← About Ivan

My professional journey

25+ years.
Still building. Still learning.

From an MBO in Network Administration to global infrastructure, technical leadership and telco IT. A career built through practice—and an HBO journey that continues today.

2001

From study to the service desk.

MBO-4 Network Administration · Da Vinci College

I completed my MBO-4 in Network Administration in 2001. My first steps in enterprise IT had already started in October 2000 as a Junior Consultant in IT services, supporting a manufacturing site. Installing workstations, supporting users and learning the network gave the theory a practical purpose.

  • October 2000–August 2001: Junior Consultant · IT services for manufacturing.
  • September 2001–January 2002: IT Service Desk Engineer · Manufacturing.
What I carry forwardUnderstand the person behind the technical problem.

February 2002 – October 2004

Taking responsibility for a whole site.

IT Professional · Manufacturing

At the Rotterdam site, my scope grew from individual support calls to the environment people depended on: workstations, servers, backups and the local network. I combined user support with day-to-day infrastructure ownership.

  • Supported the site’s PCs, local servers and network.
  • Contributed to a business ownership transition and the preparation of its new infrastructure.
  • Built a formal technical foundation with Microsoft and Security+ certifications.
What I carry forwardReliable operations begin with knowing how the pieces connect.

November 2004 – October 2006

Beyond one office. Across borders.

Global IT Engineer · Manufacturing

Moving into global engineering meant translating infrastructure requirements into changes across locations and working with an external outsourcing partner. The work connected network planning, migrations and the realities of local operations.

  • Contributed to the company’s global desktop and domain migration.
  • Integrated two locations in India into the PC, server and network environment.
  • Worked on firewall, telephony and database migration projects.
What I carry forwardA global design still has to work at every local site.

November 2006 – September 2008

Making the estate easier to run.

IT Engineer Client Server Operations · Manufacturing

I continued engineering client, server and network services across global manufacturing locations, connecting enterprise infrastructure with the needs of operational technology (OT).

  • Deployed global Wi-Fi with RADIUS authentication.
  • Deployed Cisco PIX firewalls for OT environments.
  • Deployed VMware virtualization for client and server operations.
  • Documented the Honeywell PHD historian and developed a blueprint for other locations.
What I carry forwardConnectivity must work reliably and securely, from the office to the plant.

October 2008 – June 2020

Leading people. Staying hands-on.

Global IT Engineering Manager / Global Manager IT Infrastructure · Manufacturing

For more than a decade I led a distributed international engineering team while remaining involved in technical design and implementation. My responsibilities expanded to the infrastructure project portfolio, team development and the long-term direction of the technology estate.

  • Managed the Windows 7 migration of more than 500 PCs.
  • Built the IT Engineering team and introduced structured change management.
  • Led infrastructure modernization across networking, virtualization, monitoring and backups.
  • Extended the environment into Azure, Microsoft 365 and hybrid connectivity.
What I carry forwardTechnical leadership means enabling others to build and operate well.

July 2020 – June 2021

Bringing the whole system into view.

Technical Architect IT Infrastructure · Manufacturing

I moved into a functional lead role to deepen my work as a technical architecture specialist. Cloud, identity, networks, business applications and industrial automation became parts of the same design conversation.

  • Drove a Honeywell PHD historian project from business case to implementation.
  • Delivered Azure and identity capabilities, including SSO, MFA and Conditional Access.
  • Coordinated infrastructure changes across business and industrial environments.
What I carry forwardArchitecture connects a business need to a solution people can use.

June 2021 – 2026

Enterprise IT meets the telco landscape.

Principal IT Consultant · Telecommunications

In telecommunications, I worked across Cloud & Enterprise IT, connecting infrastructure choices with the needs of a telecom operator. My role combined technical architecture, hands-on engineering and collaboration across IT, OSS and BSS environments.

  • Worked on cloud connectivity, identity and enterprise application migrations.
  • Developed Infrastructure as Code for Azure and Entra ID.
  • Contributed to Kubernetes and API gateway integrations.
  • Explored AI workflow automation alongside security and operational requirements.
What I carry forwardExpertise matters most when it makes complex decisions clearer.

2026 – present

Automate. Enable. Secure.

IT Expert · Telecommunications

From 2026, my role shifts to IT Expert, with a focus on automation, DevOps, Enterprise AI and Zero Trust. I bring infrastructure and security experience together to help turn ideas into repeatable, secure and operable capabilities.

  • Automation: reduce manual work through reusable code and workflows.
  • DevOps: connect engineering, delivery and day-to-day operations.
  • Enterprise AI: enable practical adoption with governance and secure integration.
  • Zero Trust: make access explicit, limited and verifiable.
What I carry forwardMake new capabilities easier to adopt, safer to use and simpler to operate.

2021 – now · study in progress

Still learning. Now completing my HBO.

HBO-ICT Cyber Security · NOVI Hogeschool

Alongside my professional work, I am completing my HBO-ICT studies in Cyber Security. My graduation project examines Zero Trust maturity and the development of more explicit, limited and verifiable access. It brings structured research together with the practical questions I encounter in infrastructure and security.

  • Building on the MBO foundation with higher professional education.
  • Connecting practical experience with research, analysis and advice.
  • Continuing to learn through my homelab and the field notes I share here.
What I carry forwardExperience is a foundation for learning, not a finish line.

Learning in public

The work continues.

My homelab and field notes are where ideas become experiments, and experiments become lessons.

Read my field notes →