Nicholas Christodoulou

Led governance of Infrastructure Compliance and Security programs for IBM Cloud, overseeing Inventory Management, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR: CrowdStrike, Uptyes QS Query), File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), QRadar Logging NLR (Intrusion Detection - No Logs Received), and Nessus NSR metrics programs. Regularly engaged with senior management and C-level executives delivering weekly metrics compliance reports and executive-level deliverables for all programs.

• Managed governance for over 250,000 devices in IBM Cloud’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
• Directed compliance progression programs with key stakeholders and mitigation actions to Security Teams to ensure timely resolution actions were taken by service teams.
• Completed compliance timeframes, and identified compliance issues that are properly risk assessed with an action plan to close to include compliance commitments for roadmaps, compliance risks, and audit findings.
• Ensured adherence to cybersecurity control frameworks, technology risk management policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborated with security architects and technical teams (Prod/Dev) to define and implement security processes aligned with industry standard best practices and regulatory mandates.
• Established Operational Metrics Benchmark for IBM Cloud: Green (≥95%), Yellow (80%-94.99%), Red (≤79.99%).
• Operated governance activities under the Blue Team and Purple Team Cybersecurity Domains.
• Designed requirements for ServiceNow ticketing dashboard automation and integration of Confluence JIRA data; streamlined portfolio metrics reporting for VPCNG and NGDC from JIRA to Service Now.

Audit & Client Program Management

• Delivered Vulnerability Review to BNP Paribas and Bank of America Client. encompassing authorized IBM users, System Health Checking, Benchmark, Vulnerability, Intrusion detection logging, Nessus Vulnerability Scanning reports, SOS Cognos Network and Non-Network Reports, and Inventory asset data for Health Check Deviation reporting.
• Engaged Federal Inventory Management, CMDB inventory transition, FBA request sessions, ENS and HIGHTRUST Internal Readiness, and Data Center build meetings; provided feedback/recommendations for these projects to the stakeholders; generate, analyze, and deliver Auditor's data requests.
• Supported Compliance programs for internal/external audit engagement: FFIEC or FedRAMP/FISMA, Financial Compliance (Internal FS Cloud), HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, PCI, NIST, ISO, and ITAR. (BNPP and Caixa Bank).

Managed critical client situations in IBM Cloud environments while collaborating with development and service teams to drive resolution. Senior team member reporting issues to C-level executives. Fostered strong trusted client relationships across all organizational levels. Cross-team collaboration to address clients’ architectural needs.

• Served as the primary escalation point for critical situations involving internal/external clients while applying strategic leadership, business, and practices to achieve a successful resolution.
• Engaged support teams with the appropriate tools and processes to plan, track, monitor and report resolution activities.
• Interfaced with client personnel at multiple levels to cultivate positive and constructive client relationships.
• Created and delivered executive-level summaries, meeting documentation, action plans, and agendas; managed issue tracking using GitHub, ServiceNow, and SoftLayer IMS ticketing platforms.

Managed key accounts totaling over $10M in annual revenue, serving as a trusted advisor to IBM Premium Support customers. Guided clients to successful and efficient utilization of IBM Cloud’s platform and infrastructure services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), aligning technology solutions with business objectives. Built and maintained trust-based relationships with clients’ business goals into actionable support strategies with IBM technology alignment.

• Served as the primary point of escalation, striving for reducing mean time to resolution (MTTR) customer impact.
• Acted in an advisory role, collaborating with internal teams and vendors to raise concerns to appropriate resources, while also identifying client challenges being improved by IBM Cloud solutions.
• Served as Escalation and Major Incident Manager on escalation requests by customers, engage the right resources, and see the issue through to resolution while managing the communication with the customer.
• Enterprise Customers: Macy’s, American Airlines, LiveChat, HCL America, Morgan Stanley, Manulife Financial, Amdocs.

Served as the primary contact for high-severity incidents within IBM’s IaaS environments, coordinating cross-functional teams and maintaining executive communications to resolve critical client issues. Provided real-time updates and comprehensive root cause analyses (RCAs), case record documentation in JIRA and Confluence for C-level executives on critical incidents.

• Mobilized IBM support teams (Technical Support, NOC, Data Center Operations, Product, and Sales) for issue resolution.
• Advice and guidance given to customers on leveraging IBM technologies in architecting resilient environments.

Managed enterprise network for 264 locations, including data center managed by CGI in Ontario, Canada. Reported directly to VP of Operations and CTO; Oversaw architectural development and implementation of improvements to support enterprise network improvement initiatives.

• Engaged with third-party vendor Alliant for implementation. Maintained PCI compliance for network operations.

Managed and supported the Scottsdale Campus Area Network, encompassing 2 data centers and 26 network closets. Supported the refresh project for Configuration/Architectural Design/Implementation.

• Designed current-state and future-state network infrastructure using Microsoft Visio.
• Planned and provided hands-on support during implementation phases for implementation of network enhancements and refresh upgrades.

Managed and supported Western Alliance Bancorporation's dual MPLS network in Arizona, California, and Nevada for 48 branches and 2 data centers. Affiliated banks: Alliance Bank of Arizona, Bank of Nevada, Torrey Pines Bank, First Independent Bank of Nevada, and Partners Bank. Reported to VP of Engineering & Infrastructure and engaged with VP of Operations, Vendor Management, Change Management, CISO, and CTO for all Network Infrastructure Team IT functions.

• C-level executive engagement to align infrastructure strategy, technology needs, and growth to meet business goals.
• Vendor management team collaboration on evaluating and selecting hardware upgrade paths for network infrastructure.
• Planned implementation of network redesign and upgrades improved bank branch loan processing/approval 2x to 3x times per bank management responses.
• Change management and audit remediation engagement to ensure FDIC compliance during internal/external audits.

Network Manager managing enterprise network infrastructure and IT operations in Canada, Mexico, and US offices. Executive-level engagement with Director of IT, VP of Operations, VP of Sales, CFO, and CEO to align business objectives, enhance, and standardize technology infrastructure across global locations.

• Met PCI standards for compliance audit and data security.
• Managed vendor relationships to negotiate contracts, secure cost-effective services, and maintain high-quality support for the organization.
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Previous Experiences upon request:

• JP Morgan Chase, Equant/Orange Services, Duke Energy American Express, AT&T (Federal Reserve, Honeywell), Homeland Security (contractor)