Ben Varghese

• Perform analysis on incident reports, problem diagnosis, and global incident response management for all production & non-production environments
• Root cause investigation, trend & performance metrics analysis, to provide & apply solutions
• Conduct troubleshooting and remediation of technical issues related to Citrix applications to minimize the risk of cyberattacks and mitigate cyber threats
• Collaborate with Engineering and infrastructure teams to implement enhancements and update enterprise-wide group user and machine policies while addressing cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities
• Maintain and apply all SSL internal site certificates, security patches, service packs, and published software updates to ensure secure communication within the environment
• Cooperate with internal teams, including risk management to implement 2FA CyberArk for admin of servers
• Install and optimize Windows server environments and manage Windows systems, ensuring compliance with cybersecurity protocols
• Interface with 3rd party vendors to resolve Citrix issues and implement fixes to improve user experience
• Build and distribute required documents, job aids, SOPs to help end users with desktop app updates and improvements
• Created, updated, and executed Change Orders and Incidents via the CA Service Desk/ServiceNow while following Enterprise Change Management processes
• Yearly testing, validation and monitoring of system performance, capacity, disaster recovery & availability of application servers
• Responsible for management and maintenance of Citrix infrastructure, including File Clusters and Web Interfaces
• Conducted regular internal training sessions on Citrix updates or advanced protocols to keep my team up to date
• Track and identify users experience trends & apply optimizations to increase user logon experience (increase by 15% over 1 year)
• Provide quality Customer service & Technical support to more than 40,000 users globally
• Participated in on-call 24/7 support rotation on a monthly basis

Key Highlights:

• Designed and implemented the team SharePoint 2010 site to house all key group documents and SOPs to improve knowledge transfer within my team
• Deployed a DMZ proxy for all web traffic out of the Citrix environment to improve security measures.

• Provided critical support of hardware and software to fast-paced day trading users, ensuring minimal disruptions to high-stakes trades including after-hour maintenance & upgrades
• Support trading applications from several vendors such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, SunGard, BGC, Fidessa, IRESS, ICAP, and Barclays
• Supported Road Warrior team members with installations, connectivity issues, software compliance, and system performance improvement
• Monitored and maintained the endpoint protection on user machines, ensuring antivirus and malware defences were consistently updated
• Performed Microsoft and security-related patch management, remote assistance & desktop management on corporate machines
• Responsible for procuring application licenses, software, and hardware, based on users’ requests
• Maintained inventory of existing and spare desktop images, licenses, mobile devices, hardware & replacement parts, to ensure quick turnaround for traders
• Conducted regular maintenance and compliance validations on user applications then scheduled and deployed necessary upgrades
• Used real-time remote monitoring software to report on issues or help determine requirements to upgrade

Key Highlights:

• Created a 64-bit WinXP desktop image for Algorithmic (Automated) Traders
• Designed and implemented a ‘hardware refresh’ program now used as best practice on trade floors.