Firewall Experts in Munich

• Development of a comprehensive transformation model for IT departments and ITSM organizations, from operational stabilization through structuring and optimization to strategic advancement
• Design of a transformation matrix that connects development phases with the implementation activities Position, Focus, Model, Enable, Anchor and Develop
• Development of assessment, maturity and decision-making logic to determine the operational starting point, the appropriate entry point and the prioritized areas of action
• Structuring of an end-to-end approach from current-state assessment and target vision through operating model, roadmap and service modules to implementation and integration into steady-state operations
• Derivation of combinable consulting and implementation modules, including methods, deliverables, role models, governance structures and transformation paths
• Collection, structuring and prioritization of business requirements from the perspectives of IT management, service management and operational roles
• Translation of requirements into target visions, process and role models, decision criteria and traceable deliverables

Environment / Tools: ITIL 4, IT4IT, Operating Model Canvas, SIAM, maturity models Kanban

• Modernization of a large-scale Java enterprise application*

The project is modernizing a complex enterprise application that has grown over many years. The existing Spring-based legacy system runs on Java 8, OSGi, and Eclipse RCP and is being gradually migrated to a modern, maintainable architecture with Java 25 and Quarkus.

Marcus works on analysis, architecture, refactoring, and implementation. One focus is on untangling historically grown structures and dependencies and on building a clean, sustainable Java and Quarkus technology stack.

Tools & technologies: Java 8, Java 25, Quarkus, Hibernate ORM with Panache, EclipseLink, OSGi, Eclipse RCP, Maven, JUnit, Mockito, REST, JSON, Git, Eclipse IDE, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, Jira, Confluence

Unified ITSM framework

• Definition of a company-wide ITSM target picture
• Introduction of a uniform service structure across all business units

SLA and OLA management

• Building a standardized SLA framework
• Definition of service classes (Business Critical, Standard, Low Priority)
• Introduction of OLAs between internal teams
• Building meaningful SLA reporting
• Definition of KPI and service dashboards for business units

Service portfolio management

• Definition of service descriptions
• If needed, preparing possible cost and service billing

Ticketing & processes

• Incident management
• Uniform ticket categories
• Standardized prioritization
• Escalation matrix
• Automations
• Self-service optimization

Request fulfillment

• Service catalog across all business units
• Approval workflows

Problem management

• Introduction of root cause analysis
• Known error database
• Problem review process

Complete asset management concept

• Hardware lifecycle management
• Software lifecycle management
• Leasing lifecycle
• Mobile device lifecycle
• Monitor lifecycle
• Phone lifecycle

Processes

• Procurement
• Goods receipt
• Inventory
• Assignment
• Return
• Disposal
• Leasing return Goal: single source of truth for all assets

CMDB design

• Definition of all configuration items:
• Workplace
• Notebooks
• Monitors
• Mobile phones
• Printers

Infrastructure

• Servers
• Firewalls
• Switches
• WLAN
• Storage
• Backup systems

Cloud

• Azure resources
• Microsoft 365
• SaaS services

Relationships

• User ↔ Asset
• Asset ↔ Service
• Service ↔ Infrastructure
• Location ↔ Asset
• Goal: make all service dependencies visible

Software asset & license management

• License management concept
• License balancing
• Compliance reporting
• Microsoft license management
• Adobe license management
• SaaS management
• Contract management
• Renewal management

Interfaces & automation Existing systems

• Workday
• Joiner
• Mover
• Leaver

TESMA

• Leasing data
• Contract data

Matrix42

• Asset synchronization
• User synchronization

Active Directory / Entra ID

• User management

Microsoft 365

• License assignment
• Group management

Dormakaba

• Access processes

• Lifecycle services

Monitoring platforms

• PRTG
• Palo Alto
• Cisco

Reporting & KPI framework

• Definition of a management dashboard
• KPIs
• Ticket volume
• SLA fulfillment
• MTTR
• First resolution rate
• Asset accuracy
• License compliance
• Change success rate
• Service availability
• Degree of automation

Network redesign support

• Governance
• Support of the network redesign from an ITSM point of view
• Definition of affected services
• Change management structure
• Communication concept

CMDB integration

• Recording of all network components
• Service mapping
• Dependency analysis

Validation of documentation and knowledge base articles

• Network documentation
• Operations documentation
• Standard changes

Monitoring & event management

• Target picture
• Central monitoring concept
• Event management process
• Alerting strategy
• Escalation model

Systems

• Cisco

• Palo Alto

• Fortinet

• Rubrik

• Veeam

• Matrix42

• Azure

• Microsoft 365 Automation

• Ticket creation from monitoring

• Escalations

• Standard actions

Audit, compliance & information security

• ISO 27001 consulting
• TISAX consulting
• NIS2 preparation - consulting
• Audit-ready processes
• Documentation structure
• Evidence tracking in Matrix42

Roadmap

• 12-month roadmap
• Prioritization of all measures
• Quick wins
• Medium-term projects
• Long-term target picture
• Documentation

• Overall responsibility for the project lifecycle from scope definition to completion
• Close collaboration with platform teams, IT leaders, and external service providers
• Application of SAFe principles and structured sprint work
• Creation of a migration roadmap with clear milestones
• Monitoring of the lifecycle: onboarding, repository migration, replication of permissions, and system tests
• Visualization of the architecture with PlantUML and Gliffy as well as documentation in Confluence
• Regular status reports and running knowledge transfer sessions

In my role as Senior Cloud DevOps Architect for BP, an oil and gas company, I had the mission to migrate the Electric Vehicle Charging platform of the EV Division from on-premises and Azure to AWS cloud, resulting in a hybrid multi-cloud, multi-tenant SaaS solution.

Deployment with Kubernetes for the application layer meant provisioning Kubernetes clusters managed by EKS and AKS, with a focus on integrating them into a multi-tenant environment. This integration was achieved by using Kubernetes namespaces and access controls to ensure data isolation and privacy enforcement.

In the database layer, we chose an RDS instance with PostgreSQL to support the backend infrastructure of our applications. Tenants shared the same RDS instance, but each had a dedicated schema.

To ingest near real-time data from physical charge points (CPOs), as IoT devices, via the OCPI protocol, we ran into significant delays with batch processing. As a result, we built a real-time streaming data pipeline using Apache Kafka, while prioritizing an event-driven architecture.

Led collaboration across multiple internal teams, external vendors, cloud providers, and on-site partners to integrate over five systems into a unified solution.

Achievements:

• Successfully designed and implemented hybrid multi-cloud solutions, integrating multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure) with on-premises infrastructure, using Site-to-Site VPNs, Firewalls, and Load Balancing.
• Led the migration of on-premises infrastructure to multi-cloud, multi-tenant infrastructure, resulting in 30% faster processing times.
• Migrated workloads from VMware and Hyper-V environments to cloud-based VMs, leveraging cloud-native services to optimize performance, cost efficiency, and scalability.
• Designed a multi-tenant Kubernetes platform leveraging the Kubernetes ecosystem, using Karpenter for dynamic EC2 node provisioning, KEDA for event-driven pod autoscaling (e.g., Kafka message lag), and Rancher for centralized monitoring of multiple clusters (EKS, AKS, or on-prem K8s), replacing Microsoft-centric Azure Arc management service.
• Designed and implemented Python-based FastAPI microservices as part of the EV core-backend on AWS EKS application layer, powering data ingestion and customer analytics pipelines.
• Developed asynchronous, event-driven APIs (Python-FastAPI) for real-time integration with CPOs, supporting OCPI 2.3 and OICP protocols.
• Designed and implemented a secure, production-grade Azure Databricks platform using Terraform, ensuring scalability and cost efficiency.
• Migrated on-premises ERP to a hybrid Dynamics 365 architecture with ERP hosted locally and CRM running in Azure, integrated via Azure Arc.
• Automated CI/CD pipelines for Databricks notebooks and jobs using GitHub Actions & Databricks CLI, reducing deployment time. Reduced infrastructure provisioning time by 70% by automating cloud resource deployment with GitOps.
• Ensured compliance with internal audit and data governance standards (GDPR) through OAuth2/OIDC-based authentication and fine-grained role-based access controls.
• Developed a Zero Trust security model, enforcing least-privilege access and microsegmentation, enhancing security posture and compliance with GDPR and NIST.
• Built interactive analytics dashboards in Amazon QuickSight, integrating data from S3 and Redshift to deliver real-time business insights and visualizations with embedded access for multi-tenant users.
• Led cloud security assessments and full-lifecycle cybersecurity integration during M&A, covering AWS, Azure, IAM (Entra ID), and data protection, while aligning security posture with NIST, ISO 27001, and GDPR across hybrid and cloud-native environments.
• Reduced cloud costs by 64% for a client's dev environment by implementing automated start/stop schedules for EC2 and RDS instances via AWS CDK with EventBridge Scheduler or AWS Systems Manager.

Tech stack:

• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, AWS CDK, Ansible.
• Containers: Kubernetes on EKS, AKS, Docker.
• Streaming Data Processing: Kafka to Confluent Cloud, after AWS MSK.
• Frontend: TypeScript, React, NextJS, Hooks, Styled Components.
• Backend: Python with FastAPI, also Node.js with NestJS.
• Database: Aurora on PostgreSQL with TypeORM, RDS on SQL Server, Azure Databricks full setup and administration, ETL Pipelines.
• CI/CD and GitOps: GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, ArgoCD.
• Monitoring and Observability: Prometheus and Grafana.
• Virtualization: Hyper-V, VMware Cloud on AWS, Azure Migrate.
• ERP Systems: Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central on Azure, integrated with Azure Arc.
• Networking: Site-to-Site VPNs, AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, Firewalls (AWS Network Firewall, Azure Firewall).
• Security: IAM, NIST Framework, Zero Trust Security, AWS WAF, AWS Shield, GuardDuty.

• As-is assessment of the current network infrastructure and its documentation, including on-site inspections
• Independent planning of new distribution and main distribution rooms in the individual district offices (components used, rack layout, connectivity), considering the BSI IT-Grundschutz and InfoSic requirements
• Planning of new copper and fiber optic cabling, including patch panels
• Coordination with building services engineering (TGA) to ensure compliance with relevant on-site requirements
• Development of detailed execution plans and high-level concepts for the rollout of the new infrastructure
• Additional support after the components go live (hypercare phase)
• Regular communication with project management and client stakeholders

• Set up Azure Kubernetes clusters (AKS) with network policies, security groups, and RBAC
• Developed Terraform-based infrastructure as code for secure, reproducible deployments in the BMW Azure cloud
• Hardened CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, SonarQube, Fortify SSC, and Contrast AST
• Integrated SAP BTP/Kyma and ServiceNow GRC

• Idea, design and initial implementation of a service that aggregates publicly available data to estimate prices for certain types of objects
• Collection of data from different data sources and its normalization. Embedding the data using SentenceTransformer and training gradient boost models
• Implementation of a web service that
• reads arbitrary user text
• extends it if some parts of data are missing
• uses a local LLM model to prepare the data for prediction
• embed the data and call for prediction from the gradient boost model
• uses a LLM model to generate a report for the user request including explanations
• Stack: BigQuery, Vertex AI, Cloud Run (GCP), Python, Terraform, DBT, SentenceTransformer, Qwen
• Minor SEO optimizations
• More to come...

• Lead Architecture in an interdisciplinary architecture team covering enterprise, solution, NOOTS, cloud and security architecture as well as regulatory and European interoperability requirements.

• Public / Government

• Development and management of target architectures, principles, standards and technical guardrails; assessment of Security-by-Design, IAM, data protection and interface/integration architectures; architecture reviews, security assessments, risk analyses, and preparation of decision records, target visions, roadmaps and decision papers. Architectural knowledge and consideration of relevant AD-NOOTS requirements, particularly for IAM, authorization, secure integration and interoperability.

• Technologies / Methods: Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, Security Architecture, Cloud Architecture, NOOTS / EU-OOTS, IAM, Authorization, Security-by-Design, API/Integration Architecture, Interoperability, Risk Analysis, Architecture Governance

• Security and integration requirements as well as technical decisions are structured in reliable architecture and decision artifacts.

• Plan & Prepare (Site Design & Readiness): Inventory & Design: Dell PowerEdge R-Series, Aruba Switches (L2/L3), Notebooks/Peripherals; Serial Numbers/Asset Tags, IPv4/IPv6 Addressing, VLAN/DHCP/DNS Plan

• Runbooks/MOPs: Site Rollout Runbook, Backout Strategy (<15–30 min), Risk Register, Communication Matrix; Approvals via CAB/Change

• Images/Packages: Golden Image (Win10/11), Driver Packs, BIOS/UEFI Baseline; O365/Teams/OneDrive-KFM; BitLocker Policies; MECM/SCCM, Intune/Autopilot, MDT/WinPE

• Logistics: Shipping/Customs Clearance, RMA/DOA, On-Site Spares; Tools (Barcode Scanners, Label Printers), "Go-Bag" (Cables, SFPs, Console Cables)

• Deliver (On-Site Implementation): Endpoints: Swap & Migration (USMT/OneDrive KFM), Peripherals (ATB/BT Printers, Scanners, Boarding Gate HW); Domain Join, Compliance Checks, O365 Activation, Printers/Queues, Network Drives

• Acceptance: Functional Tests for DCS/CUTE/CUPPS/CUSS Stations, Ticketing/Check-in Workflows, Boarding Gates

• Servers (R-Series): Rack & Stack, Cabling (PDU Redundancy, Fiber/Copper), Labeling/Nomenclature; Firmware/RAID (PERC), Lifecycle Controller, iDRAC Network; Windows Server 2022/2025 + CIS/BSI Hardening; Agents (Backup/AV/EDR/Monitoring), Time Service/NTP Auth, Syslog/SNMPv3

• Network (Aruba): VLANs, LACP Trunks, MSTP Root; Portfast + BPDU-Guard at Edge; QoS (EF/AF); Dual-Stack (v4/v6), DHCP Relay. NAC/802.1X with ClearPass/Radius/TACACS+, Roles + MAB Fallback; Guest Isolation, ACLs (Guest→Mgmt deny). Telemetry: sFlow, SNMPv3, Syslog→SIEM; LLDP→Inventory/CMDB

• Airport-Specific: CUTE/CUPPS/CUSS Terminals; DCS/Amadeus/SITA Connectivity; FIDS (read-only); Bag Tag/Boarding Pass Printing; Changes During Off-Peak/Night Windows

• Stabilize (Hypercare): First-Day Support, KPI Tracking (Login Times, Ticket Volume, Error Classes), QoS Fine-Tuning

• Troubleshooting: Wireshark/iperf, Event Logs, Switch Counters, sFlow Flows; Fast Incident Handling as SPOC

• Knowledge Transfer: Short Training Sessions for Station Teams, Mini-Runbooks (Incident/Recovery)

• Close (Documentation & Handover): Documentation & CMDB: Final Configs (Switch/Server), Topology/Patch Plans, IP Tables, Serial Number/Asset Lists, Before/After Photos

• Acceptance & Sign-off: UAT Protocols, Functional Evidence (Use Cases), Return/Reuse of Old Hardware

• Lessons Learned: Risks, Standard Packages, Driver Freeze, "Known Issues"

• Interfaces/Communication: Station IT, Airport IT, SOC/NOC, Ground Ops/Ramp/Check-in, Providers (SITA/Amadeus). ITSM: ServiceNow (Inc/Req/Change/KB), Handover to BAU

• Integrated LangChain middleware between AEM and SAP PIM system
• Developed a FastAPI interface for system communication
• Implemented vector embeddings for semantic product search
• Evaluated LLM models (Vertex AI/Gemini, LM Studio, Hugging Face, OpenAI) for product analysis
• Developed an AEM component to display product recommendations and integrated the recommendation API into the AEM authoring process
• Designed and implemented Pinecone vector database for product embeddings
• Optimized response times and caching strategies
• Evaluated Vertex AI Studio for LLM testing and prompt workflows
• Implemented secure API routing and access control for AI components via FastAPI and gateway validation

• Understanding of bank’s fundamentals throughout analysis and writing specifications

• Deep analysis of security measurements to be transferred into new environment

• Process design and optimization

• Collecting requirements from different areas and processing them into agreement documentation, concepts and process description for internal and external partners

• Analysis of data delivery sources and transformation of relevant functions into new environment

• Analysis and prioritisation of value and benefits resulting from introducing smart data tools

• Mapping and migrating data within Power BI upgrade

• Change management support and evaluation

• Marketing automation and technology enablement

• Executing test and release support

• Creating training documentation for the client’s employees to understand value and benefits by using new technologies when acquiring new or creating benefits to their existing customers

• Creating a complete database of existing firewalls supporting the security of the client’s infrastructure

• Migration and re-architecture of reporting systems from multiple data sources into the cloud environment

• Network automation
• CI/CD and Docker environment
• Python Nornir for network automation
• pyATS for monitoring and test case automation
• Network Access Control (Radius) and Device Admin Access Control (TACACS) with AAA and Cisco ISE with Cisco/HP/Aruba Devices
• Cisco ISE Clusters (2/4/8 nodes) configuration
• Cisco ISE Authentication and Authorization configuration
• Cisco/HP/Aruba Switch/WLC Tacacs/dot1x/Radius configuration
• Cisco ISE automation with Restconf and Python

• Maintained a SaaS billing platform on AWS as part of the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team.
• Played a key role in an AWS cloud migration project, implementing Terraform (IaC), creating CI/CD processes and pipelines, hardening images, upgrading tool versions, and developing scripts.
• Wrote documentation.

AWS Cloud migration:

• Design and implement CI/CD for deploying AWS resources using GitLab CI, Terraform, and GitOps.
• Create and configure DevOps toolchain including Jenkins, Harbor, and Vault.
• Deploy billing application, microservices, and supporting infrastructure services to Nomad clusters.
• Re-designed TLS/mTLS certificate management using Vault and Lambda.

Security (Infrastructure Hardening & Patch Management & Vulnerability Scanning):

• Managed multiple AWS accounts for Consul/Nomad/Traefik clusters (10–20 EC2 instances/account, ASG) and DevOps toolchain accounts (Harbor, Jenkins, Vault).
• Created hardened AMIs via Packer based on CIS benchmarks for Nomad, Jenkins, Harbor, and Vault; deployed using Terraform.
• Integrated Trivy via Harbor plugin for container image scanning.
• Implemented strict AWS VPC security group rules.
• Developed and maintained patching process across environments using Qualys and Wiz.
• Deployed Qualys Cloud Agent to all EC2 instances, tracked CVEs and tested patches in lower environments before rollout.
• Automated patch deployment across all AWS accounts using Terraform and GitLab CI and verified patch compliance via Qualys/Wiz dashboards.