Simon S. - Technical Consultant

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Tettnang, Germany

Experience

Aug 2023 - Aug 2023

1 month

Technical Consultant

Freelance IT Consultant

Refresh database content on SAP ERP test/QA system EHP7.

Tasks:

Download and prepare media
Compile install guides & notes
Backup transaction data
Delete the database
Restore the database from production using SWPM
Reapply specific parameters

Technologies:

SAP NetWeaver ABAP
ECC6 EHP7
IBM i 7.4

Jul 2023 - Aug 2023

2 months

Technical Consultant

Freelance IT Consultant

Upgrade HMC, POWER, and VIOS microcode.

Tasks:

Download media
Prepare environment
Perform HMC upgrade V9R1 to SP1041 / MF71191
Shutdown all LPARs
Update POWER9 microcode VL950_131
Update VIOS 3.1.4.21
Execute on production and backup environments
Restart all LPARs

Technologies:

HMC 7063CR1
HMC V9
HMC V10
POWER S914 VL950
VIOS 3.1.4.21

Apr 2023 - May 2023

2 months

Technical Consultant

Freelance IT Consultant

Apply SP stack to 3x SAP ERP landscape ECC6 to EHP7.

Tasks:

Apply kernel patch
Download and prepare media
Compile install guides & notes
Install SP stack via SUM
Adjust profile parameters

Technologies:

SAP NetWeaver ABAP
ECC6 EHP8
IBM i 7.3
SUM 1.0

Apr 2023 - May 2023

2 months

Subproject Lead IBM i LPAR

Freelance IT Consultant

OS release upgrade from IBM i 7.3 to 7.5 on 11 SAP on IBM i partitions.

Tasks:

Prep work: pre-PTFs, license keys, SAP on i notes, backups
Execute release upgrade and post-work

Technologies:

IBM i 7.3 → 7.5
IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i
IBM BRMS for i
IBM FSFC
IBM Storwize

Sep 2022 - Sep 2022

1 month

Subproject Lead IBM i

Freelance IT Consultant

OS release upgrade 7.4 with switch-over to backup machine.

Tasks:

Prepare BUS4i switch script
Upgrade backup machine 7.3 → 7.4
Switch over to backup machine
Upgrade old production system 7.3 → 7.4

Technologies:

IBM i 7.3→7.4
TSP BUS4i HA
IBM POWER9

Aug 2022 - Nov 2022

4 months

Technical Consultant

Freelance IT Consultant

Upgrade 2x2 SAP ERP and HR landscape ECC6 to EHP8.

Tasks:

Apply kernel patch
Download and prepare media
Compile install guides & notes
Perform EHP8 upgrade via SUM
Adjust profile parameters

Technologies:

SAP NetWeaver ABAP
ECC6 EHP8
IBM i 7.3
SUM 2.0

Jul 2022 - Jul 2022

1 month

Speaker

Freelance IT Consultant

SAP on IBM i fundamentals workshop.

Tasks:

Run workshop for 10 participants covering: IBM i OS, database & filesystem tools, SAP on IBM i environment setup, managing SAP on IBM i, miscellaneous SAP on IBM i, performance

Technologies:

SAP NetWeaver ABAP
ECC6 EHP7
IBM i 7.4
IBM ACS
Navigator for i

Mar 2022 - Jun 2022

4 months

Subproject Lead IBM i LPAR

Freelance IT Consultant

Transition of 2 production and 4 archive IBM i on-premise systems into managed service data center including OS upgrade 7.2 → 7.4.

Tasks:

LPAR sizing
Primary contact: coordinate TCP/IP, applications & license keys, system parameters
Coordinate testing, execute migration, transfer backups to own data center, support go-live

Technologies:

IBM i 7.2→7.4
IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i
IBM BRMS for i
IBM VIOS
IBM Storwize
IBM System Storage Tape Library
Dell EMC Data Domain

Oct 2021 - Oct 2022

1 year 1 month

Subproject Lead IBM i LPAR

Freelance IT Consultant

Transition of 20 IBM i LPARs from POWER7 to POWER9 with new storage via backup/restore within data center.

Tasks:

LPAR sizing
Primary contact: coordinate TCP/IP, applications & license keys, system parameters
Execute migration to new hardware

Technologies:

IBM i 7.2→7.4
IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i
IBM BRMS for i
IBM VIOS
IBM Storwize
IBM System Storage Tape Library
Dell EMC Data Domain

Jan 2021 - Aug 2023

2 years 8 months

Freelance IT Consultant

IBM i base technology consulting. Looking for an IBM i pro for operations projects? I advise on OS upgrades, PTF updates, LPAR migrations, IBM i Access, monitoring, single sign-on, and integrations.

14+ years IBM i base experience.

Technologies:

IBM POWER5–POWER10
OS Releases: IBM i V5R1–7.5
IBM Storwize systems
IBM System Storage Tape Library

Focus:

Transition IBM i from on-premise to managed cloud
IBM i OS upgrades
IBM i LPAR operations (performance, backup/restore concepts, high availability, datacenter integration, monitoring with helpdesk connection, service level reporting)
SAP on IBM i base

Mar 2020 - Dec 2020

10 months

Sabbatical

Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

4 months

Subproject Lead IBM POWER i

Plan, order, and deploy new POWER9 environment in data center.

Tasks:

Calculate and size POWER servers & Storwize storage, rack planning, cabling plan
Coordinate and build IBM POWER9 & Storwize environment in new co-location

Technologies:

IBM i 5.3–7.3
IBM POWER9
Storwize V5000
IBM SAN24B
IBM System Storage Tape Library
IBM VIOS

Oct 2019 - Jan 2020

4 months

Subproject Lead IBM POWER i

Plan maintenance and move IBM POWER7 systems to another data center location.

Tasks:

Schedule maintenance window, shutdown all systems, rack planning, cabling plan
Coordinate transport, rebuild IBM POWER7 & Storwize in target rack, start systems

Technologies:

IBM POWER7
Storwize V5000
IBM SAN24B
Storwize V3700
IBM System Storage Tape Library

Sep 2019 - Nov 2019

3 months

Subproject Lead IBM i

Transition customer LPARs from on-premise to managed service with BUS4i high-availability solution and switch-over.

Tasks:

Coordinate LPAR takeover, prep work, HA solution implementation, switch-over

Technologies:

IBM POWER9
IBM i 7.3
TSP BUS4i
Menten iEffect

Jan 2019 - Apr 2019

4 months

Subproject Lead IBM i / Product Owner

Developed and implemented a custom IBM i application to collect and prepare KPIs for the monthly service level report.

Tasks:

Gather required system and performance data, coordinate with app owners, hand off specs to dev team, coordinate with reporting team, connect to CMDB, map services, hosts & SLAs

Technologies:

CMDB
IBM i
MS SQL Server

Oct 2018 - Dec 2018

3 months

Senior Technical Consultant

Migrate physical IBM TS3500 tape library (<300 tapes) to virtual tape library using BRMS backup software. Converted backups of all LPARs to VTL with dedupe and increased compression to 1:30.

Tasks:

Inventory physical tapes, size VTL, deploy VTL in data center
Connect VTL to IBM i LPARs, adjust BRMS, duplicate physical to virtual tapes

Technologies:

IBM i 6.1–7.3
Dell EMC Data Domain
IBM TS3500

Aug 2018 - Oct 2018

3 months

Senior Technical Consultant

Convert existing 5250 sessions, keyboard layouts, macros, and DB connections to IBM ACS format. Roll out to ~500 clients via software tools and scripts.

Tasks:

Create migration guide, test migration of sessions, layouts, macros
Transfer data, DB connections, write migration script, create ACS update script

Technologies:

IBM i Access Client Solutions
Citrix
Windows Terminal Server
Windows OS

Aug 2015 - Dec 2015

5 months

Subproject Lead IBM POWER i

Plan, order, and deploy a new POWER7 environment in data center.

Tasks:

Calculate and size POWER servers & Storwize storage, rack planning, cabling plan
Coordinate and build IBM POWER7 & Storwize environment in new co-location

Technologies:

IBM i 5.3–7.3
IBM POWER7
Storwize V3700
IBM SAN24B
IBM System Storage Tape Library
IBM VIOS

Jan 2015 - Aug 2023

8 years 8 months

Subproject Lead IBM i / Product Owner

Developed and implemented custom IBM i monitoring software that monitors down to application level and integrates with the support desk.

Tasks:

Define monitoring points, coordinate with app owners, hand off specs to dev team, coordinate with Icinga team
Integrate with support desk, map services, hosts & SLAs

Technologies:

IBM i 7.3
Icinga 2
SAP Solution Manager

Jan 2014 - Aug 2023

9 years 8 months

Senior Technical Consultant

SAP on i base tasks like SAP kernel upgrade 7.x, EHP upgrade, SPS installation, system copy, LPAR migration to new POWER i, Unicode conversion, SAP SSO implementation.

Tasks:

Prep work, check PAM, download SAP binaries, apply required PTFs
Perform kernel patch/upgrade, migrate SAP systems via SWPM
System copy via SWPM, implement SAP SSO on IBM i, EHP upgrade, apply SP stack

Technologies:

SAP NetWeaver
ECC6
IBM i 7.1–7.5
SWPM

Jan 2014 - Feb 2020

6 years 2 months

Weingarten, Germany

Senior Technical Consultant

All for One Group SE

Tasks:

Team coordination for IBM POWER i base technology
Data center platform services for IBM POWER i
Expand infrastructure capacity, monitoring, provisioning, service level reporting
Plan and run IBM i base tech workshops for existing and new clients
Involve and coordinate partners for client projects
Service transition management for IBM POWER i projects
Kick-off, handover, go-live, service acceptance
Service management for clients
Capture, qualify, and address requests and changes
Pre-sales support for IBM i services on-site and in-house
On-premise IBM i base technology consulting

Successes:

Closed and implemented 20+ long-term managed service contracts
Learned SAP Basis on IBM i and delivered client projects
Invested single-digit millions in new hardware & software
Increased managed service revenue ten-fold to ~€1M/year
Reduced support response times through early detection
Developed and integrated systems into monitoring, reporting, and helpdesk
Moved to a new data center with infrastructure, executed two zero-downtime migrations
Achieved 99.9% monthly SLA

Aug 2011 - Dec 2013

2 years 5 months

Baienfurt, Germany

Technical Consultant

AMETRAS Informatik AG

Tasks:

Data center ops for a heterogeneous landscape: IBM POWER i, Windows Server, SUSE Linux, VMware vSphere
Internal IT, technical support, network infrastructure
WLAN coverage and implementation for mobile devices

Successes:

Reduced admin effort, maintenance costs, heat output, and power consumption by 90% through virtualization
Cut emergency calls from one/week to one per quarter
Implemented high availability for critical infrastructure and client systems

Sep 2008 - Aug 2023

15 years

Subproject Lead IBM i

IBM i OS release upgrades for on-premise and managed service systems.

Tasks:

Prep work: coordinate application requirements, procure OS license keys and install files, install needed PTFs, perform upgrade, post-work

Technologies:

IBM i 5.3–7.4
IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i
IBM BRMS for i
IBM Image Catalog

Sep 2008 - Aug 2023

15 years

Subproject Lead IBM i LPAR

Transition IBM i systems from on-premise to managed service via backup/restore.

Tasks:

LPAR sizing
Primary contact: coordinate TCP/IP, applications & license keys, system parameters
Coordinate testing, execute migration, transfer backups to data center
Support go-live

Technologies:

IBM i 5.3–7.5
IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i
IBM BRMS for i
IBM VIOS
IBM Storwize
IBM System Storage Tape Library
IBM Spectrum Virtualize
IBM i SSO
Dell EMC Data Domain

Sep 2007 - Sep 2008

1 year 1 month

Voluntary Social Year

Integrations-Werkstätten Oberschwaben gGmbH

IT Department

Tasks:

Support people with disabilities at work
Repair and install used PCs for sale

Successes:

Kept PC repair & sales running despite six-month absence of department head
Integrated another employee with disability into the team

Summary

For 14 years I have been actively working in IBM i base technology. I helped clients in hundreds of projects tackle challenges in running their IBM i environments so they could focus on their core competencies, services, and products. Before I started freelancing in 2021, I worked for two IT consulting firms serving a broad range of clients mostly in the industrial and furniture sectors. Clients were supported both in the data center as a managed service and on-premise. In the data center, my projects focused on monitoring, continuous service maintenance, and high availability. For on-site clients, the main tasks were OS release upgrades, PTF updates, hardware migrations, and system integration, e.g., Active Directory for single sign-on.