Chris Lynch

Major Projects & Achievements

• Environment upgrades across global infrastructure (multiple AWS accounts, regions, and environments) with zero downtime or performance impacts to any customer. This was the first time this was achieved in the company, Realizeit Learning
• Migrated the entire infrastructure into IaC with Terraform, including automating DR environments from multiple CloudFormation templates and manual resource management, Realizeit Learning
• Part of the team that implemented and maintains compliance with both SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001:2022 in Realizeit Learning, and ISO 27001:2013 in ProvidentCRM.
• Built and supported the underlying infrastructure for high-profile government bodies such as HAP, NBCO/BCMS, and DPER eCohesion systems, as well as the application, ProvidentCRM
• Built a remote support team and implemented Jira Service Desk to provide outstanding support to all customers, ProvidentCRM

Skills & Experience

• SaaS solution management
• Cloud Platforms: AWS (10+ years), Azure, Private Clouds (LGMA, DPER, NHS)
• IaC: Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible
• Security & Compliance: SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, Alert Logic MDR, AWS Security Hub, Qualys, SonarQube, Burp Suite, Secureframe
• Monitoring/Logging: AWS CloudWatch, AppDynamics, SQL Sentry, Redgate Monitor, Nagios/Checkmk, Prometheus/Grafana (learning)
• CI/CD: Jenkins, GitHub Action, familiar with GitLab CI/CD
• Languages: Python, Bash, PowerShell, C#, PHP, SQL
• Containers & Orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes (learning)

Soft Skills & Leadership:

• Technical communication and stakeholder collaboration
• Troubleshooting complex cloud/Infrastructure issues
• Team Leadership & Mentoring

M.Sc (Hons) Mobile Networking and Computing

2005-2006

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK

B.Sc (Hons) Computerised Instrument System

2001 – 2005

CORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Senior Cloud/DevOps Engineer

Oct/2021 - Present: Realizeit Learning

• Responsible for maintenance and operation of our global infrastructure in support of our Adaptive Learning platform, providing 99.99% uptime across multiple highly available environments.
• Contributed to DevSecOps practices by applying security first to IaC, the implementation of controls in compliance with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001:2022. CIS Server/Application Hardening, IAM least privilege implementation, RBAC & Access Reviews.
• Member of the Security & Incident Response Team.
• Maintain the IaC codebase for all environments, with responsibility for design, security, implementation, and cost controls.
• Continuous cost reviews to implement cost saving opportunities without impacting solution availability or performance.
• Provide deep dive analysis of logs for performance related issues and software bugs.
• Responsible for all production code deployments (application and infrastructure).
• Identify and automate manual tasks/processes to improve efficiency.
• Implemented JIRA Service Management for Change Control and DevOps support ticketing, which led to the implementation of Jira Software and Product Discovery to replace Azure DevOps.
• Create and maintain technical documentation and network diagrams.

Technical Support & Infrastructure Manager

Apr/2017 - Oct/2021: ProvidentCRM

• Build and develop a remote support team in line with business requirements and goals.
• Provide guidance and mentoring to team members to allow them to grow and advance.
• Set and manage internal team KPIs to ensure that all customer SLAs are met.
• Hold monthly support and service reviews with customers.
• Hold monthly team reviews, ensuring objectives and goals are met.
• Responsible for the management and maintenance of AWS infrastructure to ensure customers have a highly available, reliable and cost-effective solution, as well as the client's onsite infrastructure.
• Work hands-on with the team handling support tickets and development tasks.
• Take part in Weekly Project Management and Resource Planning meetings.
• Provide estimations and quotes for customer change requests.
• Manage all code deployments.
• Application upgrades including software development and refactoring of existing features.

Senior Support Specialist

Jun/2015 - Apr/2017: ProvidentCRM

• Manage our entire AWS infrastructure and client onsite infrastructure.
• Responsible for the maintenance and development of internal systems and processes.
• Provide support for customers' infrastructure across a multitude of technologies and environments.
• Provide support for customers' SugarCRM instances.
• Maintain internal documentation.
• Carry out SugarCRM development tasks when required.

Technical Analyst Level 3

Feb/2015 - Jun/2015: OpenText Corporation

• Provide remote support for customers using OpenText Business Intelligence (BI) and OpenText Integration Center (OTIC).
• Support a wide range of customer environments (Windows, Linux, Unix) for production installations and upgrades.
• Provide guidance to junior members of the team.
• Take part in product management meetings to ensure the escalation of bugs to development.
• Product testing (New Features, Bug Fixes).
• Became the first staff member in Irish operations to receive internal KCS certification and become a KCS coach.

IT Consultant/Support Engineer

Sep/2006 - Feb/2015: FDC IT Solutions

• Responsible for the day-to-day running of the IT Department.
• Development and maintenance of the internal SugarCRM system using PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, HTML, SOAP, and JSON (LAMP Stack).
• Administration and development of over 30 Linux servers (Samba File Sharing, SQUID Proxy, DNS, DHCP, Web Servers – LAMP).
• Provide IT consultancy for clients by meeting with them to understand requirements and recommend suitable, cost-effective solutions.
• Provide IT support for external clients and over 250+ internal staff across 26+ offices.
• Linux/Windows server deployments (Ubuntu Linux, Windows Server 2003 & 2008).
• Create and manage custom scripts to improve and automate upgrades and backups of PCs and Linux file servers.
• Negotiate best prices with hardware and software suppliers.
• Responsible for time keeping and invoicing.