Zia Meer
Sr. IT Manager
Mississuaga
Summary of Career
1. Managed various IT Projects (Hospitals, Banking, Educational etc.)
2. Lead teams in roles of Architect, Manager, Supervisor and Team Leader.
3. Work closely with Management and Technical teams.
4. Huge experience with Routers, Firewalls, Servers, Switches, Load balancers, Web proxies, HMIS, Oracle implementation, ERP.
5. Organized teams to maintain multiple DataCenters in North America, Europe and Middle East.
6. Co-ordinate with Security Vendors for PCI and HIPAA compliance.
7. Vendor negotiation skills.
8. Ability to learn fast, with very less help.
9. Team leader as well as a good team member.
10. Tier 2 and 3 for all IT issues.
Experience as Group IT Manager
Abdul Rahman Saleh AlRajhi & Partners
01 March 2005
31 December 2009
Direct activities as a hands-on Manager with project management responsibility for all IS projects. Contributed to high-profile projects - from network and software installations, through complex systems integrations.
• Managed the day-to-day operations of the IT group including downtime, reporting service levels, defining and tracking IT operational metrics and provide status to management.
• Supported projects including the development of IT strategy and process definition based on user needs, viable technology and operation efficiency.
• Acted as a key contributor to the multi-year technology plan for Al-Rajhi Groups’ IT, as well as assisted the rollout of all stated strategies and programs. Evaluated specifications and requirements for projects against available solutions.
• Monitored network / infrastructure services for optimal performance at Head Office, branch office, Hospitals, and school. Provided recommendations for services that are not meeting performance goals and objectives.
• Initiated, participated, facilitated multidisciplinary performance improvement projects/teams, which includes branch offices, hospitals and school.
• Maintained and supported existing systems as required, and managed root cause analysis for issues related to system capacity and performance by using teams and vendor resources through SLA's.
• Developed policies and procedures supporting responsible infrastructure system lifecycles.
• Designed procedures for maintenance, installation and configuration.
Major Accomplishments:
• Designed the blueprints of complete IT infrastructure at newly build Procare Riaya Hospital (www.procare.com.sa). HP servers, HMIS, Routers, Switches, Cisco ASA, UTP & Fiber Optic, Wireless, GE PACS, and Blue Coat were major solutions in that blueprint. Establish an IT department consists of network and support engineers, system analysts, developers, DBAs and help desk.
• Redesigned Network and Data center of Dr. Fakhry & Al-Rajhi Hospital; structured cabling, new Cisco switches, routers, firewalls, Dell servers, SAN, UPS, Hospital Management Information System and Client Management Solution (SMS). Installed and configured Windows 2003 servers, Exchange 2003, VERITAS, and Microsoft Systems Management Server.
• Managed LAN/WAN environment, with Cisco switches and routers, Sun Solaris and Windows servers, Cisco PIX, ASA and remote access (VPN). Network support up to 100+ end-users.
• Administered Solaris/Windows 2003/2008 on Sun F3800, Sun E3000, HP DL380 and DL540, and Windows client PCs. Managed backups (Veritas), DHCP, FTP server and DNS.
• Saved company 10K+ monthly by reducing outsourced resources, costs of services/product i.e. Internet services, licensing etc.
• Designed LAN and data center for Bahrain, UK, and Switzerland branch offices. Infrastructure included Cisco Firewalls/switches, Citrix, Windows and Exchange servers, Cisco router and firewall for internet and VPN. Used Nortel BCM for IP Trunking.
• Implemented Microsoft SharePoint 2007 for Hospital Portal and help desk. Installed Websense coalesce with Blue Coat Proxy SG for Internet Client management.
• Established and implemented different policies and procedures i.e. security, purchases (for IT department), E-mail tracking etc.
• Designed several in house IT training programs, which enhanced employee’s performance at no extra cost.
Experience as Manager - Infrastructure & Security
Frontline Technologies
16 August 2010
02 January 2015
Frontline Technologies provides IT infrastructure support, managed services, trading platform (Belzberg), technical support, hosted environment including email and file servers, remote backup, VoIP services, ISP, disaster recovery and much more.
• Managed corporate data and voice network, infrastructure, and support systems to maximum stability and security levels.
• Lead and collaborated with business associates to analyze needs and to develop and manage corporate infrastructure.
• Performed ROI and other cost-benefit analysis of new strategies and technologies.
• Staffed and developed individuals and team empowerment to maximize effectiveness, and continually raise performance standards and results.
• Preparation and administration of the infrastructure budget as well as the maintenance and monitoring of certain budgetary items.
• Managed and Monitored performance to key operational metrics.
• Implemented new initiatives for designing the infrastructure, introducing new network and infrastructure concepts, testing configurations and creating configuration templates.
• Improved the security architecture by strengthening the edge & integrating IPS at Internet edges.
• Designed the VoIP network architecture & applied traffic engineering to separate VoIP and Data traffic.
• Evaluated, affirmed, and/or modified the L2/L3 services provided by the vendors (Cogent, Cogeco, AllStream, Bell, and Rogers).
• Provided technical recommendations, plans, and expert advice on the development, planning, design, characterization and analysis of the core infrastructure and managed customer networks.
• Developed strategies and direction for systems solutions using current and emerging technologies.
• Planned and designed network capacity and technology upgrades.
Supervised the teams for following day-to-day tasks:
• Configuration and troubleshooting of OSPF and BGP between customers and service providers.
• Monitoring and review system logs of routers and firewalls.
• Windows 2008/2012 servers’ administration.
• Administration of Exchange, Blackberry, and all client application servers.
• Daily system monitoring, verifying the integrity and availability of all hardware, server resources, systems and key processes, reviewing system and application logs, and verifying completion of scheduled jobs.
• Administration of network and systems monitoring - Intermapper, PRTG, Zabbix, and SolarWinds Orion.
• Installation and configuration of network devices (Cisco, Juniper, F5, Brocade, etc.) at Clients and datacenters.
• Remote management of network devices in datacenters at Montreal, Vancouver, New York, and Chicago.
• Configuration and troubleshooting of Layer 2, Layer 3, VPN (IPSEC and SSL) connections.
Experience as Sr. Architect
MedAvail Technologies Inc.
05 January 2015
11 October 2019
MedAvail Technologies Inc. is a healthcare technology company that has developed and commercialized an innovative Self-Serve Pharmacy Kiosk solution. MedAvail has deployed kiosks in the US, Canada and Switzerland.
• Identify resource and equipment requirements, efficient capacity planning and manage software and hardware availability.
• Report directly to VP (Infrastructure & Security) for internal corporate data center consolidations, network and system architectures, voice/data convergence, and business process improvements.
• Provides leadership and direction to the overall IT team and relate any critical items to upper management in a clear and organized manner.
• Skill in organizing resources, establishing priorities and standardizes procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness for the overall IT Team.
• Provide direction and technical expertise in the design, development, systems integration and support within the Technology space and serve as a technical mentor to team members.
• Defines and Maintains documentation regarding configurations, operating procedures, and service records relating to Infrastructure hardware and software.
• Monitor and review vendor and industry web sites and news groups for vulnerabilities, patches and fixes which may apply to us or our customers.
• Handle multiple assignments, manage priorities, and meet strict deadlines.
• Meet with client teams and gather requirements, conduct regular team meetings and track project progress.
• Conduct performance reviews of team members and identify areas of improvement, give feedback and recommendations.
• Estimate project budgets, coordinate with finance department for funds and plan for purchasing of equipment and hardware in a cost-effective way.
• Operates and maintains Datacenter Networks, tracks significant problems, monitors performance, and performs upgrades to hardware and software as required.
• Actively involved in evolving global policies and procedures governing corporate security, email and Internet usage, access control, and incident response.
• Work closely with Client Relations and Professional Services teams to assess and document the requirements specific to our customers’ planned Lab, Pilot and Scale deployments.
• Participate with the management team in designing and development of the product IT architecture, in particular as it relates to the ability to provide high reliability in diverse customer situations.
• Coordinate with outside consultants on PCI DSS compliance. Scope covers vulnerability scans, penetration testing, policies and procedure audits. Supervise team to fill SAQs.
• Provide Tier3 support for all internal IT relevant issues.
Master 23 May 2002
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWEST — New York, NY M.Sc. Major Networking.