I modernize legacy platforms, from databases and operating systems to tooling and operating models, without breaking
regulated, high-availability environments.
Most of that work has been hands-on. I have upgraded Oracle from 10g and 11g to 12c and later from 12c to 19c,
migrated PostgreSQL from 9 to 13 on premises and on Amazon RDS and then to 15, moved Windows Server 2003 and 2008
workloads to RHEL and newer Windows Server, and replaced OS-specific scripts with one Python and Perl standard. At
Sun Life I cut the mean time to detect incidents by 95%, replaced 60% of manual service requests with self-service
automation, and carried critical upgrades through with zero data loss.
Since 2022 I have led infrastructure and platform teams at Medavie, where the same work runs at enterprise scale.
Medavie Inc.'s private cloud is on VMware Cloud Foundation 9, production Kubernetes is off Mirantis MKE, the RHEL 4
and 5 and Windows Server 2003 and 2008 servers are retired, and the Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services
backup environments are one. The rest of 432 legacy Linux servers and the remaining Windows estate are moving to
current releases.
Card catalogue drawers, Bibliothèque de Genève.
Track record
What I have moved from legacy to current, grouped by kind, with each technology’s rows together, newest first.
Every row is in the experience below.
From
To
Where
Databases
PostgreSQL 13
PostgreSQL 15, on premises
Sun Life, 2021–2022
PostgreSQL 9
PostgreSQL 13, on premises and on Amazon RDS
Sun Life, 2019–2021
Oracle 12c
Oracle 19c
Sun Life, 2019–2021
Oracle 10g and 11g
Oracle 12c, including an 11g to 12c end-state upgrade project
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2015–2019
No data-at-rest encryption
Encryption on 100% of the data in the two primary database platforms
Sun Life, 2021–2022
Operating systems
RHEL 6 and 7
RHEL 8, 9 and 10 (in progress), completing 432 legacy servers
Medavie Inc., 2026–now
RHEL 4 and 5
Current RHEL releases
Medavie Inc., 2022–2025
Windows Server 2012 and 2016
Windows Server 2022 and 2025 (in progress)
Medavie Inc., 2026–now
Windows Server 2003 and 2008
Windows Server 2022 and 2025
Medavie Inc., 2025–2026
Windows Server 2003 and 2008
RHEL 6.9 and 6.10, or Windows Server 2012 and 2016
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2015–2018
Desktop fleet
Windows 7 on about 7,000 PCs
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2013
Private cloud and containers
vSphere
VMware Cloud Foundation 9 and 9.1
Medavie Inc., 2026
Mirantis Swarm
VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (in progress)
Medavie Inc., 2025–now
Mirantis MKE
VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service, 9 production nodes and 181 pods
Medavie Inc., 2025–2026
Compute and legacy platforms
Cisco UCS, about 60 blades
About 80 blades with GPU-enabled enclosures (in progress)
Medavie Inc., 2026–now
HP-UX
Modern Linux (in progress), 27 servers
Medavie Inc., 2026–now
VSP hosts
Current platforms, 6 hosts
Medavie Inc., 2026
Backup and consolidation
Standalone Medavie Health Services infrastructure
Shared Medavie Inc. infrastructure (in progress), 8 locations and a 40-VM cluster
Medavie Health Services, 2026–now
Separate Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services Commvault
One consolidated enterprise backup estate
Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services, 2024–2026
Automation and reporting
Manual service requests
Python, Shell and Ansible self-service; 60% fewer requests
Sun Life, 2019–2021
Excel reports
Tableau dashboards, then Grafana executive dashboards
Government of Canada and RPM, 2015–2019; Sun Life, 2019–2021
OS-specific scripts
One cross-platform Python and Perl standard
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2015–2018
Experience
Medavie
Ambulance New Brunswick paramedics, run by Medavie Health Services, 2017.
Manager, IT Services / Enterprise Infrastructure & Platforms
February 2025 – Present
Private cloud: moved Medavie Inc.'s vSphere private cloud to VMware Cloud Foundation 9 and
9.1 in 2026. Since 2026, refreshing the Cisco UCS compute beneath it from about 60 to about 80 blades, with
GPU-enabled enclosures.
Kubernetes: migrated Medavie Inc.'s production Kubernetes (a 9-node environment, 181
documented pods) from Mirantis MKE to VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service, 2025 to 2026. The Mirantis Swarm
migration, under way since 2025, continues.
Backup: consolidated the separate Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services Commvault
environments into one enterprise backup estate, 2024 to 2026. Planning Medavie Inc.'s move from tape to
cloud-based, immutable recovery for 2027, including digitizing and migrating thousands of tapes.
Operating systems: retired Medavie Inc.'s Windows Server 2003 and 2008 servers to Windows
Server 2022 and 2025, 2025 to 2026. Since 2026, taking Windows Server 2012 and 2016 the same way, and RHEL 6
and 7 to RHEL 8, 9 and 10, completing a program of 432 documented legacy Linux servers.
Legacy platforms: retired 6 documented VSP hosts onto current platforms in 2026, and since
2026 have been retiring 27 documented HP-UX servers onto modern Linux.
Integration: since 2026, folding Medavie Health Services' standalone infrastructure (8 server
locations of 4 servers each, and a corporate cluster of about 40 VMs) into shared Medavie Inc. infrastructure.
Lead the multi-disciplinary infrastructure and platform teams that deliver this work in a regulated
enterprise, setting standards and guardrails with security, architecture and application teams.
Selected panelist, VMUG Toronto Connect fireside chat “VCF: Plan, Build, Modernize,” discussing private cloud
strategy and platform modernization (May 2026).
Team Lead, Infrastructure and DevOps
August 2022 – February 2025
Operating systems: completed the migration of Medavie Inc.'s RHEL 4 and 5 servers to current
RHEL releases, the first stage of the legacy Linux program.
Led enterprise infrastructure and platform teams responsible for compute, virtualization, and core services,
supporting business-critical systems with high availability and regulatory requirements.
Drove infrastructure and platform modernization initiatives, including virtualization and container platform
evolution, while maintaining operational continuity and service resilience.
Built sustainable operating models, strengthened change and risk governance, and developed senior technical
talent to support long-term platform strategy and succession needs.
Sun Life
The Sun Life Building, Montreal, etched by Samuel Herbert Maw, 1917 or 1924.
Senior Infrastructure DBA
December 2021 – August 2022
DevOps mentorship: scaled technical excellence by coaching cross-functional teams in Agile
DevOps, leading to a 60% improvement in code review efficiency and deployment speed.
Enhanced observability: architected and deployed end-to-end monitoring solutions that
increased visibility into application metrics, reducing the mean time to detect (MTTD) incidents by 95%.
SME leadership: served as the primary subject matter expert for high-availability and
migration projects, ensuring zero data loss during critical infrastructure upgrades and patches. Deployed a
net new data-at-rest encryption solution ensuring that 100% of data stored within the two primary database
solutions was secure.
Database upgrades: upgraded on-premises PostgreSQL from 13 to 15.
Infrastructure DBA
November 2019 – December 2021 · Toronto, Ontario
Award-winning innovation: recipient of two VP awards and multiple CIO nominations for
developing high-impact production pipelines that streamlined enterprise data management.
Executive insights: designed and deployed Grafana-based executive leadership dashboards that
integrated the entire DevOps lifecycle, providing real-time visibility into Data Management performance.
Process automation: developed Python, Shell, and Ansible automation to eliminate silos,
enabling client deployment teams to perform work independently and reducing manual service requests by 60%.
Database modernization: led complex migrations from PostgreSQL 9 to 13 (on-prem and Amazon
RDS), upgraded Oracle from 12c to 19c, and managed high-availability Oracle clusters across diverse OS
environments including RHEL and AIX.
RPM Technologies
The Toronto Stock Exchange trading floor, around 1937.
Oracle Database Administrator
April 2019 – November 2019 · Toronto, Ontario
Created new reports for tracking internal processes across the Exadata infrastructure, with recommendations to
management on new database deployments and future specifications, built in Excel and custom Tableau dashboards
for management and senior management.
Packaged database queries and data fixes for deployment to clients in non-production and production
environments, performing production deployments under strict client-approved systems.
Administered Oracle 11g and 12c databases on Oracle Linux (Exadata) and IBM AIX systems through the command
line and Oracle Enterprise Manager.
Developed SQL Data Definition Language release scripts as part of ongoing database development support.
Managed and upgraded an on-premises Oracle Exadata Engineered System, including database nodes, InfiniBand
switches, and cell disk storage servers.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
The James Bay Treaty (Treaty No. 9), 1905.
Database Modeller
May 2018 – April 2019 · Gatineau, Quebec
Managed the Oracle 11g to 12c end-state database upgrade project: developed technical and business
requirements for in-house and COTS products on the Oracle backend, and coordinated staged, transparent
upgrades with clients and developers.
Data-modelled a new Database Development Framework analysis and review system using erwin Data Modeler, and
developed its application front end and database back end.
Supported a major enterprise core-system database through every development stage into production.
Produced reports and analysis of major data sets for management and senior management decision-making using
Excel and Tableau over direct Oracle connections.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
Hull at the Chaudière Falls, by Thomas Burrowes, around 1830: where the department’s Gatineau offices stand.
Junior Database Administrator
May 2015 – April 2018 · Gatineau, Quebec
Designed and implemented the Oracle 12c database architecture, including Unified Audit policies meeting
Auditor General recommendations and standardized container/pluggable database templates and post-scripts.
Upgraded Oracle databases from 10g to 11g and 12c, and migrated them from Windows Server 2003/2008 to RHEL 6
or Windows Server 2012/2016, using Oracle Enterprise Manager.
Built a database inventory system for current and historical data retention using PL/SQL packages and
procedures, with Excel and Tableau dashboards reporting change trends and forecasts to management.
Developed requirements and reporting for integrating Oracle and SQL Server database information into a shared
repository.
Implemented cross-platform script standards, migrating OS-specific scripts to Perl and Python across Linux and
Windows, Oracle and MSSQL.
BDMK Consultants Inc.
The control panel of an IBM System/360 Model 40.
Junior Systems Administrator
April 2014 – August 2014 · Ottawa, Ontario
Supported Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003–2012 R2 clients and servers, Linux ESXi hosts, a CentOS web
server, and MS SQL Server, including Active Directory, domain, network, and storage administration.
Performed emergency domain controller backup and recovery after a major system crash, and wrote the
after-action report on its causes and mitigations.
Administered OpenText Content Server for document and records management.
Developed and remotely supported a tool for secure file organization and MIME-type correction.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Marquis and Preston wheat, from the Dominion Experimental Farms, 1913.
PC Installation Technician
May 2013 – August 2013 · Ottawa, Ontario
Rolled out approximately 7,000 computers across the National Capital Region as part of the Windows 7 rollout
team, including backup, migration, and Active Directory management.
Travelled nationally to support CFIA’s onsite Windows 7 deployments and the decommissioning of legacy systems.
Wrote technical documentation and supervised delivery of computer assets across multiple locations.
Canadian Forces
Putting a Line Through to Headquarters, Bruno Bobak, 1945.
Signal Operator
January 2010 – May 2012 · Ottawa, Ontario
Installed, operated, troubleshot and removed wired and wireless communications and information systems.
Operated radio, satellite and microwave broadband systems.
Worked with fibre optic and copper wire broadband technology and with voice and data systems.
Performed preventive and corrective maintenance, diagnosis and configuration of voice and data networks.
Skills
Legacy Modernization
Platform Migration
Infrastructure Modernization
Oracle and PostgreSQL
Virtualization and Kubernetes
Python and Ansible automation
Education
Carleton University
The Old Bailey in session, 1808: the court whose records I wrote about.
