With over 25 years of experience in both networking and computing, I help you design your cloud architecture, and help you on your infrastructure and applications deployment journey. I can also provide tailored trainings for your teams, on various automation and cloud technologies.
My fields of expertise include :
- Cloud architecture (AWS – certified Solution Architect Associate / Azure)
- Terraform (Certified Terraform Associate)
- Kubernetes (Kubernetes Certified Administrator)
- Ansible (RedHat Certified Engineer)
- GitOps / DevOps
- Large scale networking (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
- Dante broadcasting networks (Advanced Dante Networking certified)
My story, for those interested …
After graduating magna cum laude in what is known today as a “Master in Computer Science”, I started my career as a researcher, in a joint service between ULB and VUB, Brussels universities : the “Service Télématique & Communication”. The year was 1996, the same year we discovered the Macarena and Spice Girls’ Wannabe. The RJ45 connector already existed, but the research service was still using those old 10Base2 BNC ones ! I was involved in research around the lower layers of the ISO model. I was also following some IETF and IRTF working groups, and I even co-authored an Internet Draft.
I was involved in research involving the lower layers of the ISO model, as well as following IETF and IRTF working groups. I even co-authored an Internet Draft, Multicast Synchronisation Protocol
Early 1999, I moved to a tiny consulting company, Digicable. I worked on the design of an Inmarsat-based IP network, to bring Internet to boats right to the middle of the oceans ! This involved working with the European Space Agency in Noordwijk, NL. I remember having to work for a few days in a tiny server room, next to the biggest satellite dishes I’d ever seen. It was epic, and my first exposure to the consulting world.
About a year later, a friend asked me to join the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). I went for the interview … and it was extremely challenging ! A whole day of being on the grill, getting questions from the TAC top engineers. When I thought I was done, another one would drop by and start grilling me again, on a totally different topic. I came back home exhausted, but with a work offer in my pocket. So from June 2000 to February 2013, I worked as a TAC engineer, providing support for ISPs Network Management solutions : LAN and WAN management solutions, IPAM, SNMP, …
Still at Cisco, I joined corporate IT in 2013, and worked 6 years in various roles. I originally started as a design engineer for internal Network Management needs, but pretty quickly moved to a more global network engineering role. One of the major project was the complete design of a new Tier1 node for the corporate backbone, at a carrier neutral facility. It involved nearly everything but the kitchen sink : design of the cage, electrical power requirement, rack’n’stack plans, …
Cloud was still in its infancy when we started to work on automated solutions for deployment and maintenance of our sites. My team and I extended an existing product, to allow the creation of complex parametric blueprints. It wasn’t yet Infrastructure as Code, but we sure were getting closer every day.
In 2019, I started A2NS Consult, and decided to put my years of experience at the service of new customers. I helped customers from public institutions, mid-size companies up to multinational ones, on missions ranging from pure networking – BGP optimization – to designing cloud landing zone automated deployments.
Ah … if you’re wondering what A2NS means, it’s for “All About Network and Sound”. Our company is involved in deploying IT infrastructure, Dante-based music broadcasting networks, but also music services in general – from recording, arranging and mixing, to setting up and running a complete live show.
And yes, on stage, we also started using RJ45 plugs !