Michael Hoare, Group IT Operations Manager

Michael Hoare

Group IT Operations Manager

Gulf Cryo

Location
United Arab Emirates - Dubai
Education
Bachelor's degree,
Experience
24 years, 2 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :24 years, 2 Months

Group IT Operations Manager at Gulf Cryo
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • My current job since February 2020

Responsibilities:
• Responsible for all IT Operations (On-Prem and Cloud Infrastructure, Security, Networks, End-User Support) across Gulf Cryo and its subsidiaries across 10 countries.

IT Program Manager, Technology Services at Mashreq Bank
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • November 2019 to February 2020

Responsibilities:
• Reporting to the VP of Technology Services, I was responsible for some key Technology Projects, leading project teams of approx 20 members.
• Primary Projects were IT Fit-Out of new Mashreq Bank Headquarters in Downtown Dubai, Combined Windows 10 and Hardware Refresh projects and Data migration to Office 365 for approx 5000 Users

Achievements:
• Created a structured approach to each Project with proper Planning, Budget, Team & Vendor Management
• Improved the Reporting function of the Project Teams including detailed Dashboards, Measurement Data for periodic Review Boards
• Mentored my direct Team reports on different execution & communication strategies and how to work smarter and show value to the Projects.

Head of IT at MENA Assistance
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • May 2019 to September 2019

Responsibilities:
• Reporting to the CEO, I was responsible for the IT Strategy definition, IT Budget creation, IT Security, Infrastructure and Product Delivery. With an in-house IT team of 10 FTEs and 7+ Outsourced FTE’s, this role was to structure & define the Target Operating Model, Roles & Responsibilities, along with the overall IT vision for the organisation across 15 countries.
• Initial topics in scope were a New Operations Platform (App & Web) deployment in Agile mode, Infrastructure Transformation, Move2Cloud Assessment & Contact Center CX platform Migration.

Achievements:
• Delivered a 3-year Program plan to address Obsolescence in the IT environment, along with aligned budget of approx x
• Delivered 3x Milestones for the New Platform Project.
• Defined Roles & Responsibilities, and Learning Needs Analysis for the IT Team and Vendors
• Launched IT Security Awareness campaign for Internal Users

Regional Manager, Service Delivery Strategy, Architecture & Projects at AXA Gulf
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • January 2018 to May 2019

Responsibilities:
• Due to internal promotion and reporting to the CIO, I was responsible for the overall Strategic Direction, Budget and Infrastructure Architecture of IT Service Delivery.
• Custodian of XXM USD budget for IT Service Delivery Capex & Opex
• The role saw me driving technology and supporting the business in the journey towards Cloud Adoption, Automation, Self Service provisioning, DevOps and Agile delivery.

Achievements:
• Delivered new Dell Hyper-converged Infrastructure in the Primary and DR Datacenters, saving on legacy maintenance, footprint and management overhead.
• Delivered greenfield IT Infrastructure for new Regional Office in Bahrain (Dell, Cisco & Meraki)
• Delivered Plan for Office 365 migration to AXA Group tenant
• Facilitated technical workshops with Azure and AWS Teams in the region to define Cloud strategy
• Advocacy for building a multicultural Organisation, including hiring the first Emirati Engineer into my IT team

Regional Manager, IT Service Delivery & Strategic Projects at AXA Gulf
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • October 2015 to December 2017

Responsibilities:
• Key area of the role involves being the SPOC for all Project Planning, Budgeting, Stakeholder Management, Scheduling, Managing and Reporting of all Service Delivery projects across the GCC Region.
• Project Areas include Service Desk, Storage & Servers, Networking, Data Management, Application Migrations and Security

Achievements:
• I led a diverse team of 5x Technical Managers and 2 Project Managers to drive planning and delivery of a large scale IT Transformation.
• Introduction of ITIL processes, namely Change Management, Configuration & Asset Management, Problem and Incident Management.
• I reviewed existing Operational processes and recommended new and innovative ideas to the organisation - this included Vendor Management improvements, Licensing Consolidation & ensuring Support requirements are met.
• Redefined the TOM for the Service Delivery organisation and associated Transformation projects and budget for the next 3-5 years at AXA.

Project Manager & Solutions Architect at Dell
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • September 2014 to October 2015

Responsibilities:
• Presales, Account/Relationship Management, Business Development, Team Mentoring, Solutions/Systems Design & Strategy for various Dell customers across the GCC region
• Technologies include Design & Implementation of Storage, Virtualization, Servers, Disaster Recovery, Backup & Recovery and Windows Infrastructure
• Deployed as Project Manager on the UAE Smart Learning Program. Managed the Relationships, Services, Support and Availability of 16000 Dell devices to almost 150 schools across the UAE.

Achievements:
• Improved efficiency of the Support Process for the Smart Learning Program, reducing turnaround times by 20%, thereby also improving the relationship with the customer
• Delivered Datacenter improvements in multiple customer sites, reducing their Server & Storage footprint, bringing efficiency and savings

IT Infrastructure Systems Specialist, CIO Office at DEWA - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • March 2014 to September 2014

• Worked as part of a specialist project team, responsible for Planning & Design of the infrastructure for Dubai’s new Smart Grid initiative
• The role varied significantly, demanding proficiency in a number of cross-functional tasks which included Project Management, Strategy Alignment, Business Requirements Gathering, Technical Consultancy, RFP evaluation, Consultancy Evaluation and Review and Gap Analysis
• Defined and documented the IT Infrastructure needs for the project

Enterprise Datacenter Architect at Ryanair
  • Ireland
  • August 2012 to January 2014

• Initially hired from a Consultancy to redesign the Virtual Environment and migrate to new hardware. New vSphere/ESXi 5.1 environment built on HP Hardware (EVA6550, c7000 G2, BL685c G7's, Virtual-Connect & Brocade FC).. Migration required from Dell Equallogic SAN (ISCSI) & Blades to this new HP Fibre Channel configuration.. vSphere later upgraded to v5.5.
• Virtual Environment Backup & Recovery, along with Disaster Recovery also implemented for the entire VMware environment during this project using Veeam v6.5, later upgraded to v7.. Dell Blade Servers & iSCSI Equallogic SAN rebuilt & wiped before return.
• Following this project, I managed the Datacenter move to a new building that Ryanair acquired.. This involved designing the new Datacenter layout & infrastructure, then planning the move of approx 200 systems, including the entire VMware & SAN environment with minimal downtime to the business.

Senior IT Consultant at Morse / Appliance Technology
  • Ireland
  • December 2011 to August 2012

• Technical Services, Professional Services, Technical Pre-Sales and Project Management all at an Enterprise Level. Specialising in NetApp Storage Technologies and VMware Projects. Many High Profile customers - Financial, Education, Healthcare, Insurance & Pharmaceuticals.
• Liaise with customers on Infrastructure projects that include NetApp Storage needs such as Hardware & Software Upgrades, Data Migrations, Consolidations, Change Procedures, Support and associated best practices.
• Similar efforts spent on VMware Technologies such as Upgrades, Migrations, Consolidations & Support - varying from VMware 3.5 to vSphere 5.1.
• Also assist internal IT as required around AD, Exchange upgrades, Best Practices in a Windows Infrastructure environment.

Enterprise Storage Architect at ICON Plc
  • Ireland
  • December 2006 to December 2011

• Senior Datacenter Team Member - specialising in the management of ICON’s SAN & Virtualized infrastructure for EU/APAC.
• Projects included Datacenter Consolidation (5-1) - Storage Investigation of Vendors, Cloud Opportunities & Co-Location Opportunities.
• Managed our team of 5 in 2010 for 12 months while the Datacenter Services Manager was on Leave of Absence - included People Management (Projects, Vacation, Issues), and reporting directly to the IT Director in our US office.

Senior Windows/BackOffice Systems Administrator at EuroConex Technologies Ltd, IDA Business Park, Arklow, Co
  • Ireland
  • April 2005 to December 2006

• Manage and Support Windows Server 2000/3 Enterprise Environment. Approx 60 Windows Servers in various European Locations, primarily Dell Systems.

IT Engineer at Flextronics Logistics
  • Ireland
  • January 2000 to April 2005

• Management of IT support for 5 depots across Southern Ireland
• Desktop, Communications, Network, Telecoms & Projects

Education

Bachelor's degree,
  • at University of Limerick
  • June 1998

Oct. 1997 - June 1998 University of Limerick, Castletroy, Limerick. Course:- Computer Systems Attended for 1 year only, left to pursue a technical future, not a programming one.

High school or equivalent, Maths
  • at Abbey School
  • June 1997

Sept. 1991 - June 1997 Abbey CBS, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary. Leaving Certificate '97, 5 Honours (incl. Maths)

Specialties & Skills

IT Project Management
IT Management
VMware Infrastructure
Backup Solutions
Disaster Recovery
BROCADE
DRIVERS
ENGINEER
EXCHANGE
FIRE SUPPRESSION
IT SUPPORT
SHAREPOINT
Windows
Storage
Microsoft
Virtual
Project Management
Presales

Languages

English
Expert

Hobbies

  • Rugby, Badminton, Golf, Tennis, Travel and Computers
    • Full Irish, International & UAE drivers licence, 17 years • Rugby, badminton, golf, tennis and travel • Qualified badminton coach from the Badminton Union of Ireland • Was a member of Irish Red Cross for 5 years, successfully leading teams in national competitions • Volunteer charity work - SVP ‘TeenHols’ Conference Secretary – Organising teen adventure holidays for less advantaged teenagers