IT Manager · Sr. IT Operations Manager · Sr. Systems Administrator

I keep enterprise IT secure and running —
then make it smarter with AI.

20+ years running IT operations, cybersecurity and cloud across Oil & Gas, Media, Data Analytics & AI, Software, ICT and serviced-office businesses — in the UAE and across the GCC, India, the UK and the US. I run multi-site estates that don't go down, pass the audits, lead the teams — and build the websites and automation on top.

Shivaprasad Shetty AVAILABLE · TRANSFERABLE VISA
20+
Years across UAE & India
500+
Users supported
7+
Countries supported
99%+
Uptime sustained
// about

Operational discipline, modern tooling.

I'm Shivaprasad Shetty, a Dubai-based IT manager, senior IT operations manager and senior systems administrator with 20+ years building and running the technology businesses depend on — multi-site networks, telephony, cloud platforms, cybersecurity and the day-to-day service delivery that keeps hundreds of people working without interruption.

My background spans Oil & Gas, Media, Data Analytics & AI, Software & ICT, and serviced offices — across the UAE, UK, India, Qatar and KSA, including shared-services models serving global financial-services clients. I'm hands-on with the firewall and the hypervisor while also leading teams of desktop engineers and helpdesk coordinators, negotiating with vendors, running helpdesk and service-desk operations, handling employee onboarding and offboarding, and covering both in-house and field IT support.

I also build and manage websites end to end — WordPress, SEO and small-scale digital marketing — and I pick up new technology fast. I experiment with AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Replit and Ollama for coding and "vibe coding", and build small projects like FixieIT.com and EvntSup.com (among others) as personal passion projects to keep my skills sharp — not businesses, just things I love building.

// what I bring

Four domains, one hands-on owner.

The mix Dubai IT roles ask for — operations and team leadership, security & governance, cloud & infrastructure, and the web & AI layer on top — handled end to end.

01

IT Operations, Service Desk & Team Leadership

ITIL-aligned service delivery; managing helpdesk and service-desk operations; employee onboarding and offboarding; leading desktop engineers and coordinators; vendor negotiation; and both in-house and field IT support across multi-OS estates.

ITIL v4Service desk managementOnboarding / offboardingTeam leadershipVendor negotiationField & in-house support
02

Cybersecurity & Governance

Multi-vendor firewalls (SOPHOS, SonicWall, Fortinet, Palo Alto), centrally-managed endpoint protection, DLP, BitLocker, biometrics and Mimecast email security; ISO 27001 / PCI-DSS audit readiness with a zero-non-conformance record.

SOPHOS / SonicWall / Fortinet / Palo AltoKaspersky / DefenderDLPBitLockerBiometricsMimecastISO 27001 / PCI-DSS
03

Cloud, Infrastructure & Virtualization

Microsoft 365 and Azure AD, cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, VMware / Hyper-V virtualization, Layer-3 switching, and multi-site networks, telephony (3CX, Avaya, Meraki) and CCTV — provisioned, monitored and recoverable.

Microsoft 365 / Azure ADDigitalOcean hostingVMware / Hyper-VLayer-3 switching (Cisco)3CX / Avaya / MerakiCCTV multi-site
04

Web, SEO & AI

Builds and manages websites end to end — WordPress, SEO and small-scale digital marketing — plus AI-assisted automation and "vibe coding" with Claude, ChatGPT, Replit and Ollama. Quick to adopt new tech.

WordPressSEODigital marketingClaude / ChatGPTReplit / OllamaPowerShell & APIs
// selected impact

Outcomes, not job titles.

A tour across security, infrastructure, operations, web and AI — each with the result it shipped.

Security · DLP

Zero critical incidents

Layered SOPHOS endpoint, DLP, BitLocker encryption and biometric access across every system at VSP, aligned to security and audit requirements — no critical security incidents on my watch.

0 critical incidents · audit-aligned
Infrastructure · Multi-site

Oil terminal to head office

Designed and ran the network end to end — Layer-3 switching, VLANs, telephony and CCTV — spanning the oil terminal through to head office for a petroleum, shipping and terminal operation.

Terminal → HQ · 99%+ uptime
ERP · Cloud

Odoo built from scratch

Deployed Odoo for Finance, HR and Admin from the ground up and hosted it on DigitalOcean cloud — running ERP and CRM with automated, monitored provisioning.

ERP + CRM · cloud-hosted
Network Security

Multi-vendor firewall command

Hands-on building, tuning and migrating firewall estates across SOPHOS, SonicWall, Fortinet and Palo Alto — gateway security, VPN and secure VLAN segmentation for global teams.

4 firewall platforms
Media · Events

Newsrooms & live events

Built and supported newsroom IT for a major media group, and delivered on-the-ground IT for flagship events — GITEX plus large food and industry exhibitions.

GITEX + flagship events
Operations · Scale

Multi-country estate

Ran IT for ITP Media Group across UAE, UK, India, Qatar and KSA — 300+ users with near-zero downtime over nine years, with 3CX/Avaya telephony and Mimecast email security.

6 countries · 9 years
AI · Automation

Faster service desk

Championed AI-powered automation and rule-based ticket-triage workflows at VSP, cutting helpdesk resolution time and freeing the team for higher-value work.

30% faster resolution
Governance · Compliance

Clean ISO & PCI-DSS audits

Led a 5-person team through ISO and PCI-DSS certification audits at Fractal Analytics with zero non-conformances — embedding governance, logging and audit readiness.

0 non-conformances
ITSM · Automation

ITIL-aligned ITSM rollout

Deployed ZOHO ManageEngine (ITIL) and automated workflows plus a video knowledge base, cutting average ticket-resolution time and recurring tickets.

40% faster resolution
Continuity · Cloud

Remote-work continuity

Deployed and managed Citrix Workspace to keep global teams productive through and after COVID, with secure VPN and VLAN segmentation underneath.

Seamless WFH at scale
Enterprise · Finance

Marquee finance clients

At Servcorp, supported financial-services and aviation clients — JP Morgan, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal — across 50+ enterprise accounts in a serviced-office, shared-services model.

50+ enterprise clients
Passion · AI

FixieIT — my IT playground

Personal passion projects (not businesses): I build sites like FixieIT.com and EvntSup.com — and experiment with Claude, ChatGPT, Replit and Ollama for coding and vibe coding.

Hobby that keeps me current
// track record

Two decades across the UAE and India.

Jul 2025 — Present

FixieIT.com — Personal Passion Project

Independent IT knowledge platform (side project, not a business)
  • Build and run an IT knowledge site sharing support, cybersecurity, cloud, Microsoft 365 and AI tips — purely out of interest.
  • Keeps my web development, SEO and new-tech skills sharp, including AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Replit and Ollama for coding and vibe coding.
Jul 2024 — Jul 2025

Senior IT Manager — Operations · Cloud · Cybersecurity

VSP (Petroleum, Oil Terminal & Shipping), Dubai, UAE
  • Ran multi-site infrastructure from the oil terminal to head office — Layer-3 switching, VLANs, telephony and CCTV — at 99%+ uptime.
  • Secured the estate with SOPHOS endpoint, DLP, BitLocker and biometrics, and managed multi-vendor firewalls (SOPHOS, SonicWall, Fortinet, Palo Alto) — zero critical incidents.
  • Deployed Odoo (Finance, HR, Admin) from scratch and hosted it on DigitalOcean cloud for ERP and CRM.
  • Cut helpdesk resolution 30% via AI-powered automation and ticket triage; managed helpdesk and service-desk operations; led desktop engineers and coordinators; negotiated with vendors; covered in-house and field support.
Mar 2015 — Jul 2024

Senior Systems Administrator

ITP Media Group, Dubai, UAE — 300+ users · 6 countries
  • Delivered IT across UAE, UK, India, Qatar and KSA with near-zero downtime over nine years; built and supported newsroom IT.
  • Ran 3CX and Avaya telephony, Cisco Meraki networking, Mimecast email security, SOPHOS firewall, VPN and secure VLAN segmentation.
  • Delivered on-the-ground IT for flagship events — GITEX and major food and industry exhibitions.
  • Automated Active Directory lifecycle — employee onboarding and offboarding — and GPO deployments; ran helpdesk and service-desk operations and led a team of coordinators and engineers across Mac/Windows/Linux.
Mar 2013 — Mar 2014

Assistant Manager — IT Operations

Fractal Analytics, Mumbai, India
  • Deployed ZOHO ManageEngine (ITIL) ITSM — cut average ticket-resolution time 40%.
  • Led a 5-person team through ISO and PCI-DSS audits with zero non-conformances; managed AD, Google Workspace and Hadoop infrastructure.
Dec 2010 — Nov 2011

IT Services Administrator

Servcorp, Abu Dhabi, UAE — 50+ enterprise clients
  • Supported financial-services and aviation clients (JP Morgan, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal) in a serviced-office, shared-services model.
  • Administered Windows Servers, Active Directory, MS Exchange, DHCP and Layer-3 switching with custom VLANs.
Aug 2008 — Dec 2010

Helpdesk Engineer

Emirates Computers (Dell Gold Partner), Abu Dhabi, UAE
  • UAE point of contact for Dell support escalations; monitored SLAs and client satisfaction.
  • Built an in-house VMware virtualization lab for training and testing.
Jul 2006 — Jul 2008

System Support Engineer

Hostway Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India
  • Independently managed all IT operations — servers, desktops and VOIP (150 users).
  • Automated BACULA backups across Linux/Windows systems and maintained full IT inventory.
Jun 2004 — Jul 2006

Assistant Systems Engineer

Directi, Mumbai, India
  • Configured RAID arrays and staged servers in data centres; maintained full IT inventory.
  • Managed OS and email-client deployments across the estate.
// global footprint

Built for international, multi-entity IT.

Delivered and supported IT across 7+ countries — the UAE, wider GCC, India, the UK and the USA.

UAE Saudi Arabia Qatar Oman Bahrain Kuwait Iraq India United Kingdom USA
// toolkit

The stack I run with.

Operations, ITSM & Automation

ZOHO ManageEngine (ITIL)Net HelpdeskProcess automationGPO automationTicket-triage workflowsTeam & vendor managementField & in-house support

AI & Coding

ClaudeChatGPTReplitOllamaVibe codingPowerShellAPI integration

Cloud & Identity

Microsoft 365 AdminAzure ADGoogle WorkspaceDigitalOcean hostingCloud migration

Infrastructure & Virtualization

Windows ServerActive DirectoryDHCP / DNSVMware vSphereHyper-VCitrix WorkspaceLayer-3 switching (Cisco)

Telephony, Network & AV

3CXAvayaCisco MerakiIP PhonesCCTV (multi-site)VLAN / VPN / SD-WAN

Security & Endpoint

SOPHOSSonicWallFortinetPalo AltoKasperskyMicrosoft Defender / Windows SecurityCentralized endpoint mgmtDLPBitLockerBiometricsMimecastPowerDMARC

Web, Platforms & Other

WordPress & WebSEODigital marketingMac / Windows / Linux desktop adminOdoo ERP (Finance / HR / Admin)HadoopBACULARAIDDisaster Recovery
// credentials

Certified, trained & multilingual.

VMware VCP 510

VMware Certified Professional

Dell DCSE 2010

Dell Certified Systems Expert

VMware vSphere 5.0 ICM

Install · Configure · Manage (2012)

CCNA Training

Cisco networking (2005)

Wireless Security & Ethical Hacking

Master Class, Dubai (2016)

Digital Marketing Diploma

Shaw Academy, UK (2015)

// let's talk

Have IT worth running well?