Andres F. Collazos

Professional Summary

Results-driven Director with over 20 years of experience in architecting, implementing, and optimizing sophisticated VoIP and network infrastructures , diverse platforms., and systems engineering, and 12+ years specializing in cybersecurity. Recognized expert in network architecture and infrastructure management, with a proven track record in designing and optimizing large-scale networks. Proven leader with over 5 years of experience directing and managing network and engineering teams to achieve strategic goals and deliver exceptional performance. Adept at wearing multiple hats, from orchestrating cloud migrations and optimizing network security to building and training DevOps teams and architecting observability platforms. Versatile in leading complex technical projects to success while ensuring compliance with industry standards.

Professional Experience

Phone.Com, Poway, CA

April 11, 2022 - September 17,2024

DIRECTOR, NETWORK ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS

• Leadership & Strategy: Spearhead strategic planning and execution of network architecture aligned with organizational goals.
• Team Management: Manage and mentor multiple engineering teams, ensuring alignment with DevOps principles and reliability standards.
• Network Optimization: Led the redesign and optimization of the company’s network infrastructure, enhancing efficiency and reliability.
• Cloud Initiatives: Led AWS cloud migration initiatives, significantly enhancing scalability and performance.
• Network Security: Implemented advanced security measures across the network, ensuring robust protection against threats and compliance with industry standards.
• Project Management: Oversaw key technical projects, including network upgrades and expansions, delivering on time and within budget.
• NOC Development: Built the Network Operations Center (NOC) from the ground up, establishing governance and operational protocols.
• Culture & Collaboration: Cultivated a collaborative culture among cross-functional teams, driving successful project delivery.

Key Achievements:

• Successfully integrated and customized enterprise applications, optimizing business processes and enabling data-driven decision-making.
• Established a robust NOC, providing comprehensive governance and improving operational efficiency.

Phone.Com, Poway, CA

February 2, 2021 - April 11, 2022

SENIOR MANAGER, NETWORK OPERATIONS

• Team Development: Built and led a DevOps team, training junior engineers to specialize in what would later become the Network Operations Center (NOC).
• Infrastructure Leadership: Architected and deployed a scalable and resilient network infrastructure, supporting rapid company growth and service expansion.
• Cloud Optimization: Led AWS cloud migration efforts, significantly improving scalability and operational efficiency.
• Observability Architecture: Architected the observability platform from scratch, creating a "one pane glass view" for monitoring, and setting key metrics and KPIs.
• Policy Development: Developed and implemented policies to maintain network integrity and data security.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Engaged with stakeholders and executives, using strong communication skills to drive technical excellence.

Key Achievements:

• Successfully established a comprehensive observability platform, enhancing the ability to monitor and manage network operations effectively.
• Played a pivotal role in transforming junior engineers into specialists within the NOC, significantly improving team capabilities and operations.

Phone.Com, Poway, CA

April 2016 – February 2, 2021

SENIOR VOIP/SYSTEMS ENGINEER

• Network Maintenance: Maintained and monitored VoIP network architecture, ensuring high availability and performance.
• Cloud Migration: Managed AWS cloud migration initiatives, enhancing network scalability and resilience.
• Security Enforcement: Implemented network security policies, ensuring compliance with industry standards.
• Team Collaboration: Worked closely with cross-functional teams to support business-critical projects.
• Innovation & Guidance: Guided technology teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.

Key Achievement:

• Developed robust QA testing protocols that significantly reduced network downtime.

StanaCard, New York, NY

February 2012 – April 2016

NETWORK/SENIOR VOICE ENGINEER

• Service Stability: Provided redundancy and significantly improved the stability of services, ensuring consistent and reliable performance.
• Infrastructure Migration: Successfully migrated all infrastructure and services to AWS, transitioning from on-premises hardware to a scalable cloud environment.
• VoIP Solutions: Migrated all VoIP services and servers from physical hardware to a SaaS-based cloud environment, enhancing flexibility and reducing operational costs.
• Security Management: Managed security and PCI compliance, ensuring secure and reliable communications.
• Firewall Implementation: Configured firewalls and DMZ policies, and introduced spam and malware prevention measures.

Key Achievement:

• Led the comprehensive migration to AWS, transforming the service delivery model from on-premises to cloud-based, which significantly improved service reliability and scalability.

Education and Credentials

• Master of Information Technology (MSIT) with Cyber Security Certificate, 2017 – Phoenix University, Phoenix, AZ
• Bachelor of Science (BSIT) in Information Technology, 2015 – Phoenix University, Phoenix, AZ
• Associate of Science (ASIT) in Information Technology, 2013 – Phoenix University, Phoenix, AZ
• Associate of Science (ASE) in Technical School Electronics, 1998 – Cenproest, Cali Valle, Colombia

Certifications

• Amazon Web Service Certified Solutions Architect (AWS00960738)
• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) (CSCO11339074 – 2009)
• Juniper Certification, 2009
• DICOCCTV Professional, 2005
• Quintum VOIP Specialist (Tenors Gen 1), 2000
• Quintum VOIP Developer (Tenors Gen 2), 2004
• DCAP Asterisk Professional Certification (release 1.2 and up), 2004
• MCSE Certified (expired), 2001

Technical Summary

• Networking: Expert in network architecture, design, and optimization. Deep knowledge of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, VLANs, Spanning Tree Protocol, Link Aggregation, firewalls, VPNs (site-to-site and client-server), MPLS, SD-WAN, and network security. Extensive experience with cloud network integration using AWS, GCP, and Azure for multi-cloud and hybrid architectures. Architected secure point-to-point connections across multi-cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-premises using encrypted VPN and MPLS links to ensure data integrity and security.
• Cloud Technologies: AWS Certified Solutions Architect with expertise in AWS services, GCP, and Azure, including VPC architecture, EC2, Lambda, S3, and IAM. Proficient in cloud automation using Terraform and Ansible, supporting multi-cloud environments and disaster recovery solutions. Built hybrid environments utilizing cloud-native services and on-premise resources through Direct Connect and inter-cloud networking.
• Virtualization: VMware, Proxmox, KVM, OpenStack.
• System Administration: : Windows(server, desktop),Linux server (Debian, RHEL, SuSE, Gentoo), UNIX (FreeBSD, OpenBSD)
• Software Engineering: Experienced in managing software engineering projects and teams, developing and maintaining software systems. Proficient in Devops, Agile and Kanban cycle development methodologies.
• Data Management: Expertise in designing and implementing data management systems using various SQL engines, including MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, DynamoDB, and RDS, with a focus on security and compliance.
• Security and Compliance: SExtensive expertise in designing and implementing security measures compliant with PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC2, and ISO 27001. Led enterprise-wide security and compliance initiatives, mitigating cyber risks through advanced encryption, firewall hardening (Cisco PIX, ASA, Juniper), SIEM implementations (Wazuh), IDS tools (Snort), and identity access management. Architected zero-trust network models, leveraging network segmentation and software-defined firewalls to proactively reduce threat vectors. Implemented honeypot configurations to detect and analyze malicious activity and conducted regular penetration testing and vulnerability management to continuously enhance network defenses.
• Programming and Scripting: Proficient in Python, Java, SQL, Perl, PHP, Shell Scripting, and C++. Extensive experience in writing automation scripts for infrastructure management and task automation using Ansible and Bash. Developed custom monitoring solutions using Zabbix, Prometheus, and Grafana, reducing incident response times and enhancing proactive infrastructure monitoring.
• Vendor & Project Management: Proven track record managing relationships with key IT infrastructure vendors (AWS, Zayo, Equinix, Cogent, AT&T, Lumen, etc.), overseeing contracts, service level agreements (SLAs), and troubleshooting complex service disruptions. Led cross-departmental project management initiatives, coordinating efforts across teams to achieve technology transformation goals within timeline and budget. Experienced in Agile, Kanban, and Scrum methodologies for project execution.

Additional Information

• Languages: English, Spanish
• Interests: Photography, Fishing, Racquetball
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andres-collazos/