Abhijit Wakde

Results-driven IT leader with 22+ years directing enterprise infrastructure, data centre operations, and cyber security across mission-critical, regulated, and high-availability environments — including a premier financial exchange (NSE), global port operations (DP World), and multi-site enterprise organisations. Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes: 45% OPEX reduction across 27 sites, zero-downtime DC migrations, SOC deployments for critical national infrastructure, and enterprise security stack transformations. Equally adept managing multi-crore CAPEX/OPEX budgets, leading high-performance cross-functional teams, and engaging C-suite stakeholders to align technology strategy with business objectives.

Brings a rare combination of hands-on technical depth and strategic leadership — driving digital transformation, operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and large-scale infrastructure delivery across complex, distributed environments.

Assistant Manager – IT Infrastructure & Tech Lead - BBL - Mumbai, India

(2023-11)

Reporting directly to VP Leadership; scope & accountability equivalent to Head of IT managing end-to-end enterprise IT strategy across all PAN Indian & limited Global IT operations.

• Architected and executed enterprise IT strategy and multi-year technology roadmap, aligning infrastructure investments with business growth targets and risk management frameworks across all PAN India locations.
• Sustained 99.9%+ Data Centre uptime across PAN India — enforcing physical and logical security controls critical in high-availability, compliance-driven environments.
• Delivered large-scale multi-site infrastructure transformation, eliminating operational silos between Corporate HQ and 10+ regional sites — materially improving service continuity and business resilience.
• Built and mentored cross-functional IT teams of 10+ engineers — establishing KPIs, conducting structured performance reviews, and cultivating a high-accountability, compliance-aware engineering culture.
• Served as primary IT interface with C-suite executives — translating complex technical decisions into board-ready reporting, risk assessments, and business-aligned recommendations.
• Owned multi-vendor ecosystem governance: SLA management, strategic contract negotiations, and TCO optimisation across all IT functions and service providers.
• Designed and validated DR and BCP programmes — achieving defined RTO/RPO objectives through structured drills aligned to enterprise resilience standards.

Data Centre Operations Manager - NSE — National Stock Exchange of India - Mumbai, India

(2023-07 - 2023-11)

• Directed end-to-end operations of mission-critical Data Centre assets, ensuring zero-downtime availability across all trading-hours systems — directly supporting financial market stability and regulatory SLA compliance.
• Owned Change Advisory Board (CAB) / Change Request process — enforcing rigorous change management protocols that protected system integrity during live market operations.
• Managed DC asset lifecycle (rack & stack, hardware refresh, capacity planning) aligned to exchange growth demands and infrastructure compliance requirements.
• Delivered DC migration projects with meticulous cutover planning, achieving zero disruption to exchange operations.
• Led quarterly Exchange DR drills — validating failover procedures, RTO/RPO targets, and staff readiness across critical trading and settlement systems.

Senior Executive — IT Infrastructure & DC Operations - DP World India - Mumbai, India

(2009-10 - 2023-07)

13+ years | De facto IT Infrastructure Head — end-to-end IT strategy, architecture, and operations across 27 PAN India port locations.

• Delivered 45% OPEX reduction leading enterprise WAN transformation from MPLS to IPSec tunnels across 27 locations — managing vendor selection, Checkpoint firewall architecture, and zero-downtime cutover.
• Designed and deployed a new Data Centre with near-DR capability for a critical national infrastructure port — full-stack: hardware selection, structured cabling, UPS/power design, and failover validation.
• Pioneered OT/IT network separation across critical maritime infrastructure — a first in the Indian port industry — significantly reducing cyber attack surface and improving operational and regulatory resilience.
• Established and operationalised a 24×7 SOC with MSSP partnership — delivering SIEM integration, incident response playbooks, and continuous threat monitoring across all 27 Indian locations.
• Deployed enterprise security stack (Cisco ISE/NAC, DLP, Cisco Umbrella/CASB/SASE, PAM, Email Security Gateway) achieving 25% cost savings over legacy on-premise solutions.
• Produced board-ready executive dashboards covering uptime, budget adherence, project milestones, and risk posture for senior leadership and global DP World stakeholders.
• Directed ITIL-aligned IT Service Delivery and SLA governance across 27 locations, continuously improving operational efficiency, audit scores, and customer satisfaction metrics.
• Owned multi-crore CAPEX/OPEX budgets covering network, security, compute, storage, and DC environments — maintaining full financial accountability to global leadership.

Network Engineer - You Broadband - Mumbai, India

(2008-06 - 2009-10)

• Designed and deployed Wi-Fi infrastructure for large commercial and residential complexes; ensured optimal network performance and customer SLA compliance.

Engineer – NSG - Sify Technologies Limited - Mumbai, India

(2007-07 - 2008-02)

• Managed 18 BTS sites across Mumbai, maintaining uninterrupted network connectivity and coordinating with NOC teams to resolve operational incidents.

Network Engineer - Lifestyle Network Pvt. Ltd - Mumbai, India

(2006-01 - 2007-05)

• Led network planning, RF design, and Wi-Fi deployments across multiple commercial locations.

EPABX Technician - Teelectronics Pvt. Ltd

(2000-08 - 2002-07)

• Enterprise EPABX installation and maintenance.

B.Tech / B.E. - Electronics & Telecommunication - Pune University (2005)