Chezarae Pienaar

Senior Technical Support Engineer with 4+ years of experience in managed services and enterprise IT environments, currently working as a Level 2 Support Engineer supporting SME and enterprise clients. Strong expertise in Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID, Active Directory, networking, endpoint management, and Microsoft Defender. Proven ability to take ownership of escalated incidents, deliver high first-time fix rates, maintain SLA performance, and provide clear customer communication.

Hands-on experience with SCIM provisioning, Azure App Services, Defender for Cloud, and Vulnerability Management, combined with a strong track record of mentoring junior analysts and improving service desk operations.

Support Engineer / 2nd Line - Advania SA – Pod Ruby

(2025-11)

• Provide Level 2 technical support across multiple SME client environments, acting as an escalation point for complex incidents involving Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID, Active Directory, Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Defender.
• Troubleshoot SCIM provisioning, SSO, Conditional Access, email flow, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and network connectivity issues to restore services quickly and maintain high first-time fix rates.
• Administer Azure App Services, virtual machines, and identity integrations to support client cloud environments.
• Investigate and resolve Defender for Endpoint and Defender for Cloud alerts, vulnerability findings, and security-related incidents.
• Deploy software and configure devices using Microsoft Intune.
• Maintain accurate ticket updates, customer-specific documentation, and proactive communication while ensuring SLA compliance.
• Mentor first-line analysts by providing advanced troubleshooting guidance and escalation support.

Support Engineer / 2nd Line - Advania SA – BMS Dedicated

(2025-03 - 2025-10)

• Delivered second-line support for Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Teams Admin Center, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, and Azure AD.
• Diagnosed and resolved issues involving Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, Office applications, and network connectivity.
• Supported onboarding and offboarding, mailbox and license administration, and security group management.
• Maintained infrastructure documentation and collaborated with technical teams to meet SLA commitments.
• Contributed to process improvements and team knowledge sharing initiatives.

Service Desk Engineer (L1 Support) - Uptime - Remote

(2024-10 - 2025-02)

• Provided first-line support via phone, email, and remote tools.
• Logged, prioritized, and resolved incidents in ServiceNow, including hardware, software, and connectivity issues.
• Assisted with Microsoft 365 administration, password resets, and user onboarding.
• Updated knowledge base articles and operational documentation.

Clerk - City of Cape Town

(2023-10 - 2024-09)

• Managed documentation, records, and service requests with a strong focus on accuracy and customer service.
• Coordinated inquiries and routed requests efficiently to support operational workflows.

Support Engineer / 2nd Line - Computacenter

(2022-06 - 2023-09)

• Supported enterprise users with Exchange, Windows Server, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
• Administered Active Directory, including user provisioning, group management, OU administration, and Group Policy troubleshooting.
• Managed software deployments and patching using SCCM and Microsoft Intune.
• Assisted in major incident response to reduce business disruption.
• Monitored virtual infrastructure using VMware and Hyper-V.

Incident Manager - Computacenter

(2021-06 - 2022-05)

• Coordinated technical teams and stakeholders during high-priority incidents.
• Managed escalations, impact assessments, and communications to ensure SLA compliance.
• Authored post-incident reviews and implemented improvements that reduced repeat incidents by 25%.

Junior & Senior IT Service Desk Agent - Computacenter

(2020-05 - 2021-05)

• Resolved 1,000+ technical support tickets using ServiceNow.
• Improved ticket response times by 20% through effective triage and technician coordination.
• Reduced average resolution times by 37% by refining prioritization and escalation processes.
• Created knowledge base articles to improve first-call resolution.

Diploma - Human Resource Management (In Progress) - University of South Africa (UNISA)

Junior Web Developer Certification - College of Cape Town

National Senior Certificate (Grade 12) - Grassdale High School