Willem Grobler

Senior infrastructure and systems professional with more than 20 years of IT experience across enterprise, managed services, government and business-critical environments. Strong hands-on background in Windows Server, VMware, Hyper-V, Microsoft 365/Azure, Active Directory, networking, infrastructure security, monitoring, backup/disaster recovery, high availability and complex technical troubleshooting. Experienced as a senior escalation point and technical lead, with a record of maintaining reliable production services, recovering critical systems and mentoring technical personnel.

MCSE, MCSA, VMware VCP and ITIL Foundation certified.

IT Manager / Senior IT Administrator at Paramount Aerospace Industries (2023-06 – Present)

• Own day-to-day operation and senior technical escalation for Windows, Microsoft cloud, virtualisation, network and backup infrastructure.
• Administer approximately 12 Windows Servers and 10 Hyper-V virtual machines, including Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS and DHCP.
• Administer approximately 120 Microsoft 365 users across Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Entra ID, Intune and Defender.
• Manage infrastructure performance, availability, changes and complex troubleshooting across business-critical systems.
• Manage Veeam backup/recovery, validate restores and support disaster recovery and business continuity requirements.
• Manage FortiGate/Sophos firewall environments, VPN connectivity and network troubleshooting.
• Coordinate vendors and infrastructure changes and mentor technical personnel while remaining hands-on.
• Support business-critical platforms including SYSPRO, Teamcenter, CATIA and Jarrison.

IT Engineer - Managed Services / Infrastructure at CHM Vuwani First Technology (2019-09 – 2023-05)

• Provided infrastructure engineering across MSP customer environments ranging from approximately 20 to 600 users.
• Administered approximately 21 Windows Servers and supported Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS/DHCP, VMware and HyperV.
• Supported Microsoft 365, Azure/hybrid infrastructure, networking, firewalls, VPNs and enterprise backup environments.
• Handled senior escalations and root-cause troubleshooting across server, virtualisation, network and cloud services.
• Delivered infrastructure deployments, upgrades and migrations and worked directly with customers and vendors.
• Contributed to Microsoft 365 and Azure migration activities for approximately 450 users across 39 sites.

IT Technical Lead at IT Masters (2015-06 – 2019-08)

• Led technical support and infrastructure activities and served as a senior escalation point.
• Supported Windows Server, Active Directory, VMware/Hyper-V and networking environments.
• Mentored technical staff and delivered infrastructure upgrades, troubleshooting and customer projects.

Helpdesk Manager & Technical Lead at Enabling Solutions (2014-05 – 2015-06)

• Managed technical support operations, escalations and SLA delivery while remaining involved in infrastructure troubleshooting.
• Led technical personnel and supported Windows and networking environments.

Various Infrastructure and Enterprise IT Roles at Meropa Casino / Sun International, Sun City, FIFA World Cup 2010, South African National Defence Force

Additional enterprise IT and infrastructure experience includes roles/projects with Meropa Casino / Sun International, Sun City, FIFA World Cup 2010 and the South African National Defence Force.

– Technical High School Tom Naude

Additional professional IT training in Information Technology – CTU and industry certification programmes