructure projects.
- Documenting system configurations, security policies, and operational procedures for governance and future reference.
Senior Systems Engineer
Pinnacle Computer Systems LLC
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
12.2012 - 09.2023
- Azure, and AWS infrastructure designing and implementation
- Assisting clients in the configuration of their cloud infrastructure to align with the Well-Architected Framework.
- Providing expert guidance on best practices for building secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient cloud-based systems.
- Design, planning, implementation and migration of Microsoft 365 Emails and SharePoint from various platforms.
- Configuring M365 Identity management, security, compliance and device management on hybrid, azure ad joined and registered workloads
- Ensuring compliance with IT governance policies and procedures using ITIL standards.
- Supporting the oversight operation technical architect in planning and implementing systems effectively.
- Providing technical support for SAN and NAS storage, VMware ESXi and vSphere, UNIX and LINUX operating systems, network protocols, and file systems
- Managing and supporting backup infrastructure including Veritas Backup Exec, NetBackup, Arcserve, Veeam (VBR), Acronis, NetBackup appliance, Data domain and Exa-Grid Providing operational support for backup systems, reviewing backup capacity and utilization trending, and making system expansion recommendations to support data growth and backup reports.
- Collaborating with the team in the planning, design, build, testing, and transition of backup software and related storage solutions delivery to operational support.
- Offering technical guidance and training on different topics to the team.
- Creating technical project documentations to be shared with relevant stakeholders.
- Managing servers on different vendor platforms including hardware and software, designing and implementing system integration in various application architectures.
- Implementation and support for Windows Servers, Active Directory, Exchange Server, DNS, Fileservers & DHCP Servers.
- Delivering enterprise antivirus servers, web proxy, FTP, print server, and NAS technology implementation.
- Demonstrating self-starter and solution-oriented with good interpersonal skills to drive towards closure by taking ownership of various processes/situations.
- Delivering results on time and maintaining Customer Satisfaction (C-SAT)
System Administrator
Precision Informatic (M) Pvt Ltd
Calicut, India
10.2010 - 09.2012
- Deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting new clients to ensure smooth system functioning.
- Monitoring the health and connectivity of infrastructure hardware such as servers, UPS, core switches, routers, and other WAN equipment to ensure uptime.
- Managing and administering Windows 2003 Active Directory Domain Controller and MS Exchange Server 2003 to ensure optimal performance.
- Configuring LAN, DHCP, NFS, Citrix client, and VPN to ensure secure and reliable connectivity.
- Installing and maintaining software and antivirus patches to safeguard against security threats.
- Providing L1 support to onsite hardware and network calls to ensure timely resolution of issues.
- Installing packages in Linux using tar, rpm, and mounting and unmounting file systems to manage and maintain the Linux environment.
- Configuring printers through Samba in Linux and Windows and troubleshooting printer-related issues.
- Installing and configuring web servers like Apache to ensure web application availability.
- Configuring email clients like Thunderbird and MS Outlook and creating soft links to simplify user experience.
- Managing disk partitions and configuring VSFTPD, SSHD, TELNET, and SAMBA services to enhance system functionality.
Education
Diploma - Electronics and Communication
KMCT POLY TECHNIC COLLEGE
Calicut / India 03.2005 - 05.2008
Skills
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Cloud Platforms & Services
- Microsoft Azure (IaaS / PaaS)
- Azure Virtual Machines, Virtual Networks, NSGs
- Azure Storage (Blob, File, Disk) & Azure Backup / Recovery Services Vaults
- Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) – deployment, policies & fine-tuning
- Azure Firewall / perimeter security
- Site-to-Site VPN, ExpressRoute connectivity
- Azure AD (Entra ID), Azure AD Join / Hybrid Join
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) – infrastructure design & implementation
- Cloud Storage, BCDR strategy & implementation
Microsoft 365 & Collaboration
- Microsoft 365 tenant administration
- Exchange Online, hybrid mail flow, archives & retention policies
- SharePoint Online & OneDrive for Business
- Microsoft Teams (policies, Teams/Channels, meetings)
- Defender for Office 365 (Safe Links, Safe Attachments, anti-phish)
- Email security gateways: Mimecast, Proofpoint, Microsoft 365 native
Endpoint Management & Security
- Microsoft Intune (MDM/MAM, configuration & compliance policies)
- Windows Update Rings & feature update policies
- BitLocker Encryption (Intune & GPO-based)
- Windows LAPS / Local Administrator Password Solution
- Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules
- Application Control (AppLocker / WDAC-style policies)
- Device Control (USB / removable storage restrictions)
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (EPP/EDR)
- Other EDR / endpoint security: Sophos Cloud, SentinelOne, Symantec Endpoint Security
Identity, Security & Governance
- Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) – user, group & OU management
- Group Policy (GPO) – security baselines & hardening
- DNS, DHCP, file & print services on Windows Server
- Conditional Access & MFA policies
- Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance / Purview (basic eDiscovery, retention)
- IT Security hardening aligned with government / DGE guidelines
- ITIL-based processes & IT governance
Virtualization, Storage & Backup
- VMware vSphere / ESXi / vCenter, VMware Hyperconverged Infrastructure
- Microsoft Hyper-V
- SAN / NAS storage administration
- NetApp, Dell EMC Unity, VNX, HP MSA, Data Domain, ExaGrid
- SAN switches (Brocade) & tape libraries
- File servers, SMB/CIFS shares & access control
- Backup solutions: Veeam (VBR), Veritas NetBackup, Backup Exec, Arcserve, Acronis, EMC Networker
- Backup capacity planning, reporting & optimization
Automation, Scripting & Monitoring
- PowerShell (AD, Exchange Online, Intune, Azure, M365 automation, bulk operations)
- Microsoft Graph API (automation of user, group & device operations)
- Kusto Query Language (KQL) for Defender / Sentinel advanced hunting
- Log analysis & incident investigation (Defender, Sentinel, WAF, etc)
- Qualys Cloud Agent deployment & basic vulnerability management
Operating Systems & Networking
- Windows Server (2003–2022) administration
- Linux server administration (installation, packages, services, Samba, Apache, NFS, SSH, FTP)
- Core networking: TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, VPN, LAN/WAN fundamentals
PROFESSIONAL & SOFT SKILLS
- Infrastructure design, migration & modernization (on-prem to Azure / M365)
- Vendor & partner coordination (VARs, SOC/NOC, government entities like DGE)
- Technical project documentation & runbooks
- Technical training & knowledge transfer to teams
- Customer-facing support & stakeholder communication
- Team leadership, mentoring and ownership of critical services
Languages
English
Fluent
Hindi
Advanced
Malayalam
Fluent
Tamil
Intermediate
Certification
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate (AZ104)
Microsoft Certified Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty (AZ140)
Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies (AZ303)
Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ304)
MCSA Office 365(Microsoft 70- 346 & 70-347)
RHCT (Red hat Certified Technician)
VMSTP V9.5 (Veeam certified technical sales professional)
ACE (Acronis Certified Engineer)
VMware Technical Solutions Professional (VTSP) Foundation 2018
Microsoft Security Engineer Program (Global Knowledge-Skillsoft)
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
System Engineer
Zayed Authority for People of Determination
09.2023 - Current
Senior Systems Engineer
Pinnacle Computer Systems LLC
12.2012 - 09.2023
System Administrator
Precision Informatic (M) Pvt Ltd
10.2010 - 09.2012
Diploma - Electronics and Communication
KMCT POLY TECHNIC COLLEGE
03.2005 - 05.2008