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08 · Operations & digital backboneBackbone consolidation · resilience · service management

Operations & digital backbone

Digital backbone consolidation and operational resilience. Most recent measured outcomes: 99.999% availability across multiple programmes; active-active DC at 99.98% with RTO<4h / RPO 15min (tested); 214 networks / 496 active devices / 120+ retired.

Mandate type

Backbone consolidation and operate-grade resilience for institutional estates. Network, IAM, integration, platform, data, security, observability, DevOps and service management run as one engineering system, not as separate teams.

Anchor reference

UN OICT (2016–2019) — active-active DC (VMware SRM + Azure Site Recovery), 99.98% availability, RTO<4h, RPO 15min (tested); 80% workload migration to Azure / AWS hybrid cloud while maintaining PCI DSS Level 1. Société Générale (BRD) — 4 regional data centres consolidated into unified hybrid-cloud ecosystem. NATO HQ NNHQ — 90% server virtualisation.

What I do

Four offers recur on backbone and operations mandates.

  • Backbone consolidation. Network, IAM, integration, platform, data and observability brought into one operating system. 4 regional DCs consolidated at Société Générale; 80% workload migration at UN OICT.
  • Active-active resilience. Active-active DC with VMware SRM + Azure Site Recovery. 99.98% availability, RTO<4h, RPO 15min tested in production at UN OICT.
  • Cloud governance and FinOps. Enterprise agreements with embedded security and performance KPIs. ~20% annual cost optimisation through vendor renegotiation. Smart-Outsourcing: USD 3.2M OPEX savings.
  • DevSecOps and service-management. Containerised workloads (Docker, K8s, OpenShift) with Jenkins / GitLab CI/CD + HashiCorp Vault. ITIL v3 / v4 service management with SLA / OLA discipline.

Frameworks and standards applied

Methods are scoped, not decorative. Each mandate runs against a defined framework stack so decisions remain defensible to internal audit, external supervisors and donors.

  • Resilience & continuity: ISO 22301 · ISO 27031 · NIST CSF · BCBS 239
  • Cloud & platforms: Azure · AWS · GCP · VMware SRM · Azure Site Recovery · Kubernetes · OpenShift
  • Service management: ITIL v3 / v4 · CMF · SLA / OLA discipline · CAB practice
  • Cyber & control: ISO 27001 · PCI DSS · NIST 800-53 · COBIT 5 · GDPR
  • DevSecOps: Docker · K8s · Terraform · Ansible · Jenkins · GitLab CI/CD · HashiCorp Vault
A4 infographic on cloud and platform engineering: backbone consolidation, active-active resilience, service management.
Operations & digital backbone infographic — executive A4 visual for web, briefings and PDF capability packs. A4 · Premium high-tech briefing style
Scope detail · auto / manual scroll →
Backbone consolidation

Network · IAM · integration · platform · data · observability as one system

Bring fragmented infrastructure into one operating backbone. Documented dependencies, named ownership, single observability layer.

Scope:
  • 4 regional data centres consolidated (Société Générale · BRD)
  • 80% workload migration to Azure / AWS hybrid cloud (UN OICT)
  • 214 networks / 496 active devices / 120+ retired
  • Tier 4 IBM Romania DC (~8,000 m²)
Active-active resilience

99.98% · RTO<4h · RPO 15min — tested

Active-active DC with automated failover. Numbers from tested production, not from spec sheets.

Scope:
  • VMware SRM + Azure Site Recovery in production
  • 99.98% availability · RTO<4h · RPO 15min (tested) — UN OICT
  • 99.999% availability across multiple programmes
  • NATO HQ NNHQ — DR fail-over + 90% server virtualisation
Cloud governance & FinOps

Enterprise agreements with security & performance KPIs embedded

Vendor renegotiation with named KPIs. Smart-Outsourcing programmes producing OPEX savings without losing control.

Scope:
  • ~20% annual cost optimisation via enterprise vendor agreements
  • USD 3.2M OPEX savings via Smart-Outsourcing (UN OICT)
  • Enterprise agreements with Microsoft + AWS — embedded KPIs
  • FinOps-aware migration with PCI DSS Level 1 preserved
DevSecOps & service-management

Containerised CI/CD + ITIL v3/v4

Containerised pipelines with security-as-code; service management run with SLA / OLA discipline and CAB practice.

Scope:
  • Docker / Kubernetes / OpenShift in production
  • Jenkins / GitLab CI/CD + HashiCorp Vault secrets
  • ITIL v3 / v4 service management with SLA / OLA
  • Global SOC oversight + Cyber Crisis Management (IBM IC)

Typical deliverables

Standard artefact set on a backbone / operations mandate.

  • Backbone target architecture (network, IAM, integration, platform, data, observability)
  • Active-active resilience design with RTO / RPO tested in production
  • Cloud governance pack: FinOps, security KPIs, vendor-agreement clauses
  • DevSecOps pipeline reference with security-as-code controls
  • ITIL service-management runbook with SLA / OLA, CAB practice, incident playbooks
  • Operational handover pack with named owners, training, evidence transfer
Measurable outcomes · auto scroll →
99.999%
availability across multiple programmes
99.98%
active-active DC availability (UN OICT — tested)
RTO<4h
tested in production
RPO 15min
tested in production
214
networks consolidated
496
active devices governed
USD 3.2M
OPEX savings via Smart-Outsourcing (UN OICT)
~20%
annual cost optimisation via enterprise vendor agreements

Resilience numbers are credible only when tested in production. RTO and RPO that have never failed over once are spec sheets, not architecture.