Wassim Tout

Wassim Tout- https://github.com/wtout https://www.linkedin.com/in/wassimtout EDUCATION M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada B.A.Sc in Microelectronics University of Quebec At Montreal (UQAM), Montreal, QC, Canada PROFILE Over fifteen years of system integration and architecture, system deployment, and service delivery of Linux-based software solutions. Seven years focusing on automating distributed software systems’ deployment and testing. Five years leading teams of up to ten solution engineers in system deployment and service delivery WORK EXPERIENCE Lead Build Automation Engineer Cisco Systems, Durham, NC 03/2019 – 07/2024 Tools: CentOS, AlmaLinux, Ubuntu, Ansible, Jinja2, Bash, Packer, Vault, Cyberark Conjur, Git, GitHub, Bitbucket, Gitlab, Quay, Docker, Podman, Jira, Confluence, Visio, Sharepoint, VMWare, DNS, and Active Directory Team lead for the automation of the build-out of systems and the deployment of software  Developed a custom automation tool to build customer systems in private clouds (hosted) and on appliances (on-prem). The tool interacted with VMWare VCenter to configure ESXI hosts (on-prem) and to create and configure router, load-balancer, and Linux VMs from OVA templates and/or ISO images based on customerspecific configuration. It also interacted with the DNS to add/remove entries and initiated software component installation and configuration and reduced system build-out process time by 92%  Developed a Packer-based procedure to create VMs from ScienceLogic’s ISO images. It was integrated into the Ansible automation framework and allowed the team to save $800K in annual licensing costs  Created a custom container image to host the Ansible engine and required packages to minimize dependency on the host's configuration and simplify updates. The creation/deletion of containers is managed by the automation  Incorporated the automation tool into a business-process level automation framework that needed to leverage the VM creation with the customizable size and network settings capabilities  Developed a custom automation tool to perform the build-out and service management of an infrastructure device simulator supporting 60k+ devices  Developed an automation tool to provision VMs from ISO images (CentOS 7, AlmaLinux 8/9, and Ubuntu 22.04) with user-quota, LDAP integration, Desktop Manager and other packages depending on the VM function  Developed automation tools to scan VCenter daily (CRON) to detect faulty, stopped or untagged VMs, to detect and delete old snapshots and VMs and to detect ScienceLogic’s DBs and extract and report licensing information  Developed automated tests for the release team to run in the QA automation tool pre and post-upgrade activities  Mentored junior Engineers in Ansible automation best practices and performed code reviews  Produced user guides and architecture and flow diagrams for automated procedures. Coached team members and build engineers and gave live demos to Engineers and senior Management Senior Software Deployment Engineer Extron Electronics, Raleigh, NC 10/2017 – 01/2019 Tools: CentOS, RedHat, Suse Linux, Amazon Linux, Debian, Ansible, Ansible Tower, Jinja2, Bash, Git, Bitbucket, Docker, Openshift, Jira, Confluence, Visio, Sharepoint, VMWare, Hyper-V, and AWS  Oversaw the implementation and delivery of Extron’s A/V software system products  Engaged customers to determine the project's business and technical requirements, created technical documentation, and deployed software solutions on Linux VMs in public and private clouds Wassim Tout https://github.com/wtout https://www.linkedin.com/in/wassimtout  Reviewed and defined software system deployment processes encompassing customer interaction, requirements gathering, deployment activities scheduling and execution, solution configuration and training  Explored new tools such as Ansible Tower to help standardize the software system deployment procedure and coordinated with vendors to organize demos and workshops for Professional Services and Engineering teams  Developed a custom tool to automate the system set-up and software installation in Docker containers in Hyper-V and VMWare VMs and AWS, using Ansible and Bash. The tool performed software installation/configuration, user authentication and authorization, audit trail, logging, and Slack notification  Extended the automation tool to leverage the Dev team's Ansible playbooks and augment them to deploy the software in single and multi-tenant Openshift clusters  Set up and managed a forwarding DNS server in the team's environment to reduce dependency on the IT team  Produced documentation for new and updated procedures and coached team members, QA and support engineers on tools and procedures for an improved DevOps pipeline  Engaged Dev, DevOps, QA, and product management teams to resolve application and deployment problems via Jira and Confluence Professional Services Engineer MobileIron Inc, Mountain View, CA 04/2015 – 10/2017 Tools: CentOS, RedHat, MobileIron, F5 LTM, Wireshark, and ServiceNow Services Engineer leading large, complex, MDM/EMM software deployment engagements remotely and on-site  Deployed and implemented the MobileIron product suite for its enterprise customer base  Engaged the customers to plan and execute product deployment activities, design architecture, and deliver training and best practices  Followed up on application and deployment problems and collaborated with engineering to solve solution, deployment, and integration-related issues  Orchestrated the customers' setup of the MobileIron platform from requirement definition, network configuration, physical or VM appliance setup and configuration, and MDM/EMM environment configuration to testing with mobile iOS and Android devices and defining the roll-out plan. Assisted customers in configuring and deploying Apple Device Enrollment Program (DEP), Apple Volume Purchase Plan (VPP), and Android Enterprise (AE) in their MobileIron platform(s)  Helped customers troubleshoot and isolate issues with DNS configuration, IP routing, Firewall configuration and LB configuration by providing configuration steps, settings values, and/or Packet capture and analysis  Guided customers through the process of setting up server SSL certificates from Certificate Signing Request (CSR) creation to download and installation on server(s)  Co-piloted the set-up of a new proof of concept (POC) Trusted Front End (TFE) environment and helped the QA team set up their testing environment  Produced and maintained training documentation for own team and for customers and was a presenter at the MobileIron Live annual technical convention Technical Consultant Ericsson, Montreal, QC 03/2014 – 03/2015 Tools: CentOS, Suse Linux, Bash, Xen and KVM System Integration and Verification Engineer (10/2014 – 03/2015)  Developed and validated software systems installation instructions  Applied maiden system installation procedures to switches, load-balancers, NAS, DBs, and blades to set up Xen and KVM virtualized Java-based distributed multi-tenant systems  Developed scripts to automate installation tasks  Led and executed System test activities Wassim Tout https://github.com/wtout https://www.linkedin.com/in/wassimtout Solution Verification Team Lead (03/2014 – 08/2014)  Led the overall functional verification from test plan development and execution to resource allocation and scheduling  Defined acceptance test strategies for service delivery  Engaged the customer in daily project status meetings and provided daily progress updates and an issues-tracker to the customer, project team, and project management  Secured the customer’s buy-in to the test strategy and acceptance plan and signing-off on the test results  Engaged the customer remotely and on-site in identifying and discussing testing dependencies and securing the readiness of environments and the availability of tools and products  Packaged new software drops to deliver to the customer, coordinated new software deployment with the installation team, and followed up on software defects with development teams  Provided project and solution onboarding to new verification team members and organized solution presentations and tools training. Engaged the local and off-shore teams in daily status meetings, provided coaching, and reviewed their work  Carried out software installation tasks to help the project team meet the test system readiness milestone Deployment Architect Myriad Group / Nokia, Montreal, QC 01/2010 – 10/2013 Tools: RedHat, CentOS, Bash, Perl, TCL, F5 LTM, Cisco and Checkpoint Firewalls, Sharepoint, Visio, and Wireshark Senior Architect and Lead of the deployment and delivery of Java-based distributed Mobile Messaging solutions and services for Android, Symbian, MRE, and feature phones.  Led the definition of end-to-end network solutions and deployment strategies, the design and planning of new solution deployments, the production of solution diagrams and IP plans, the definition of acceptance test strategies for service delivery, and provided prototyping and presales support  Oversaw the technical solution deployment activities and process definition and led and coordinated deployment-related activities with project management, project team, customers, and service providers  Tracked application and deployment problems and collaborated with engineering to solve solution, deployment, and integration-related issues  Program managed business strategic virtualized systems' operational activities through aggressive schedules and tight deadlines from infrastructure set up and configuration, network connectivity, software installation, and configuration to acceptance testing and service readiness and launch  Improved the quality of solution deployment deliverables by defining and implementing change management processes, producing guidelines and templates, and standardizing solution deployment strategies  Minimized deployment delays by eliminating external dependencies with a new strategy to reuse existing network connectivity for additional staging environments  Set up a mobile messaging solution prototype in the AWS cloud and produced a list of integration issues, performance metrics, and recommendations for the development team to address prior to cloud migration  Solved our redundant MySQL database replication problem by devising a solution that combined the Corosync/Pacemaker clustering with a custom monitoring mechanism. The solution was pushed to all the production environments, reducing the time and effort required to generate monthly billing reports for customers  Simplified the selection of the right load-balancing technology by evaluating software and hardware loadbalancer technologies in public and private clouds in the context of Mobile Messaging  Developed and implemented packet processing and routing rules on F5 LTMs for major and complex deployment projects and solutions. Developed automation tools using Bash and Perl  Co-authored solution architecture documents and contributed to the planning of data center migration Wassim Tout Deployment Specialist https://github.com/wtout https://www.linkedin.com/in/wassimtout Nokia, Montreal, QC 10/2005 – 01/2010 Tools: RedHat, CentOS, Bash, Perl, TCL, F5 LTM, Cisco and Checkpoint Firewalls, Sharepoint, Visio, and Wireshark Senior Expert and owner of the deployment and delivery of Java-based distributed Mobile Messaging solutions and services.  Planned, designed, and executed new deployment activities. Defined end-to-end network solutions and set up connectivity with carriers and portals  Coordinated deployment-related activities with project management, project teams, customers, and service providers  Followed-up on application and deployment-related issues and provided recommendations for set-ups and configuration  Authored SQL scripts to configure the solution’s database  Engaged engineering to solve solution, deployment, and integration-related issues  Designed and performed Network configuration for new and existing deployments and developed and implemented packet processing and routing rules on the F5 Load-balancers  Produced new procedures to configure the load-balancers. Produced documented templates and performed reviews of new configuration  Performed installations and upgrades for Preproduction and Production Environments and defined, implemented, and tested (internally and with the customer) operational requirements  Produced and maintained documentation and trained support team in new deployments before Operational Handover. Produced detailed instructions for deployment procedures  Performed Level 3 support for critical production items. Mentored QA teams to set up and configure test environments and network components and to perform system-level troubleshooting System Integration Engineer Ericsson, Montreal, QC 10/2003 – 10/2005 Tools: Solaris, Bash, Perl, F5 LTM, and Wireshark Lead Member of the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Integration & Verification group.  Led the overall emergency package integration and test activities from test plan development, and execution to resource allocation and scheduling  Reduced software package installation risks and delays by developing tools to automate the procedure using Bash and Perl  Developed and executed instructions to assemble the applications/components to deliver a turnkey solution to customers  Produced and maintained documentation for package deployment procedures and was a key contributor to the development of standard procedure templates  Oversaw the assurance of integrity and quality of different software/hardware applications/components  Deployed maintenance releases, implemented emergency corrections at the customer's production site, and performed system troubleshooting to solve integration issues  Developed and executed test instructions for maintenance correction releases