MUHAMMED SHAFI T KATHER

• Directly responsible for the end-to-end digital infrastructure supporting 7,000 students and 700 faculty/staff members across six specialized colleges. Maintain 99.9% uptime for mission-critical academic and financial systems as well as wired and wireless networks.
  • Data Centre Modernization: Orchestrated a full-scale migration from legacy Microsoft Hyper-V to Nutanix HCI, streamlining data center operations and enhancing system performance across a heterogeneous stack of 125+ physical and virtual servers.
  • Cloud & Messaging Transformation: Led the migration from on-premises Exchange (2013-2019) to Exchange Online (Microsoft 365). Configured hybrid connectivity, Entra Connect (Azure AD), ADFS and security protocols including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and EOP.
  • Enterprise Networking: Manage high-density multi-vendor network orchestration involving Cisco Nexus 9000, Catalyst 9000 series, and Huawei iMaster NCE. Successfully implemented College of medicine wireless infrastructure Cisco Catalyst 9800-40(300+ APs).
  • Security & Identity Management: Implemented and Administer identity for 25,000+ objects via On Premise Active directory Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Ellucian banner (Ethos identity) and Cisco ISE. Strengthened perimeter security using FortiGate Firewalls, VPN connectivity, and MFA solutions.
  • Disaster Recovery (DR) & Backup: Engineered a robust data protection strategy using HYCU and Veeam, managing Nutanix DR site synchronization (Sync/Async) to ensure business continuity as well as offsite backup with HP tape library and synergy disk backup solutions.
  • Academic Systems Architecture: Provide primary infrastructure support for core Edu-Tech platforms, including Ellucian Banner (SIS), Moodle (LMS), Koha Library Systems, and Ezproxy.
  • Strategic Infrastructure Redesign: Initiated and executed the move to a state-of-the-art Data Centre, involving the redesign of the entire MS Infrastructure (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and High-Availability clusters).
  • Open Source & Linux Administration: Manage a diverse OS environment including Windows Server (2016-2022) and multiple Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Oracle Linux, CentOS, Debian) for web and application hosting.
  • National Security Liaison: Acted as the primary point of contact for the National Cyber Security team, leading incident response and hardening the network with FortiGate Firewalls and Cisco ISE.
  • Identity Management: Managed a complex Active Directory/O365 environment with 25,000+ objects, automating student/alumni lifecycle transitions.
  • High Availability: Guaranteed 99.9% availability for the Ellucian Banner (SIS) and Moodle LMS during peak enrolment periods.
  • Server Governance: Administered a fleet of 125+ physical and virtual servers across a heterogeneous stack of Linux (Ubuntu/Oracle) and Windows Server 2022.
  • Managed campus-wide Fiber and CAT6 connectivity projects for all University buildings.
  • Oversaw the implementation of IP Office telephony for 700+ extensions.
  • PDPL support for university
  • Handling private and public DNS/SSL Certificate management including EDUCAUSE domain registration.
  • Initiated SIEM Solutions
  • Implemented load balancer solutions for applications
  • Involved margining a sister college to Alfaisal University
  • Handled ezproxy and Koha library system upgradations
  • Involved all the aspects of ISP selection, in terms of cost and technical and increase bandwidth according to demand study
  • Firewall change/upgradation from legacy model to modern system with FortiGate NGFW.
  • AD/DNS/DHCP upgradation according to the version change
  • Helped Alfaisal Facility team for campus wide CCTV/Access door solution implementation.
  • Part of ERP solution team, HR, Finance, procurement module, HR Attendance system integration
  • Part of automation team for LMS, AD/email user creations and successfully achieved automation system for Alfaisal University.
  • Part of team for Ministry of Education connectivity
  • Integrated Alfaisal Azure tenant with examsoft.com and part of exam soft solution team to conduct exam successfully.
  • Part of Kubernetes cluster team for all infra level support.
  • Part of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing team ,coordinated with third part vendor, according to the report to fix the loopholes.
  • College of medicine OSCE and simulation system implemented from SIM Station.
  Key Strategic Projects
  Data Centre Modernization: Hyper-V to Nutanix HCI Migration
  • Challenge: Legacy hardware was reaching end-of-life, leading to performance bottlenecks and complex management across 125+ virtual machines.
  • Solution: Architected and executed a full-scale migration to Nutanix Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI).
  • Result: Reduced data center footprint by 40%, improved application response times by 60%, and implemented a unified management plane for Compute, Storage, and Networking.
  Enterprise Cloud Transformation: Exchange Online & Hybrid Connectivity
  • Challenge: Transitioning 7,700+ users from aging on-premises Exchange 2013/2019 servers to a modern cloud environment with zero downtime.
  • Solution: Implemented a Hybrid Deployment using the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) and Microsoft Entra Connect and modernized security protocols.
  • Result: Successfully migrated all mailboxes to Microsoft 365, optimized security with SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and enabled seamless calendar/free-busy sharing between on-prem and cloud environments.
  Campus Wireless Infrastructure Modernize
  • Challenge: Inadequate wireless coverage for high-density faculty/Staff and student areas and outdated legacy Cisco 5508 controllers.
  • Solution: Led the migration to Huawei iMaster NCE and Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 controllers, deploying 700+ High-Density Access Points.
  • Result: Achieved 100% campus-wide coverage, supporting concurrent connectivity for over 7,700 users(faculty/staff/students) and integrating Cisco ISE and Huawei iMaster for secure, role-based access control.
  Campus Students information system upgrade
  • Involved in the SIS system upgrade from Blackboard to Ellucian Banner
  Campus Telephone upgradation
  • PBX upgrade from Nortel system to Avaya IP Office telephony for 700+ extensions.

I was hired as a systems Engineer. As such I am responsible for almost all aspects of the IT infrastructure.

• Core Achievement: Redesigned and implemented a fully redundant Microsoft infrastructure across Main and Disaster Recovery (DR) sites, ensuring 24/7 business continuity for investment and brokerage operations.
• Infrastructure Design: Engineered a single-forest, multi-site Active Directory environment on Windows Server 2003/2008, managing all GPOs, DNS, DHCP, and Certificate Authority (CA) services.
• Messaging & High Availability: Deployed a highly available Exchange 2007 environment using Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) for mailboxes and NLB for Hub/Client Access servers. Successfully migrated users from Exchange 2003 to 2007 with zero downtime.
• Storage & Virtualization: Managed HP Blade Servers and HP EVA SAN storage. Implemented a robust backup strategy using HP Data Protector and tape libraries, maintaining off-site rotation for DR compliance.
• Network Security: Deployed ISA Server 2006 for secure internet edge and regional office connectivity. Integrated McAfee ePO and Group Shield to secure the messaging gateway and endpoints.
• Business Applications: Built and supported the infrastructure for mission-critical systems including Omega (Stock Brokerage), SQL 2005 Mirroring, ERP systems, and RightFax.
• Disaster Recovery (DR): Architected and documented the DR site, mirroring all critical services (AD, Exchange, ISA, and OMS) to ensure rapid failover capability.
• Network Administration: Managed campus LAN redundancy using HP core/distribution switches and secured the server farm using Juniper ISC/SSG firewalls.

• Core Achievement: Managed the end-to-end transition and upgrade of the network infrastructure from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003, ensuring full compliance with enterprise security standards and SLAs.
• Windows & Active Directory: Expertly administered Windows 2000/2003 Server environments, including the design and maintenance of Active Directory, GPOs, DNS, DHCP, and WINS.
• Messaging & Collaboration: Installed and configured Exchange 2003; provided high-level support for MS Outlook and Lotus Notes for a large-scale user base.
• Security & Compliance: Hardened the network environment by managing McAfee/Symantec antivirus systems and ISA Proxy servers.
• Infrastructure Services: Deployed and managed WSUS for patch management, RIS for automated OS deployment, and Terminal Services for remote access.
• Storage & Continuity: Implemented RAID configurations for hardware redundancy and managed DFS, disk quotas, and NTFS permissions to ensure data integrity.
• ITSM & Support: Provided Tier 2/3 technical support via Remedy/Sunrise, maintaining strict adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and incident management processes.
• Documentation & Standards: Contributed to BS7799 (ISO 27001) and BS15000 (ITIL) documentation, ensuring all server installations and recovery processes met global quality standards.

• System Administration: Managed Windows 2000/2003 Server environments, including Active Directory (ADS) administration, user account management, and the implementation of organizational security policies.
• Network Services: Installed and configured core network services including DNS, DHCP, and WINS to support LAN/WAN connectivity.
• Infrastructure Support: Deployed Terminal Services for remote client access and managed the installation of Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional across the organization.
• Hardware & Continuity: Performed hardware configuration for peripheral devices and maintained system availability through the scheduling and execution of routine backup jobs.