NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology)

Senior Administrator at Cybera Inc

Providing contract services to those in need of another set of skilled hands. 
Server management
Desktop support
Onsite support
IT Consulting
IT Automation
DevOps
Cloud services

Ayotte Consulting

Owner/Operator

I decided to give myself a break to spend more time with family, travel, and spend time on my hobbies. I love woodworking and leatherworking so having the ability to take this time was wonderful.

Career Break

Personal goal pursuit

This position was a specialist role, working on multiple projects in the Technology Operations group (TechOps). Tasks included:

- Liaison for the TechOps group with Developers and Data Scientists.
- Deploy and work with CI/CD tools such as Github Actions, Docker Hub, and AWS Lightsail.
- Provide technical support to users in a hybrid Windows, Apple, and Linux environment.
- Develop and improve infrastructure as code using Cobbler, Terraform, Puppet, Ansible, and Docker.
- Work and experiment with various cloud/container technologies including LXC/LXD, Docker, Openstack, AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes.
- Maintain ~40 hardware servers in a co-located data center.
- Collect data used to inform decision making in maintenance, capacity, and incident management.

Major Project Areas
- Skill Up: Support Developers and Data Scientists in developing the Skill Up platform for the Government of Alberta. 
- Cybera Rapid Access Cloud: Administrate an Openstack based cloud platform that is free to use by Albertans, mainly as a resource for post-secondary institutions and research groups.  
- Canarie DAIR cloud: Assist in administration and improvements for a multi cloud based platform (Openstack, AWS, Azure) managed with Morpheus and available to any Canadian based company under 500 employees for research or application prototyping.
- KOI: Support Data Scientists in developing a platform to simplify the collection and ingestion of data using Apache Superset, Postgresql, and custom software to create a simple, reliable data pipeline.
- Tutorial Writing: Created detailed tutorials on various technologies that included Infrastructure as Code examples and detailed demos to empower Canarie members across Canada.

Cybera Inc

Senior Administrator

Tier 3 purchased Ekota Central in 2018:

Support the Tier 1 agents in a a Tier 2 capacity.
Manage multiple projects including migrations, roll-outs, on-boarding, and documentation.
Develop client automation for monitoring and auto-remediation.
Act as account manager and technical adviser to multiple clients.
Assist in life-cycle planning for clients.
Developing custom remote monitoring and  management middle-ware.
Provide data recovery expertise for the team.
Provide security expertise on multiple projects .
Provide Linux support for the team.

Major Project Areas
Multiple Office 365 Migrations: Planning and implementing migration of company resources to full cloud platform.
Multiple Microsoft Azure Migrations: Planning and implementing migration of full or partial server environments  to the cloud.
Multiple Disaster Recovery Projects: From rebuilding servers to recovering failing hard drives and disk arrays.

Tier 3 I.T. Solutions

Developer/Consultant

Filling multiple roles in a small Managed Service Provider. Supported multiple clients and projects
Support the Tier 1 agents in a a Tier 2 capacity.
Manage multiple projects including migrations, roll-outs, on-boarding, and documentation.
Develop client automation for monitoring and auto-remediation.
Act as account manager and technical adviser to multiple clients.
Assist in life-cycle planning for clients.
Developing custom remote monitoring and  management middle-ware.
Provide data recovery expertise for the team.
Provide security expertise on multiple projects .
Provide Linux support for the team.

Major Project Areas
Multiple Office 365 Migrations: Planning and implementing migration of company resources to full cloud platform.
Multiple Microsoft Azure Migrations: Planning and implementing migration of full or partial server environments  to the cloud.
Multiple Disaster Recovery Projects: From rebuilding servers to recovering failing hard drives and disk arrays.

Ekota Central was sold to Tier 3 IT in 2018

Ekota Central

Consultant

Consult with non-profit organizations and small businesses to evaluate and revamp existing 
information technology to improve security, costs, reliability, functionality and usability. 
•	Assess and optimize clients’ existing I.T. environment.
•	Identify clients’ current and future needs, and develop I.T. strategic plans to support growth.
•	Research, source and procure affordable technology and service plans, using our network of 
        partners, industry contacts and community foundations to access discounts, subsidies and free 
        technology for PC/server maintenance, help desk services, monitoring, backups, antivirus, etc.
•	Design and manage the implementation of customized I.T. solutions that maximize efficiency, 
        cost savings, performance and user enjoyment.
•	Ensure projects are implemented on schedule, on budget and with minimal client disruption.
•	Advise clients on streamlining their processes to increase efficiency and reduce work.
•	Liaise between clients, vendors and I.T. service providers to ensure clients’ needs are met.

Senior Consultant

Taught basic computer skills to at-risk youth, and maintained the local network.

YouCan Canada

Instructor

Technical support for internal corporate help desk, resetting passwords, troubleshooting desktop related issues, working in mainframe environment.

Technical Support Rep

Managed information technology for a not-for-profit organization with 18 locations and 120 users.
•	Developed I.T. strategic plans to meet the organization’s short-term and long-term technology 
needs, and ensured alignment with overall strategic directions, ITIL, FOIP and PIPEDA standards.
•	Designed, planned and mapped I.T. architecture.
•	Researched, identified, purchased and managed the implementation of I.T. solutions.
•	Simplified server structure and user management, and phased out inefficient technology.
•	Secured grants, subsidies and technology donations, and refurbished donated equipment.
•	Trained and supported users on system operation.
•	Provided 24/7 I.T. support to all sites, using excellent troubleshooting and customer service 
skills to quickly resolve issues with little to no disruption to business operations or end users.
•	Managed cloud integrations, data/system security, desktop support, network administration, 
email/telephone/VoIP systems support, database administration and performance monitoring.
•	Served as the Building Security Manager: implemented and maintained security cameras and 
alarm system in 8 locations, and responded to building alarm calls 24/7.

Boys & Girls Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton

Information Technology Manager

Assisted students in their studies, helped to bolster in class studies for 2 students in the course that I was taking.  Asked by NAIT to do so due to my rapport and understanding.

NAIT

Tutor

Supervised technical support reps in a call centre environment, set up team of specialist agents for advanced troubleshooting, and assisted in the HP/Compaq merger setting up a new division/training new staff.

Shawn Ayotte