Duration : 12 months to start

Job Description:
BACKGROUND
The department is seeking a contractor to aid in the administration of its Servers and Storage infrastructure both in the cloud and on-premises Data Centers. The contractor shall be proficient in the management and deployment of virtual and physical Windows, Solaris/Linux Servers, and Storage Area Network (SAN) design, deployment, and maintenance. The contractor shall assist with tasks related to Cloud Tenant design and Administration, Cloud migration, Cloud administration as well as the conversion of Server hosted applications to Server-Less applications.

SCOPE
The Contractor will provide an experienced Systems Architect for the organization’s Infrastructure Operations team to supplement existing staff for the purpose of aiding in the optimization of Azure workloads, emphasizing the modernization of traditional workloads to cloud-native solutions for enhanced scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. The Contractor shall be experienced in the design deployment, maintenance and support of virtualization technologies and Storage Area Networks as well as supporting and maintaining on-premises Server and Storage Infrastructure. The Contractor shall assist with Cloud design and develop recommendations to ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved within the Azure tenant, and that the Department is adhering to security and operational best practices.
The Systems Architect will make recommendations to improve resource utilization such as converting server-hosted workloads to server-less solutions e.g., Azure App Services, Docker Containers, Kubernetes, Hosted Azure SQL.
The Contractor, through its selected candidate must perform all tasks and complete the deliverables identified in this Statement of Work (SOW).

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRACTOR’S CANDIDATE
To accomplish the work outlined above, the department requires an experienced Systems Architect with the following skills and experiences listed below. This list is not exhaustive; nor are all skills required. Technical Skills, written and verbal communication, and experiences will be the basis for evaluation of responses to the RFQ.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A minimum of 10 years of IT work experience in infrastructure environments performing planning, architectural design, engineering (hardware and software), maintenance, support, and optimization.
• Ability to communicate effectively (verbally and in writing) with Department staff and vendors.
• Experience with the maintenance and support of on-premises and cloud environments.
• Experience maintaining and troubleshooting Servers and Storage Area Networks.
• Experience configuring and administering Hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V and VBox.

• Experience designing, deploying, and maintaining VMware ESXI clusters.
• Experience designing, implementing, and supporting Storage Area Networks.
• Successful completion of Data Center cloud migration projects.
• Strong understanding of features and capabilities of the Microsoft Cloud Platform (Azure)
• Experience maintaining Microsoft Azure computing resources and services.
• Experience configuring Azure monitor, Log Analytics, and Alerts.
• Experience modernizing applications by containerizing (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience deploying and maintaining Linux Server OS.
• Experience deploying and maintaining Windows Server OS.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or another related field. Or equivalent work experience.
• Microsoft Azure Administrator and Microsoft Azure Architect Certification.

• Conduct a detailed assessment of Azure’s architecture, design, and security posture to identify optimization opportunities.
• Develop an implementation plan and execute the optimization opportunities discovered through the Azure assessment.
• Assist the team with all the operations related to the Azure, maintenance, and support.
• Develop a plan to convert server-hosted workloads to cloud-native solutions and services.
• Drive continuous improvement and optimization.
• Provide support on the day-to-day activities of the infrastructure team.
• Attend and participate in all assigned meetings.
• Complete a Project Report and a Project Timesheet on a weekly basis.
• Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and technical documentation to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to Department staff.