Jason Fouks - Principal Technical Engineer, Sr Geek Consulting

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Work Background

Born Force Training LLCCPR Instructor

Dec. 2023Roberts, Wisconsin, United States · HybridI am a CPR, AED, & First Aid Certified Trainer through my wife's company. I also handle the IT, website, and books on the backend.

Compeer FinancialPrincipal Technical Engineer Platform

Jul. 2018 - Mar. 2024Baldwin, Wisconsin · HybridAs a Principal Technical Systems Engineer I took on a team-lead role to oversee the installation & maintenance of our data center servers focusing on Cisco UCS chassis and blades for our VMware clusters and Citrix farm, Pure Storage, and Nutanix Security Pods. I managed several projects from start to finish including the Exchange migration project upgrading from 2016 to 2019 and most recently to Exchange Online. I was also primary lead for our SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint Online project keeping the project on track, efficient, and empowering others to maximize their usage & knowledge into the long-term future through training team members. I encouraged fellow team members to take lead when they felt comfortable with the technology on projects and stepped up as a leader when necessary to assist others in growing their leadership values. I helped out with our Azure subscriptions where needed and security was always a first concern for me when it came to protecting client data. I mastered everything I worked on and am currently working through Infrastructure as Code utilizing Terraform and Ansible to fully automate deployment of Windows servers without actually building the servers manually for both VMware deployments and Azure environments. Automation has become my primary goal in my career focusing on rinse and repeat procedures being more efficient and more accurate. I was given an opportunity to not only participate on the Farm Credit TechOps Workgroup but I was asked to be a co-chair on the TechOps Workgroup board who will provide direction and insight into future work and collaboration with other Farm Credit Associations. My hope by joining the TechOps board was to utilize my leadership skills to help collaboration efforts continue both inside Compeer and across the associations to help fellow team members across all Farm Credit organizations grow their knowledge in the fast-paced world of IT and being able to collaborate easily and efficiently.

St. Croix CountySr IT Systems Engineer & Deputy Security Officer

Jan. 2015 - Jul. 2018Hudson, WI · On-siteAs a Sr Level Engineer and Deputy Security Officer at St Croix County, I was responsible for managing technology hardware, servers, backup, MDM, phones, security cameras, and may other platforms. Within the first year of my time with St Croix County, I led a team of people who looked to me for direction on technology needs and purchasing decisions. I maintained the life-cycle planning on all server hardware based on the county's taste and budget for replacement schedule while also trying to be fiscally responsible with county money. I always made an effort to stay up-to-date with the latest technology trends and platforms that could be integrated into our supported technology. I also relied on my team members ’expertise to gain different perspectives and expertise on platforms benefiting St Croix County the best. My Deputy Security Officer position allowed me to be backup to my boss when there were open records requests or camera recording requests from our jail or other locations. It was my duty to use tools like Tenable Nessus to make sure our environment was secure from both inside and outside threats. I implemented a DMZ and utilized our Citrix Netscaler to proxy to inside services served in the cloud. Security is always the first question I ask when designing something new.

Osceola Medical CenterSr Systems Administrator

Sep. 2011 - Jan. 2015Osceola, WII was the Network Admin of a 300 node hospital & clinic. My tasks vary throughout the week including maintaining the Microsoft servers along with the VMware environment. I kept the environment fully functional with minimal complaints from users and use monitoring tools to catch problems before the user realizes there are problems. I implemented a new VMWare 5.1 with iSCSI SAN in the last year I was there and continued to grow the virtualized environment. I was the long-term technology planner. I led a new VMware environment project to consolidate the physical environment into less hardware, easier management, and disaster recovery. I also implemented a help desk system (ticketing system and phone help desk) based on my past experience for documentation of problems and timely repairs. My biggest challenge through my day is working with our EMR system hosted on CPSI. Every day is a challenge learning new things about CPSI, its functionality, and keeping up with the problems that CPSI brings to the table. I spent any time left over in my week researching new technologies that we wanted to implement in the future that will make our staff’s job more efficient and more fun! I strived to teach technology to the staff by showing them how much more efficient it is to use the technology. I lead by taking initiative to use the technology myself and understand what the staff needs to do for their daily jobs. People have enjoyed learning new tricks with their computers, mobile devices, and smart phones and look forward to the next tip or trick I can hand them.

Sr Geek Consulting LLCFreelancer

Sep. 2009I am passionate about technology and helping businesses thrive? In this role, I've play a pivotal part in helping individuals and businesses develop, utilize, and integrate IT systems. By resolving technical problems and providing comprehensive user training, I've enabled our clients to maximize the value of technology in their business operations. My customer-oriented approach ensured that I understand and addressed the unique requirements of each client. Effective communication skills, particularly in presentations, is vital to convey complex technical concepts in a clear and engaging manner. As an IT professional, my ongoing objective is to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of technology and passing that knowledge onto my clients to advance their business.

StarTech Computing, Inc.Network Specialist II

Feb. 2009 - Sep. 2011My career with StarTech has morphed into just about any computer technologies possible. I support all platforms of Microsoft environments from Windows 2000, 2003, and 2008. I also support Novell, Linux, and Macintosh computers throughout my day. The best part of my day is the new technologies that I can learn and become better acquainted with. My day is always changing with different problems every day. I also get to learn new ways to communicate with customers and teach our consumers how to better use their computer.

PressEnter!, LLPSystems Engineer

Mar. 2008 - Dec. 2008The focus of my work was on Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003. My clients also had blackberry service to integrate into their environment. My job consisted of maintaining these server environments by keeping updates on the server, making sure backups were performed on a nightly basis, and ensuring the server was protected both with a firewall along with antivirus. I worked with end users to fight spam, answer questions on how to use applications that they have installed, installing and troubleshooting printers, networks, workstations, etc. I had to setup, troubleshoot, and maintain their Internet ISDN, DSL, & T1 connections. I worked with WatchGuard, Fortinet, SonicWall, Fiber Logic, and Linksys routers to set them up, add users, troubleshoot VPN issues that arise, and upgrade the firmware when needed. As our clients’ servers would age I put together plans for migrating from the old server into the new server and making sure that all workstations, printers, mobile devices, etc.

Northwest AirlinesField Engineer

May. 2007 - Mar. 2008During my career with Northwest Airlines I performed various jobs. Most of our issues revolved around trouble tickets generated from our help desk. I assisted users with questions or problems with their software that is pushed from the servers using HP Radia Software Manager. I also had to manage projects that consisted of moving workstations to new areas in the building, reimage and migrate users using Symantec Ghost and Desktop DNA, or removal of old, out of date hardware from both the physical location and from Active Directory. I had requests from time to time to perform a restore from a tape catalog system or from shadow copy (depended on which had the data the user was looking for).

TEKsystemsConsultant

Jan. 2007 - Dec. 2008

Atomic ColoSystems Engineer / Help Desk Support Tech

Dec. 2006 - Apr. 2007While I was at Atomic Colo I spent half of my day working in the help desk phone support system and half my day visiting clients in the Twin Cities metro. I had to provide complex troubleshooting and investigation via remote control or other tools of all software, hardware, and network incidents. I assisted customers in facilitation, monitoring, and resolution of software, hardware, network, and server systems incidents, and related data services, managing incidents from initiation to closure. I built and administered new Windows 2003 R2 Virtual Servers for clients with Exchange 2003, Sharepoint, and IIS. I also maintained IMAP/POP accounts and client Internet access. I updated the documentation of IP addresses, passwords, and server information and configurations keeping accurate records in a ticketing system. Finally I implemented, installed, and troubleshot VoIP products from both Cisco and other vendors.

techIT SolutionsSenior Systems Engineer

Jul. 2006 - Dec. 2006My career with techIT Solutions was short but very valuable in gaining the experience of project management and a great opportunity to travel the world. I had to fly to the customer site to support their needs and answer questions they may have. I also setup Internet cafes at trade shows sponsored by Apple, Inc. I had to supervise techs at some of the tradeshows and make sure setup and teardown was as efficient as possible. Communication was the key to making things go smoothly.

Stillwater Area SchoolsComputer Network Support Specialist

Sep. 2003 - May. 2006• Managed and assured availability of services on 5 Apple Xserves and 1 Xserve RAID 24x7x365. Services being managed included AFP, FTP, DHCP on a private network for cloning, DNS, Mail, Listserv using Mailman, Netboot using NetRestore, Open Directory Master/Replica, Print, Quicktime Streaming, VPN, Web, and Windows Services. • Managed 1300 laptops on a completely wireless network including 58 Apple Airport Extreme base stations & warranty on all hardware. • Designed an efficient way to clone Macintosh laptops to quickly deploy a large fleet of laptops or to get a system back online and in the hands of students/staff with minimal downtime. • Managed 350 Windows systems connected to a Novell Network including Groupwise for email. Used ZENWorks to push out updates to workstations throughout building along with creating user profiles and utilizing policy management to create a tightly managed environment.

ROBERTS-WARREN FIRE & RESCUEEmergency Medical Technician, Rescue Lieutenant

Feb. 2001Roberts, WI · On-siteI provide emergency medical services to people in need. Our customers depend on us when they are at their worst moment in life. I do what I can to help them out and get them to a hospital as quickly as possible. I perform extrication services to car crash victims, rehabilitation to our firefighters fighting the rare fire we have in our district, and medical care to those who have medical problems or need a shoulder to cry on. I have always classified my volunteer for this work as 'my hobby' and I love my job. I always look forward to a complex fire, car crash, or medical.

Stillwater Area SchoolsComputer Repair Technician

Dec. 2000 - Sep. 2003My career at Bloomington was my first experience in a large network. While I was there I had to manage and repair approximately 4000 Macintosh and 1000 Compaq computer systems in 17 schools. I had to facilitate both desktop and laptop warranty repairs through Apple Services Contract & Compaq Service Dept. I was also put in charge of deploying 38 first generation Apple Xserve servers to be deployed as FileMaker® servers and file servers with tape backup software and a managed client environment using Macintosh Manager. I also had roughly 700 new Macintosh machines that we had to mass deploy using tools such as Apple Software Restore, Carbon Copy Cloner, NetRestore, and firewire cables. I assisted in the management of a Windows 2000 server for the library card catalog and checkout system. I also assisted in the administration of a Novell tree along with Groupwise email environment. I acquired my Novell Certified Administrator certification while with Bloomington Public Schools.

Connecting PointIT Sales Representative

Mar. 2000 - Dec. 2000Amery, Wisconsin, United States · On-siteMy career at Connecting Point, Inc. was a short term but was very valuable in getting me experienced in the sales side of the computer industry. I spent the majority of my time researching and purchasing computer technology products for my client base. I was also responsible for setting up and installing computer products purchased by my customer base. One of the challenges that I had was keeping on top of the latest technologies through the use of training seminars, researching products via the web, magazine articles, and implementation of new products in our test bed. Finally I had to document service repairs from customers into a FileMaker Pro® database.

SIG Pack, Inc. / Doboy DivisionComputer Repair/Network Technician (Internship)

May. 1998 - Aug. 1998My career at SIG Pack, Inc. was my internship during my college years. While I was there I was put in charge of the Year 2000 compliance testing and auditing program on roughly 350 HP, Dell, and white box computer systems. On the systems that could be upgraded to be Year 2000 compliant I patched and marked those systems and put together a plan to replace the systems that were not Year 2000 compliant. I also assisted end users in understanding the technology better and provided training to users on new applications if they needed it. Finally I spent numerous early mornings running network cables through the raceway in the ceiling to expand the network to include more workstations. I also installed new hubs and switches to accommodate the growth of the company. I also had to rectify network collisions, down hubs, and bad switches along with documentation of the layout of their network.