Cory Vaught

Strategic and technically-driven Solutions Engineer with 7+ years of experience within the Cisco ecosystem. Expert in bridging the gap between complex business challenges and technical architectures for named accounts. Proven track record of driving multi-million dollar revenue growth by designing scalable solutions across Enterprise Networking, Security, Data Center, and Collaboration portfolios.

• Lead technical discovery sessions to identify customer "pain points" and translate business requirements into robust, end-to-end technical architectures.
• Design and validate complex Cisco Solutions using multiple tools to ensure interoperability and alignment with customer budget constraints.
• Architecting hybrid-cloud and software-defined solutions , specifically leveraging Cisco SD-WAN, Catalyst Center, Cisco Cloud Dashboard, and more.
• Partnered 1:1 with Account Manager to develop account strategies, identify "white space" opportunities, and deliver technical presentations to Company Staff & C-level executives.
• Manage technical response(s) for RFPs and RFIs , consistently meeting tight deadlines and maintaining accuracy.
• Act as a trusted advisor , translating technical discussions into actionable technical roadmaps for stakeholders.
• Leading technical discovery sessions to identify customer pain points and translate business requirements into robust, end-to-end technical architectures.

Served as the Lead Infrastructure Engineer for the multi-regional enterprise network, overseeing and maintaining the stability and evolution of enterprise environments across the Midwest and East Coast

• Orchestrated a multi-million dollar infrastructure overhaul across 7 enterprise locations, managing the full lifecycle from architectural design to the coordination of multi-vendor professional services.
• Led a high-stakes Data Center migration , executing a complete network split of compute/end-user resources and a total redesign of the HQ core infrastructure with zero unplanned downtime.
• Modernized global connectivity by redesigning the company-wide MPLS architecture and successfully launching three new branch offices, including full-stack voice and data deployments.
• Served as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the enterprise telephony ecosystem , architecting and supporting the full Cisco Collaboration suite (CUCM, Unity, UCCX, and Presence) for a distributed workforce.
• Spearheaded the transition to Cloud-Managed IT by designing and deploying Cisco Meraki stacks (MX/MS/MR) and Teleworker infrastructure to increase organizational agility.
• Hardened the enterprise security posture through the administration of Cisco Umbrella, IronPort, and Sourcefire, while implementing PRTG Network Monitoring in a high-availability clustered configuration.
• Maintained a robust hybrid environment involving Cisco UCS, VMware vCenter, and Active Directory, ensuring seamless integration between physical hardware and virtualized workloads.
• Standardized enterprise technical standards by maintaining comprehensive Visio documentation and technical playbooks, bridging the communication gap between IT leadership and non-technical stakeholders.

• Maintained and managed high-availability enterprise environment , overseeing the full lifecycle—from conceptual design to deployment—of multi-site network and security infrastructure.
  Modernized Data Center operations by deploying scalable Cisco Fabric (Nexus 7K/5K) and Catalyst architectures, ensuring seamless connectivity for mission-critical workloads.
  Engineered robust enterprise mobility solutions , designing and scaling Cisco Wireless LAN (WLC) and access point deployments to support high-density user environments.
• Core Infrastructure: Maintained large-scale Campus and Data Center networks utilizing Cisco Catalyst (65xx/37xx) and Nexus Fabric (7xxx/5xxx) switching.
  Security & Administration: Managed multi-layered security environments, integrating network infrastructure with proactive monitoring to ensure 24/7 uptime and threat mitigation.

• Engineered and implemented tailored LAN/WAN solutions for a diverse portfolio of enterprise clients, aligning network architecture with specific business objectives across multiple industry verticals.
• Acted as a high-level technical consultant , partnering directly with client stakeholders to proactively optimize network topologies and mitigate risks before they impacted business operations.
• Orchestrated complex hardware deployments across the portfolio, including Integrated Services Routers (ISR), Catalyst switching, and Aironet wireless ecosystems.
• Hardened client perimeters by designing and deploying robust firewall strategies using Cisco ASA and PIX technologies, ensuring secure data transit and access control.
• Optimized organizational productivity by implementing and managing Barracuda filtering solutions, providing comprehensive content security for corporate environments.
• Maintained a multi-vendor edge environment , integrating Adtran routing and HP switching into seamless, interoperable wide-area networks.
• Supported a high-density, multi-client Data Center in Indianapolis, managing the termination of high-capacity circuits and the integration of third-party vendor equipment.
• Maintained 24/7 facility functionality , providing tier-3 support for server infrastructure and mission-critical connectivity to ensure 100% availability for hosted clients.

• Managed IT operations, capital budgeting, and infrastructure strategy for a five-location medical practice, serving as a primary technical advisor to the CEO to align technology with clinical growth.
• Orchestrated the end-to-end technical rollout of two new surgical facilities , managing the full lifecycle from initial LAN/WAN design and vendor negotiations to final commissioning and Go-Live.
• Modernized the practice's connectivity by migrating legacy infrastructure to a high-performance Metro-Ethernet WAN, utilizing Cisco routing and switching (17xx/28xx/35xx) to support real-time clinical data exchange.
• Architected a HIPAA-compliant security framework , implementing multi-layered defense strategies (Cisco ASA, IPsec VPN) that ensured 100% data integrity and zero PHI (Protected Health Information) loss during tenure.
• Engineered secure remote access solutions for physicians and staff, balancing rigorous HIPAA security requirements with the need for high-speed, reliable access to EPM and eRx platforms.
• Optimized network performance by 60% through the strategic deployment of Barracuda security appliances, significantly reducing network overhead and mitigating external threats.
• Maintained Electronic Practice Management (EPM) and eRx systems , collaborating directly with physicians and clinical stakeholders to ensure technical workflows improved patient care delivery.
• Managed full-stack Microsoft environments , including Active Directory, DNS, and Exchange 2007, ensuring high availability for all mission-critical communication channels.

• Managed the administration and programming of an Avaya Definity G3 SI enterprise-class PBX , supporting a mission-critical, 24/7/365 national emergency HVAC call center.
• Architected complex Avaya call center workflows , including vector processing design, DNIS management, and multi-queue routing to optimize national call-handling efficiency.
• Engineered robust Disaster Recovery (DR) protocols for voice and data systems, ensuring seamless failover and business continuity for the National Account division and corporate headquarters.
• Partnered with Tier-1 retail IT departments (Kmart, CarMax, Dick's Sporting Goods) to design and maintain secure site-to-site connectivity for thousands of locations.
• Managed large-scale VPN aggregation using Cisco 3000-series concentrators, utilizing summarized routing and PATs to maintain secure IPsec tunnels across a massive distributed network.
• Facilitated Layer 3 routing integration between disparate corporate networks, serving as the primary technical point of contact for external vendor connectivity and data exchange.
• Oversaw the redesign and expansion of the on-site Data Center , managing a diverse environment of Windows, SQL, UNIX, and specialized application servers to support growth.
• Collaborated with lead developers to optimize the infrastructure for SureFIX, a proprietary HVAC service industry software, ensuring high availability and peak performance.
• Maintained 100% operational uptime in a high-pressure environment, with zero major outages realized during tenure

• Consultative Retail Solutions Provider: Delivered end-to-end network consulting and hardware solutions for a diverse portfolio of 3,500+ clients, ranging from small businesses to state and local government agencies.
• Project & Team Leadership: Managed multi-disciplinary teams to execute complex infrastructure projects, including the design and installation of large-scale structured wiring for the multiple municipalities.
• SMB Network Architect: Partnered with medical practices and government entities to design and deploy robust client-server topologies, ensuring high performance and data availability.