Vipul Chandrakant Pandya

Current Location: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Current Job: As IT Head in eCardSolutions Ltd – An IT Services MNC in PCI Domain (www.ecardsolutions.com)
Mobile: +255 682 332246; +255 684 972282
Email: vipul.pandya@ecardsolutions.com, vipulpandya2k1@gmail.com

 

 

 

CAREER OBJECTIVE:

 

 

·          To work as IT Infrastructure Head or Information Security Head / Consultant for an Organization and contribute my multifarious experience, knowledge, skills and abilities for the growth and development of the Organization.

 

PROFILE SYNOPSIS:

 

 

·          18+ years of experience in IT Infrastructure Setup & Management and Providing ITIL Based IT Services

·          12+ years of experience in implementing IT Security, Audit & Remediation (PCI_DSS V3.1 V3.2 & ISO 27001).

·          18+ years of experience in Managing mid to large IT Teams, Handling IT Users ranging from 30 to over 3000

·          Planning, Documentation & Execution of 70+ IT Projects in IT Infra Setup, IT Security, IT Application & Services.

·          Qualifications – MSc (IT); BE (Electronics); BSc (Physics); MCITP; MCTS; MCP; Six Sigma (Green & White Belts)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CERTIFICATIONS & TRAININGS:

 

 

·          MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional)

·          MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist)

·          MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)

·          CCNA (Cisco Certified N/w Associate) Training

·          PCI DSS V3.1 & 3.2 & ISO 27001 Training

·          CEH & CISSP Professional Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEY IT OPERATIONAL SKILLS:

 

 

 

 

·          IT Infrastructure (OS, LAN, WAN, WiFi, etc) Management

·          AMC & IT Asset Management

·          IT Infrastructure Audit & Compliance

·          Creating IT Policy & Guidelines

·          IT Capex & Budgeting

·          Software License Regulation

·          BCP, IT Continuity & DR Planning

 

KEY IT SECURITY SKILLS & APPLICATION KNOWLEDGE:

 

 

·          Installation & Config of Centralized Log Management

1)      Splunk,  2) ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer (ME ELA)

3) GFI Log Analyzer, 4) HPE ArcSight Logger

 

·          SIEM and FIM Integration with IT Infrastructure

1)      Cyberoam Firewall Integration with Splunk & ME ELA

2)      Oracle & MS SQL DB Integration with Splunk & ME ELA

3)      Vmware EsXi Integration with Splunk & ME ELA

4)      Citrix Netscaler Integration with Splunk & ME ELA

5)      SMTP, Antivirus, NTP Server Integration

6)      WSUS, DHCP, DNS Server Integration

7)      MS Windows 8.1 / 2012 R2 OS Integration

8)      Oracle Solaris and Linux SuSe Integration

9)      Configuration of Alerts & Reports based on PCI_DSS 3.2,

ISO 27001, SOX, HIPPA

10)   FIM Configuration on OS Critical Files & Folders, Card-Holder Data Files & Folders and related Alerts & Reports

 

 

 

 

 

·       ERP (SAP – Material Management (MM)­) Training

·       VMware & Server Virtualization Training

·       Citrix Netscaler Remote Administration Training

·       ITIL V 3.0; ITIL 2011 Training

·       MS Office (Word/Excel/Powerpoint)

·       Six Sigma (Green Belt & White Belt)

 

 

 

·          IT Helpdesk Management

·          IT Project Planning & Roll-out

·          MIS Generation & Reporting

·          IT Vendor Liasion & Management

·          IT Datacenter Management

·          Email Management (GSuite, Lotus Notes)

·          Data Backup & Restoration

 

 

 

·          Vulnerability Assessment & Penetrating Testing

·          Detection & Analysis of Threats & Vulnerabilities

·          Remediation of Threats & Vulnerabilities

1)      Internal VA Scans (Tenable Nessus)

2)      External VA Scans (Tenable Nessus, Qualys)

3)      Internal Penetration Testing (Acunetix)

4)      External Penetration Testing (Metasploit)

5)      Web Application Penetration Test (Burp Suite)

6)      Segmentation Penetration Test (Metasploit)

 

·          WSUS Setup & Mgmt for MS Windows Patching

·          Antivirus Setup & Mgmt for Virus, Malware, Ransomware Threats, Detection & Removal

(Kaspersky, Symantec, McAfee)

·          Firewall Setup & Mgmt for Perimeter Security

(Cyberoam, Dell SonicWall, Fortinet)

·          PRTG Network Monitoring & Analysis System

TECHNICAL SKILLS AND APPLICATION KNOWLEDGE:

 

 

 

·          Server Operating Systems : MS Win Server 2012/2008/2003/2000/NT ; Sco Unix 5;

·          Client Operating Systems : MS Windows 10/8/7/XP/2000/98/95

·          ERP: SAP R/3   Material Management – MM (Installation , Configuration and Operations)

·          Centralized Logging : ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer , Splunk , GFI , ArcSight

·          Email : Lotus Notes Domino Server & Client Setup, MS Exchange & Outlook Setup, Google Apps-GSuite

·          Server Hardware : IBM Blade Series, Dell PE2950/R320/R710,Compaq Prosignia G2/G3

·          Services : Active Directory Services, WINS, DHCP, DNS, WSUS, AV etc

·          Server Virtualization : Microsoft Hyper-V , VMVare Esxi

·          Antivirus : Symantec, Kaspersky, McAfee,

·          Backup Solutions : Symantec BackupExec , Veritas backup, Genie Backup Mgr

·          Database : MS SQL Server 2000/2005/2012, MS Access, Oracle , My SQL, Dbase , Foxpro

·          Office Applications : MS Office 2000/XP/2003/2007/2010/2013 (Word,  Excel ,  PPT) , MS Visio

·          Routers : Cisco 1800/1700/2500, Juniper, HP, 3Com, Cyberoam UTM.

·          Switches : Cisco 2960, 3750, 3650 , 5000 , Juniper, 3Com , D-link

·          Firewall/UTM : Cisco Pix Firewall 520/515, Sonic Firewall, Juniper, Cyberoam

·          WiFi Access Points : Ruckus , Cisco , Netgear, SMC, Linksys

·          Protocols : TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, SMTP, POP3, FTP, Telnet, WINS, DHCP, DNS,

·          FTPS/SFTP Server & Client: WS_FTP Server & Client , FileZilla FTP Client

·          Helpdesk: Kayako Helpdesk, ManageEngine Service Desk, CA ServiceDesk

·          EPABX: Avaya, Alcatel, BPL; Videoconferencing: Polycom HDX 8000 , VSX 7000

·          Hospitality Management: Opera PMS 5, Micros POS , Enterprise Info Portal.

·          Payroll: Ramco Payroll ; Accounting : SAP, Tally, Superfast, Fintran

·          CCTV System: Lenel & Onguard Systems; Access Control: Solus Access Control System.

·          Voice Logger: Cube Voice Logger; Guest Feedback System & Complaint Management System

 

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS (IN LAST 1 YEAR):

 

·       Led and Successfully Cleared PCI_DSS V3.2 Audit in July 2017 and PCI_DSS V3.1 Audit in June 2016 for ECS.

 

·       Completed Planning & Documentation of 2 Major Projects on providing a Comprehensive IT Security for the Government of Zanzibar and President’s Office in Tanzania in Apr 2017 as per PCI and ISO Standards.

 

·       Brought major improvements and standardization in various Security Layers in the Company like (1) Physical Security involving CCTV & Bio-metric Access Control, (2) Network Layer Security, (3) SIEM & FIM Integration with IT Infrastructure, (4) OS Security, (5) Local & Remote Access Security, (6) Database Security, (7) Application Security,

 

·       Designed and Implemented a Complete Virtual Test Environment Network (in VMware Workstation V12.5 Pro), replica of Production Environment for Testing purpose in Sep-Oct 2016, having Active Directory Server, Firewall, AV, WSUS, SQL Server, NTP Server, App Servers, & Log Mgmt. Server among others.

 

·       Migrated the Corporate Email of ECS from CPanel to Google Apps Domain for <users>@ecardsolutions.com, including all the User Emails, DB, Contacts, & Calendar in July-Aug 2016.

 

·       Automated the IT Helpdesk Operations for Incident Management, Request Management and Change Management replacing the Manual Paper based Processes, resulting in enhanced Efficiency and Betterment in Customer Services & Staff Productivity.

 

·       Planning, Documentation & Implementation of Layered & Segmented Network Architecture for the Company using FW & L3 Cisco Switch in the CDE & DMZ Envt.

 

·       Implemented Centralized Log Management System – Splunk for the Company for Logging of 30+ Server Log Sources in 2016. Later in March 2017, replaced Splunk with ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer which was more productive.

 

·       Created a Checklist Calendar of all the PCI_DSS Audit related Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly & Yearly Activities and configured Automated Reminders using Google Calendar.

 

·       Implemented the AD Manager Plus in the Company for Automation and Efficient AD Operations, Alerts & Reports

 

·       Negotiated for Procurements of various Network, Hardware & Software items to save about US$ 15000 of the Company in last 1 Year .

 

·       Mentored IT Team for commitment to executing and demonstrating Service & Operational Excellence at all Times.

·      Optimized AV and Network Configurations to improve Network Access Speed and Performance by almost 50%.

 

PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE:

 

 

È SUMMARY:

­­­­­

Nov 2015 – Present:
IT Head at eCard Solutions Ltd. ,Tanzania, Africa based IT MNC (www.ecardsolutions.com)
Sep 2005 – Oct 2015:
ITC LTD. , Hotels Division (www.itchotels.in)

·  Aug 2013 – Oct 2015: Asst. IT Manager at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

·  Jan 2007 – July 2013: Asst. IT Manager at ITC WelcomHotel Vadodara, Baroda.

·  Sep 2005 – Dec 2006: IT Executive at ITC WelcomHotel Vadodara, Baroda.
Jul 2004 – Aug 2005:
Senior Lecturer & Network Admin at Balaji College (Gujarat University), Baroda.
Jul 2003 – Jun 2004:
Senior Technical Support Engineer at ICENET Pvt. Ltd., Baroda.
May 1999 – Apr 2003:
IT Project Engineer at NCC, Baroda.
È DETAILS:

 

ECARD SOLUTIONS LTD, TANZANIA, AFRICA

Head of IT Department                                                                                                                                                       Nov 2015 – Till Present Date

 

·          Initiate all-round Improvements in the IT Infrastructure and Technology Management in the Company

·          Chief Advisor in taking in Major Additions, Deletions & Modifications in Company’s IS Infrastructure

·          Plan, Design & Implement Systems, Network, Applications & IT Security for PCI_DSS V3.2 Compliance

·          Co-ordinate and Lead Project Teams Technically in order to Implement New Projects Successfully

·          Guide and Manage IT Helpdesk Operations for consistently Good Customer Experience as per ITIL V3

·          Build and Manage Vendor Relationships in order to effectively Negotiate & Purchase of New Items

·          Ensure Organization’s IT Assets are well maintained as per Company’s Asset Policies

·          Plan, Update and Test Company’s BCP, IT Continuity & DR Policies on Regular basis

·          Oversee the DC Operations, NOC, VC, CCTV and Other Major IT Areas & Services in the Organization

·          Liaise with Vendors and our Service Providers to Maintain 100% Uptime of IT Services as per Ext. SLAs

·          Lead effectively the Internal Audit Team, Incident Response Team, BCP & DR Team & IT Strategy Team

·          Management & Planning of Yearly IT Capex & Budgeting, & Software Licensing in the Organization

·          Interview & Hire IT Personnel, Carry out Yearly Appraisals and Mentor the existing IT staff effectively

 

ITC GRAND CENTRAL, MUMBAI, INDIA

2 Years Work Experience as Assistant IT Manager                                                                                                               Aug 2013 To Oct 2015

 

·       Was responsible & accountable for maintenance, upkeep and troubleshooting of more than 400 IT Equipment in the Hotel including high-end IBM Blade Servers, Dell Desktops, Printers, Laptops, Access Points, Network Switches, Routers, Leased Lines, Modems, Racks, UPS, etc.

·       Effectively managed a team of 10 IT Engineers including 1 IT Assistant, 4 FMS Engineers and 5 Internet Engineers. Catering to IT Services needs of more than 250 IT users.

·       Managed more than 20 AMCs with various vendors for Software, Hardware & Networ.

·       Provided ITIL based IT Services across the Hotel to Users of 22 Departments in the Hotel.

·       Was responsible and accountable for MIS Generation and IT reports in the Unit for All Departments.

·       Managed and Maintained 3 DC in the Company, namely Admin, Internet and CCTV Data Centers.

·       Managed maintenance & Upkeep of Admin LAN, CCTV LAN, EPABX LAN and Guest Internet LAN (Wired/Wifi) and 6 WAN links with DHQ, KDC and BDC.

·       Managed Internet needs of Hotel Guests on LAN & WiFi modes through a team of 5 expert engineers.

·       Managed Troubleshooting & Maintenance of 140 analog and 10 IP CCTV Camera system.

·       Provided Videoconference Services to Internal & External Guests with the help of Polycom VSX 7000 and Polycom HDX 8000 VC equipment.

·       Was completely accountable for Planning and Managing of IT Capital Expenditures and Budgeting of IT requirements on yearly basis in the Unit.

·       Maintained strict adherence to and compliance with Software Licensing Policy.

·        Cleared Internal and External IT Audits all the year round including Starwood Audits & ISO 27001 audits.
 

 

ITC WELCOMHOTEL VADODARA, BARODA, INDIA

7 Years Work Experience as Assistant IT Manager                                                                                                             Jan 2007 To July 2013

 

&

 

ITC WELCOMHOTEL VADODARA, BARODA, INDIA

1 Year Work Experience as IT Executive                                                                                                                                  Sep 2005 To Dec 2006

 

·          Work Profile, Roles & Responsibilities similar as above.

·          SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 10 YEARS IN ITC HOTELS from Sep 2005 to Oct 2015:

·         Shifting of entire DC from Front Office Area to the Back-Office Area in a downtime of Just 2 hrs.

·         Complete Renovation of Hotel LAN with structured CAT6 Cabling

·         Installation of 2×30 KVA Powerware UPS in Parallel Redundancy Mode for the Hotel IT Load

·         Replacement of the Old BPL EPABX with the New Avaya Definity EPABX

·         Timely & accurate amendments in VAT , Luxury Tax, Sales Tax, Service Tax etc as per requirement

·         Renovation of the entire Guest Internet Network with latest APs and Cisco Switches

·         Lead the Six-Sigma AET of Finance & IT for 7 Successive Years and Won Several Competitions

·         Co-ordinated the installation of Opera PMS, Micros 9700 POS, SAP R/3 in 2 ITC Hotels

·         Contribution of over 50 KAIZENS, 25 WINNOVATIONS, 25 SPLs, and Several R1, R2 & R3 Benefits, related to IT, under Six-Sigma endeavors of the Company, which led to IT-AET attaining Rank 1 among all AETs in the Unit for several Months in ITC WH Vadodara & ITC Grand Central.

·         Unit IT WOW Ratio shot up from 89% in 2012 to 95% in 2013 and the Team Sustained it for next 3 years. Hotels Internet Revenue showed healthy 28-35% Growth YOY in 2010,2011,2012, & 2013

·         Completed over 75 Software, Hardware and Networking Projects involving Planning, Supervision and Execution in ITC WelcomHotel Vadodara & ITC Grand Central.

·         Simplified Accounts Month-end Process in Fintran and Superfast Applications that resulted in getting this MonthEnd Process getting finished faster by almost 300% as compared to earlier.

·         Implementation of ITIL based CA service desk and ITC service desk in the Unit for handling Incidents, Service Requests and Change Requests related to IT in the Hotels.

·         Delivered more than 150 Training Sessions (Group and Personal) in last 6 years to Staff of various Departments and HODs for various Systems Applications

·         Troubleshooting and Resolution of more than 25000 Incidents & Requests on IT during 10 years.

 

BALAJI COLLEGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS & MANAGEMENT (GUJARAT UNIVERSITY), BARODA, INDIA

1 Year Work Experience as Senior Lecturer and System Administrator                                                                               July 2004 to Aug 2005

 

·          Installed and Configured Intranet Mail and Chat Servers for the first time in the college.

·          Lead a Project and Training trip for M.Sc. IT students at Hindustan Lever Office, for LAN based Project.

·          Lead the team of M.Sc. IT students in completing the final Semester Project on “Balaji College Network Infrastructure Renovation”, which was also a Live Project in the College.

·          Taught 10 Different Subjects on Electronics & IT to BCA, MCA, MBA IT & M.Sc IT Students.

 

ICENET PVT. LTD., BARODA, INDIA

1 Year Work Experience as Senior Technical Support Engineer                                                                                            July 2003 to June 2004

 

·        Provided Technical Support to the Customer base of over 3000 Users across Vadodara City

·        Carried out Administration & Maintenance of over 1200 Desktops & Laptops and over 200 Servers.

·        Managed Creation, Modification & Deactivation of over 1000 Individual AD Objects within the Org.

·        Provided Hardware and Networking support to Internal and External Company needs.

·        VoIP and WiFi Support to designated Commercial Customer base in the City

·        Actively supported Router and Switch Configurations within the Datacenter of the organization.

 

NCC, BARODA, INDIA

4 Years Work Experience as IT Project Engineer                                                                                                                  May 1999 to April 2003

 

·        Designing, Planning, Documentation, Installation and Commissioning of the Network.

·        Co-ordinated 300 Node Computer Network in ONGC, Baroda

·        250 Node Installation at ONGC, Ankleshwar

·        150 Node Installation at Central Excise and Customs, Baroda.

·        100 Node Installations at Banco Products Ltd., Baroda.

 

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

 

 

Masters in Information Technology (MSc. IT) from Punjab  Technical University,  2012 (Distance Learning) – 64%
Bachelor in Electronics (B.E.) from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 2001 (Regular) – 62 %
Bachelor of Science in Physics (BSc. Physics) from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 1998 (Regular) – 64%
HSC (10 + 2 Standard), from Basil School, Baroda, 1995 (Regular) – 64%
SSC (10 Standard), from MK HighSchool, Baroda, 1993 (Regular) – 78%
SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ACADEMICS, SPORTS, GK-QUIZ & ARTS:

 

 

·   Won Gold Medal in Academics for securing 1st Rank in School for 4 Successive Years – 1990 to 1993

·   Won Gold Medal in Essay Competition organized by GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd.) on “Petroleum Conservation” at National Level in 1993.

·   Won Gold Medal in Chess Tournament at College Level for becoming Department Champion – 1997

·   Led School Cricket Team as Captain and Won Gold Medals for 2 Successive years in Tournaments.

·   Won Silver Medal from Indian Express – WWFI for Inter-School Quiz ’92 at State Level – 1992

·   Won Silver Medal in Carom Tournament at College Level for being Runners-up – 1997

·   Certificate from United Schools Organization of India (Estd. 1951) – VEC for The United Nations for Securing Distinction in “Senior General Knowledge Test” – 1993 at National Level

·   Certificate from US based IT Company – Amtel Exports India Ltd. – For Successfully completing College level academic project on “Web based Paging System” – 2001

·   Collection of more than 20 Certificates and Awards in various Activities & Competitions of Aptitude, Arts, Music, Dance, Drama and Sports at School, College, Society and Social Community Levels

·   Received Certificates & Recognitions for Leading & Volunteering various Social Activities like “March for a Cause”, “Blood Donation Camp”, “Cleanliness Drive”, “Charity for  Poor & Needy”, “Visit to Specially Abled School” and similar other Activities at School, College, City, Society and Company Levels.

 

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