HAKIM BHUNGRAWALA
Solution Architect (Presales Specialist)
Salmiya
Summary
Dynamic and results-driven Senior Solution Architect with extensive experience in IT infrastructure design, solution development, and technical pre-sales support. Skilled in architecting and delivering cutting-edge solutions using leading technologies, including VMware (vSphere, VDI, NSX, VCF, vSAN, ARIA), Nutanix, Veeam, Veritas, and Lenovo hardware and storage. Adept at understanding customer requirements, designing tailored solutions, and aligning technology with business goals to drive value and innovation. Proven ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, lead complex infrastructure projects, and deliver technical presentations that translate complex concepts into actionable insights for stakeholders. Highly proficient in crafting scalable, secure, and resilient architectures that optimize performance and ensure business continuity. Passionate about staying ahead of industry trends and driving business success through innovative IT solutions.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
15
15
Certifications
Work History
Sr. Solution Architect (Presale Consultant)
Gulf Business Machines (GBM Kuwait)
03.2024 - Current
- Provide expert pre-sales support, including technical presentations, product demonstrations, and workshops, to help customers understand the value of proposed solutions. Analyze IT Infrastructure Services requirements for customers and design appropriate cost-effective services/solutions.
- Design end-to-end VMware-based solutions (vSphere, VDI, NSX, VCF, vSAN, ARIA), encompassing virtualization, storage, networking, and security components, to meet diverse client needs
- Design optimal hardware configurations using Lenovo servers and storage, ensuring appropriate sizing for workloads, virtual environments, and high availability.
- Designing and architecting Nutanix-based solutions that meet the specific needs and requirements of customers
- Experience with leading storage vendors, such as Dell/EMC, IBM, HP, HDS, NetApp, Cisco, Brocade
- Develop technical proposals and bill of materials (BoMs) for customers, ensuring accuracy in design specifications, sizing, and scalability.
- Design and implement reliable backup and disaster recovery solutions using Veeam, Veritas, and other technologies, ensuring data protection and business continuity.
- Work closely with vendors such as VMware, Nutanix, Lenovo, and storage solution providers to ensure optimal configurations and pricing for customer proposals.
- Assist customers with the implementation of AWS solutions, including providing architectural guidance, troubleshooting technical issues, and optimizing performance
- Demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of proposed solutions through successful PoC implementations
- Address technical queries and concerns from clients, ensuring a clear understanding of the proposed solutions
- Participate and team up with sales, delivery, and Partner Managers to provide complete solutions to customers
- Lead PoC initiatives to validate and showcase solutions, ensuring alignment with customer expectations and technical feasibility
- Successfully designed and presented a complex VMware and storage solution that resulted in a 20% increase in client satisfaction scores
- Led the execution of multiple successful proof of concept deployments, influencing 70% of clients to proceed with full solution implementation
- Collaborated with engineering teams to validate and optimize solution designs, resulting in a 30% reduction in implementation time and effort.
- Evaluated emerging technologies and recommended strategic investments to drive business growth and maintain a competitive edge.
- Oversaw the design of robust IT infrastructure, enabling seamless data transfer between interconnected systems while maintaining high availability standards.
- Optimized application performance through cloud migration strategies, resulting in increased scalability and reduced operational costs.
- Mentored junior architects and developers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development within the team.
- Implemented disaster recovery plans that ensured minimal service disruptions during unforeseen events or system failures.
Solution Architect (VMware)
Gulf Bank
12.2019 - 02.2023
- Responsible for designing the infra related solutions for the bank
- Responsible for creating the RFP for any new infrastructure requirements
- Facilitating IT infrastructure advisory, architecture & deployment expertise in Virtualization, OS Migration & Deployment, Directory Services and Automation
- Architecting technical solutions required to address banking requirements, assessing needs, and recommending solutions that optimized value for the bank
- Driving the daily IT operations to ensure that the infrastructure is up & running fine
- Projects: Consolidated the datacenter by migrating 300 physical servers to virtual
- Installed and configured the redundant backup solution in offshore datacenter
- Enhanced the entire backup solution including NDMP, VMware, SQLDB, ORACLE & LINUX
- Migration of Hyper V to VMware
- Upgraded the VMware 6.5 to 6.7
- Migration of VMware from VNX to VPLEX
- Upgraded the networker from 18.2 to 19.1
- Configured the VMware stretched cluster across the sites
- Configured the Recover point replication across the sites.
ICT Team Leader-Infrastructure
SSH International
06.2014 - 06.2015
- Evaluated & recommended various software & hardware requirements to increase overall IT services efficiency
- Led overall IT systems & security with 1000+ clients, 100 servers and over 1000 user accounts with IT equipment
- Created IT policies on IT usage, data back-up, e-mail system, web services, IT asset register and anti-virus systems
- Contributed in hybrid integration of Office 365 Cloud with on premises E-Mail Systems
- Managed the DR site to achieve the disaster recovery of current IT services
- Enhanced the EMC storage utilization by organizing data LUNs & connections
- Facilitated the cost-effective replacement of Old Clarion with VNX of SCSI based SAN Devices
- Upgraded the help desk efficiency by implementing SCCM 2012 for remote support & deployment of desktop systems
- Implemented Failsafe Policy with different mechanisms like Granular Restore Technology with Back-up Exec 2012
- Highlights: Offered specific expertise for each team member and built a supporting training series to address knowledge gaps
- Initiated: Standard Operating System Policy for desktop / laptop by preparing a standard secure image with appropriate policies & authorized software
- Issues Management Process for critical tasks (adopted as departmental practice) to improve issue resolution times
- Steered efforts for implementing Office 365 Hybrid Set-up, Veeam Backup & Replication and Azure Set-up
- Contributed in up-gradation of: ESXi 5.0 to ESXi 5.5 through VCenter Update Manager
- IBM DS 3250 to EMC VNX 5300 through ISL & Robocopy
- Exchange 2010 DAG Set-up
- Successfully implemented Monitoring Tools like AD Audit, OpManager and Firewall Analyzer.
Sr. Technical Consultant
International Turnkey System
- 10.2019
- Assisting the organization to plan, design, pilot, migrate, implement, and train IT staff on the following: Microsoft Hyper V Cluster – Windows 2012 & Windows 2016
- Microsoft SQL Always ON
- Active Directory & Exchange (2013, 2016 & 2019)
- Windows 2012 & 2016 Failover Clustering
- VDI Solution-VMware Horizon
- VMware (HA, DRS, Vmotion and Fault Tolerance) and VMware VSAN
- EMC Unity, EMC SAN Switches
- EMC Hyper Converged Solution i.e., VXRAIL
- Backup Product Like Veeam Backup & Replication & EMC Networker
- Disaster Recovery Solution
- Azure environment for customer like creating & managing VMs
- Driving the daily IT operations to ensure that the network & infrastructure are up & running, managing large multi-workgroup network sites with multiple applications and controlling complete administration of business applications
- Managing dept
- Involving recommending technical, functional & commercial expertise, promoting system usefulness, imposing IT policies & procedures, providing customer support and troubleshooting hardware & network issues
- Facilitating IT infrastructure advisory, architecture & deployment expertise in Virtualization, OS Migration & Deployment, Directory Services and Automation
- Working closely with support functions encompassing IT / Quality / Marketing to create a compelling solution /commercial proposal
- Architecting technical solutions required to address customer requirements, assessing customers’ needs and recommending solutions that optimized value for both the customer & the firm
- Leading the end-to-end pre-sales process for clients and partners from Request for Proposal (RFP) responses through tailored product demonstrations and proposals
- Advising clients on IT solutions; creating written reports on solutions offered
- Highlight: Suggested various cost-effective implementation methods.
Sr. System Administrator
American University of Kuwait
06.2010 - 06.2014
- Led installation, configuration & administration of ESXi 5 & ESXi 5.5 Servers (using vSphere Client & VCenter Server)
- Managed over 20 ESXi Servers and 50 Virtual Machines
- Directed the migration of ESXi 5 server to ESXi 5.5 using Update Manager
- Assessed the configuration of VMotion, Datastore, Virtual and Distributed Switch in VCenter Server
- Contributed in physical to virtual migration of server using VConverter (P2V Conversion)
- Assembled VSphere based replication between protected site and recovery site using SRM
- Implemented complete sites with 100 Servers on Windows 2003 & 2008 platform
- Drove the migration of Windows 2003 DC to Windows 2008 DC
- Monitored & controlled: Dell Chassis PowerEdge M1000e & IBM Chassis HS21
- Dell Blade Server involving M600 & M610 using Dell System Management and Dell Server Administrator
- Reporting by SCOM 2007 R2 to check system health, availability and performance status
- Fiber Channel Switches (Brocade 4424) and Zoning
- Improved the help desk efficiency by implementing SCCM 2007 for remote support & deployment of desktop systems
- Utilized Lync Server 2010 for instant messaging, audio & video conferencing, and online meetings
- Revamped the back-up policies and executed Fail Safe Policy with different mechanisms like Granular Restore Technology & Deduplication (Back-up Exec 2010 R3)
- Created the data & image back-up of Client Machine using Backup Exec System Recovery & DLO
- Steered the installation and configuration of IBM Storage DS3400 & EMC VNX 5300
- Administered EMC VNX 5300 and IBM Storage using EMC Unisphere & DS Storage Manager Client
- Prepared RAID Group, LUN and Storage Group using EMC Unisphere
- Established Auto Tiering and De-duplication on EMC VNX.
Education
M.Sc. - Information Technology
Sikkim Manipal University
B.Com. - undefined
Burhani under University of Mumbai College
Skills
Enterprise Architecture Design
Disaster Recovery Planning
Cloud Computing Expertise
Enterprise Server Design
Teamwork and Collaboration
Work Planning
Team Supervision
Team motivation
Problem-Solving
Documentation And Reporting
Client Service
Leading Team Meetings
IT infrastructure proficiency
Virtual and Cloud Technologies
Certification
PMP Certified, 06/11/21
Visaarticle
18
Drivinglicensedetails
284110302664, Kuwait, 05/27/20
Personal Information
- Passport Number: L4907885
- Dependents: 4
- Date of Birth: 11/03/84
- Nationality: Indian
- Marital Status: Married
Languages
English
Hindi
Gujarati
Timeline
Sr. Solution Architect (Presale Consultant)
Gulf Business Machines (GBM Kuwait)
03.2024 - Current
Solution Architect (VMware)
Gulf Bank
12.2019 - 02.2023
ICT Team Leader-Infrastructure
SSH International
06.2014 - 06.2015
Sr. System Administrator
American University of Kuwait
06.2010 - 06.2014
Sr. Technical Consultant
International Turnkey System
- 10.2019
M.Sc. - Information Technology
Sikkim Manipal University
B.Com. - undefined
Burhani under University of Mumbai College
PMP Certified, 06/11/21
PRINCE2 Practitioner, 07/10/17
PRINCE2 Foundation Certified, 07/07/17
VMware Certified Professional - Network Virtualization, 07/23
Double VCP-DCV & VCP-NV (VCP-DCVNV), 07/23
Double VCP-NV & VCP-DW (VCP-NVDW), 07/23
VMware Certified Professional - Digital Workspace 2023 (VCP-DW 2023)
Nutanix Certified Professional- Multicloud Infrastructure 6
VCP 6 VMware Certified, 02/13/17
EMC VxRail Certified, 09/10/18
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate: Cloud Platform Azure, 08/28/18
Microsoft Specialist: Server Virtualization with Windows HyperV and System, 03/13/14
Microsoft Certified Solution Associate, 06/23/13
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, 04/18/10
ITIL Foundation Certified, 06/18/14
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