Are you fascinated by the world of IT, intrigued by cloud technologies, or keen on personal career growth? If so, you’re in the right place. I’m Duke, a seasoned IT professional with a decade of diverse experience under my belt.
My journey started at McGraw-Hill Education as a Content Programmer where I built interactive math problems on their online educational platform, “ALEKS”, using a blend of HTML, CSS, and a proprietary programming language called ISL. However, my thirst for challenges led me to explore beyond the comforts of my role.
In my quest for diversity, I befriended colleagues from web development and IT support teams, immersing myself in their work. The diverse set of tasks handled by the IT support team sparked a sense of adventure within me, leading me to earn the A+ and the Network+ certifications. These certifications propelled me into the role of an IT Support Specialist at different companies spanning finance, restaurant, pharmaceutical, and ecommerce sectors.
Despite the initial excitement, the role gradually turned monotonous, inspiring me to strive for greater challenges. Aiming for the big leagues, I transitioned into a project management role at a pharmaceutical company, working with a diverse team to create innovative solutions. However, the Covid pandemic in 2020 brought about unexpected changes, leading me back to my roots as an IT Support Specialist, this time at an ecommerce start-up.
At the start-up, I started off handling IT support tickets, but soon realized the potential for automating manual tasks. With the green light from my manager, I implemented automation strategies that greatly improved efficiency. My greatest challenge, however, was yet to come – migrating our ecommerce web stores from our current hosting provider to Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Embracing the risk, I earned the Project Management Professional (PMP) and the Professional Cloud Architect (Google) certifications to prepare for this colossal task. My new skills and a team of cloud specialists led the migration project to success over a span of one year. My journey, riddled with lessons, mistakes, highs, and lows, is a story I intend to share in future posts.
Today, on July 5th, 2023, I’m engrossed in monitoring our web stores and continuously learning new aspects of GCP. I firmly believe GCP, with its minimalistic design and exceptional user experience, stands as the best cloud provider. Although Azure and AWS have a larger market share, GCP is witnessing a rapid rate of adoption.
As I continue to explore the cloud-centric world, I invite you to join me. Subscribe to my blog and follow me on social media to stay updated on my journey and learn with me. Together, let’s make the world a more cloud-friendly environment.