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Development & IT Consultation with Ernest D.

5.0 · 27 reviews

Development & IT Consultation with Ernest D.

5.0 · 27 reviews

Subject matter expert consultation services for:
• Cybersecurity Architecture
• Network Architecture
• System Architecture
• Cloud Architecture
• Digital transformation
• Solution design and implementation
• IT strategy development
• Information Security Manager
• vCTO | vCIO | vCISO

Information Security & Cybersecurity services and advisor:
• Develop & enhance Cybersecurity management frameworks
• Develop, implement & monitor strategic, comprehensive enterprise information security & IT risk management programs

IT & cybersecurity business operations:
• Business development planning
• Identify and procure the correct technology
• Project Management
• Team building and management
• RFP preparation Proposal preparation
• Pre-sales & Sales Management
• Business development & partnership management with leading IT/tech companies

[Note: You can contact me on Upwork for longer service contracts and projects, so we can discuss the scope and applicable service rates depending on project size and SoW.]
Get personalized advice on:
Cybersecurity & Data Protection IT Support & Services cybersecurity management cloud security network security information security system security

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Ernest D.Status: Offline

About Ernest

Ernest D.Status: Offline
Sr Consultant for Cybersecurity Network Cloud IT Systems - CISSP CISM
100% Job Success
5.0  (27 reviews)
Bethesda, United States - 4:16 am local time
Highly accomplished IT & Information Security Professional with 15+ years of experience in Cybersecurity, Network, Cloud, and IT Systems. Proven expertise in developing and executing strategic security initiatives, architecting enterprise-grade solutions, and leading cross-functional teams.

UPWORK experience: 10,000+ work hours, 100% Job Success, Top Rated Plus, Expert-Vetted.

I have successfully delivered complex projects across heterogeneous environments such as Telco/ISP providers, SMB, and Large International Enterprises in USA, Europe & Globally.

Main offered services include:
• Cybersecurity Architect
• Information Security Manager
• Network Architect
• System Architect
• Cloud Architect
• Digital transformation
• Solution design and implementation
• IT strategy development
• vCTO | vCISO
• Executive Consultant

Highly experienced SME in the following technology fields:

Information Security & Cyber Security
• Develop & enhance Cybersecurity management frameworks.
• Develop, implement & monitor strategic, comprehensive enterprise information security & IT risk management programs.
• Develop and maintain cybersecurity programs, strategies, policies, standards, baselines, guidelines, and procedures.

Network/IT/System Security
• Firewall, UTM, NGFW & NG-IPS: PaloAlto, Fortigate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, Cisco (ASA FirePower), Barracuda, pfSense, Checkpoint, SonicWall, WatchGuard
• Email Security: Cisco, Barracuda, Mimecast, Microsoft
• Web Security: Cisco, Barracuda, Fortinet, McAfee, Zscaler
• Proxy and Reverse Proxy: Squid, Nginx, Dante
• IPSec VPN & SDWAN: Cisco DMVPN, HPE ADVPN, Fortigate ADVPN
• SSL VPN: Fortigate, Cisco, PaloAlto, Barracuda, SonicWall, OpenVPN, pfSense, Swan, OpenConnect
• Network Access Control (802.1X, Radius, Tacacs+…), BYOD and MDM : Aruba ClearPass, Cisco ISE, PacketFence, NPS, Genians, Intune...
• SASE, SSE and ZTNA Expert with Prisma Access, Cloudflare and all leading multi-vendor solutions
• IAM SSO SAML2 Oauth: OKTA, Keycloack, Auth0
• DLP & CASB Bitglass, Forcepoint
• EDR McAfee, Sophos, SentinelOne...
• SIEM and SOC solutions - Wazuh, Fortinet, Splunk...

IT Cloud/Systems/Virtualization/Backup/DR
• Hybrid Cloud, Multi Cloud Architecture
• Cloud Infrastructure Security, Networking, Storage, VPC (AWS, Azure, OVH, OpenStack...)
• Virtualization planning, implementation, tuning (VMware, Proxmox, KVM, Hyper-V)
• Hyperconverged HCI solutions ESXi & vSAN, Proxmox & CEPH
• Linux Systems deployment, administration and development (Debian Ubuntu OpenSuSE CentOS RedHat) including performance optimization, hardening, scripting, HA, backup & restore
• Windows Server architecture & administration (Hyper-V, AD, GPO, DNS, DHCP, PKI, File Server)
• SAN (FC/FCoE), ISCSi, NAS(File)
• VDI and Virtual App (Microsoft, VMware, Citrix)
• Load Balancer/Application Delivery: HAproxy, Nginx, Barracuda, F5
• ElasticSearch & OpenSearch design & implementation
• Critical HA Database clusters: PostgreSQL & MySQL
• HA, Backup & Disaster Recovery planning & deployment (Veeam, VMware, Proxmox, Linux, AWS, Azure, Windows...etc)

Network technologies
• Switches: Cisco, HPE, Comware, Aruba OS, Arista, Alcatel, Juniper, Dell
• Routers: Cisco, HPE, Comware, Alcatel, Juniper, Mikrotik
• WiFi Mobility: Aruba OS & Central, Cisco, Meraki, Ubiquity, Mikrotik
• MPLS L2/L3 VPN, MP-BGP, VPLS, SDWAN
• BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP routing protocols
• FRR, VyOS, Bird
• VLAN, QinQ, VXLAN, EVPN L2 scalable overlay networks
• ACL, PBR, NAT, QoS, NAS; large-scale DHCP/DNS
• IGMP L2 and PIM L3 multicast
• Secure WiFi planning: controller managed & cloud-managed
• NMS, EMS, FCPAS and OSS/BSS systems - LibreNMS, Zabbix, Nagios, Cacti

Some of the most notable certifications I hold are:
• CISSP - ISC2
• HPE Master Accredited Solution Expert - Network Solutions
• HPE Accredited Solutions Expert - Network Architect
• SUSE Cert. Linux Admin.: SLES

In addition to technical skills, I deliver proven business operations experience for:
• Project Management
• Team building and management
• RFP preparation Proposal preparation (technical/commercial)
• Pre-sales & Sales Management
• Business development, planning, and acquiring the correct technology
• Project Management
• Team building and management
• RFP preparation Proposal preparation (technical/commercial)
• Pre-sales & Sales Management
• Business partnership enablement and management with leading companies such as HPE, Aruba, Fortinet, Cisco, IBM, Dell, Microsoft… and many more

I am an avid learner, enabling me to swiftly adapt to new business environments and new project needs. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills combined with my long experience in team-leading & management enable me to collaborate strongly and work in global project teams with multiple members (in both leading and supporting roles).

What to expect

Schedule the consultation
Choose from the freelancer’s available days and times.
Get advice for your custom needs
Share details about your project and what you want to talk about. The freelancer will review and reach out if they have questions.
Join the Zoom meeting
1-on-1 meeting with the freelancer to discuss your needs and project.
Approve the work
The freelancer will finish up the documents you asked for and send them to you for approval:
    Before the consultation

    Here’s what Ernest will need to know before you meet

    1. Tell me about yourself and what you want to talk about, and you can share any info that may be needed to prepare for our consultation session.
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    KL
    Kyle L.
    5.0
    Jan 8, 2026
    Great consultation on network architecture. Ernest was very helpful
    DL
    Dominic L.
    5.0
    Mar 27, 2025
    Ernest was extremely knowledgeable, professional, and friendly. We were able to cover a lot of ground with ease, and I felt confident in our ability to tackle issues as they arise in the future. 10/10
    JS
    Jesse S.
    5.0
    Jan 31, 2024
    Allot of great insight. Appreciate your help!