CURRICULUM VITAE
SIMON LYON
Wood Green, London, N22
Tel: 07824 845 761
snl @ guisel.com
SUMMARY
Server Administrator and User Support Engineer with many years experience in large multinational companies and
legal & financial services organisations, specialising in communication and virtualization technologies.
Extensive knowledge and experience with Microsoft Server, Client and Office systems, IBM/HP hardware, email
systems (Lotus Domino and Exchange), VMware virtual infrastructure, networking, storage and mobile devices.
Available immediately.
SKILLS
GENERAL
 Windows Client to Windows 7 – installation / rollout / migration / upgrade
 Windows Server, Active Directory and associated services to Server 2012
 Server/Client, Patch, Distribution, Management Systems – MS WSUS, MS SCCM, Landesk
 Backup and imaging systems – ARCserve, Backup Exec, Netbackup, Ghost etc
 Helpdesk systems – Remedy, Revelation, CA Service Desk, Heat, Sage etc
 Common storage systems, HP, IBM, EMC, NetApp, etc
 Antivirus – MessageLabs, MimeSweeper, Trend, Sophos, Symantec, McAfee
 All common TCP/IP services and Ethernet cabling, switching, routing
 Cisco Unified Call Manager 4.2/6.1, Call Manager Express 7.0, Unity Voicemail Express and IP phones
 Citrix Presentation Server / XenApp / XenServer
 RSA SecurID authentication servers and tokens to v6, including RSA dedicated appliance
 Financial systems – Bloomberg, etc
 General Windows/Office desktop support
 Workstation and server hardware support to board level
 Understanding of ITIL concepts and practices
VMWARE VSPHERE VIRTUALISATION
 Installing and managing VMware ESXi 4.x-5.x hosts
 Auto Deploy PXE distribution to diskless server hardware
 Virtualisation (migration) of existing standalone systems to ESXi
 vCenter 5 full and appliance (vCSA) incl Heartbeat failover
 Storage Technology - iSCSI/FibreChannel/NFS
 vMotion and Storage vMotion
 Distributed Resource Scheduling (DRS) and Storage DRS
 VMware High Availability (VMHA) and Fault Tolerance (FT)
 vSphere Replication and Site Recovery Manager
 vSphere Data Recovery and Data Protection Appliances
 Distributed Virtual Switches (dvswitch)
 ESXi Firewall and vShield Server Security
 VMware View Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 vCenter Multi-Hypervisor Manager
 vCenter Operations Manager
 vCenter Infrastructure Navigator
 VMware Workstation all to Version 9
LOTUS NOTES/DOMINO / MS EXCHANGE 2003-2010
 Designing, implementing, managing and supporting multi-domain and clustered email architectures
 Installation and administration of Domino on all Windows platforms with some Linux, all to v9
 Installation and administration of Microsoft Exchange 2007 and 2010, initial testing of 2013
 Client/server support at all levels, from 1st line direct user to 3rd line system management
 Client and Server migrations/upgrades / Domain consolidations / Legacy mail system migrations
 Blackberry device and BES administration and support
 Tablet and smartphone integration – incl. Notes Traveller, ActiveSync, etc
 Sametime / Quickplace / Domino.doc
 Working knowledge of Lotuscript and Formula application development
 Integration with various document management and fax systems
 MS Exchange to-from Domino migration/integration
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
June 2014 - ALL PEOPLE ALL PLACES
Current
Enfield, North London
Advising on and upgrading IT systems for a charitable organisation operating in Enfield and Haringay.
Implemented VMware 5.5 for virtualisation of domain, file, print and remote access services
(Windows Server 2012). Reversed earlier Windows 8 “upgrade” back to Windows 7 due to
user-dissatisfaction and usability issues. Collaborated with another designer on website upgrade.
Rationalised network and implemented new Cisco router/switches. General local and remote
technical support.
KEY SKILLS UTILISED:
VMware VSphere 5.5 implementation
Windows Server 2012
Windows 7 and 8 desktop
General system and network support
Oct 2013 Mar 2014
PERSONAL PROJECT
House Renovation
Investing in and helping out with the renovation/rebuild of a house acquired by a friend, including
electrical and flood-wiring network, comms & A/V cabling. Expanded and updated home VMware
lab to keep current with latest VMware, Microsoft and related technologies.
Jun 2013 Sept 2013:
NUTMEG LIMITED (Contract)
80-84 Bondway, London SW8 1SF
Project-based contract with a London online investment firm to upgrade VMware infrastructure
and carry out a Windows 7 rollout. Upgraded virtual hosts to VMware 5.1 while migrating VMs to
new hardware. Also helped with day-to-day IT support across all desktops and systems and
migrated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) VMs to a new Samba-based “Windows” domain.
Project completed successfully.
KEY SKILLS UTILISED:
VMware VSphere 5.1 implementation and migration (server and VDI)
Windows 7 rollout
General system and network support
2012-2013
SEMI-SABBATICAL (as in 2004 below)
Travelling in Europe together with freelance technical support and website design.
Feb 2010 Sept 2012:
GEARBULK LIMITED (Contract)
5 The Heights, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0NY
Norwegian company running one of the largest bulk-carrier shipping operations in the world.
One of four technical leads handling 2nd/3rd Line Windows, Active Directory, Server, Mail, VMware
ESXi, network management and user support for the global operation.
While participating in the project to move almost all the server infrastructure (Mail, AD, File, Print,
DB, etc) to VMware hosts in each office, gained extensive experience in building and managing
VMware ESXi hosts/clusters (4.1/5.1).
Built and managed upgraded email infrastructure for over 1000 users in offices and shipping
terminals in 14 countries and dozens of seagoing vessels.
Upgraded multiple server (BES-per-region) Blackberry domain to v5 and managed device refresh.
Also implemented email sync to Android and Apple devices.
KEY SKILLS UTILISED:
All aspects of VMware 4.1/5 and associated technologies – build and management
Windows Active Directory incl GPO, DHCP, DNS, etc
Email systems – Domino 7-8 / Exchange 2010
BES and mobile devices – Blackberry, Android, Apple
Server hardware and SAN storage (primarily HP)
Evaluation of Citrix VDI
Satellite Comms
Feb 2008 Oct 2009:
TWIN SYSTEMS / KLARET SERVICES (Contract)
4 Curzon Square, London, W1J 7FW
Recruited by outsource support company Twin Systems as their primary onsite IT administrator
and user support representative at Klaret Services, a Park Lane-based financial services company.
Tasked with re-designing and rationalising entire Windows/Cisco-based network (physically and at
Active Directory/network-services level) incl. delivery of remote-working solutions, consolidating
and migrating legacy email systems and moving to an inter-office Cisco IP telephony system.
Migrated all desktops to newly built and upgraded Active Directory and Domino domains. Email
system later migrated to Exchange 2007 with all-user Blackberry device rollout and SecurIDmanaged remote access.
Decommissioned analog phone system, moving users to IP phones on Cisco Call Manager 4.2, later
upgraded to CUCM 6.1, and Unity Express voicemail. CUCM Express 7.0 used at one remote site.
Managed the implementation of site-to-site VPNs between UK offices and remote offices in Eastern
Europe and the Mediterranean – for both data and telephony.
Technical advisor to all other IT/AV projects and direct support to VIP users and high-value clients.
KEY SKILLS UTILISED:
Windows Active Directory incl GPO, DHCP, DNS, scripting, etc
Cisco Networking, firewalls, VPNs and SecurID token authentication
Email systems – Domino 7-8 / Exchange 2007
BES and Blackberry devices
Server hardware and SAN storage (primarily HP)
PC builds/imaging, WSUS
Cisco Call Manager VOIP and voicemail
AV systems incl teleconferencing
Bloomberg and other trading systems
2007-2008
ERNST & YOUNG, UK (Contract)
Temporary cover while additional permanent staff were being recruited and trained. General thirdline client/server support and administration of Domino R7 infrastructure in the UK.
2007
PORTAL PARTNERSHIP (Contract/Consultancy)
Temporary position to augment permanent staff during two-week R5 to R7 client/server migration
(clients on Citrix) at Canute Haulage Company. Followed by three-month R6 to R7 server migration,
plus general admin and 3rd-line support, at Associated Newspapers Limited.
2005-2007
CLYDE & CO (Contract)
One of the largest law firms in the City, specialising in insurance and transport litigation.
Email and Windows Server/Network support. Primary responsibility all email management and
support issues escalated by 2nd line teams. Domain consolidation following a merger.
Gained experience supporting Blackberry devices and BES infrastructure and managing the thirdparty MessageLabs antivirus and content filtering service. Also gained exposure to Exchange 2003.
2005
SILBRO PRINT LIMITED (Freelance)
Hardware upgrades of network infrastructure and PCs to allow OS upgrades to WinXP, carrying
out user training, installation of print-server appliances and configuring typesetting/DTP systems.
2005
PINK ROCCADE / SECURICOR (Contract)
Two-month project-based contract - management and support for user and application migrations
as part of a Domino server/domain-consolidation project carried out by Pink Roccade for Securicor
UK.
2004
BNP PARIBAS (Contract)
Server and trading floor support for Domino 6.5 on Win2K/2003 and Notes 5/6 on Win2K/XP,
Blackberry devices, Bloomberg terminals.
2004
NINE MONTH SABATTICAL – Travelling in Europe, Asia & Australasia
1998- 2004 HSBC BANK plc (Permanent)
Technical lead in a small team tasked with defining the architecture and standards for a new global
Domino email system for HSBC - based on Domino R4.6, later migrating to R5 and then R6.
Role then moved to one of liaison between regional implementation teams worldwide - policing of
standards and coordination of worldwide issues.
1993-1998
MCPS/PRS LIMITED (Permanent)
General IT support, followed by implementation of Notes email system and extranet applications linking external client companies using Notes to mainframe back-end database systems.
1991-1993
PRIVATE IT CONSULTANCY/SUPPORT
1989-1991
MICRO-UPDATE LIMITED & PRIVATE IT CONSULTANCY/SUPPORT
PC dealership and associate company of Auckland Litho, for whom I worked as a typesetter and
graphic designer. Builds, installation, support and training on PCs, servers, networks and office/DTP
applications.