CV & Skills
Freelance IT consultant, architect and trainer since 2019, based in Berlin and working remotely or on site in Germany and abroad. I cover the whole lifecycle: architecture, build, operations and automation. VMware (vSphere, vSAN, VCF, Horizon) and NetApp have been my main focus for many years; more recently, sovereign open source platforms such as Kubernetes and Ceph. Most of my projects are in the public sector, banking and finance.
For confidentiality reasons I don’t name clients here and keep project details brief. Happy to go into more detail on a call.
- 15 years in IT
- 7 years self-employed
- 85 training courses since 2020
- 37 certifications
Skills
- Kubernetes & Platform
- Storage
- Automation & AI
- Virtualisation
- VDI & EUC
- Security & Methods
- Languages
- Earlier projects
Project experience
Certified Instructor
Official training for VMware by Broadcom, Omnissa and NetApp
Official courses for VMware by Broadcom, Omnissa and NetApp, currently VMware Cloud Foundation 9, vSphere 8, vSAN, Kubernetes and Omnissa Horizon among others. Also vendor-neutral courses such as SAN and Storage Fundamentals.
85 courses with 318 training days since 2020, see Training for details.
Solution Architect & Platform Engineer
Architecture and PoC of an open source storage platform (since 2025)
Architecture and network design for a scalable storage platform on Kubernetes and Ceph, with PoCs and a lab build. Wrote Helm charts that map tenants automatically (including features Rook does not have yet) and run Samba containers on CephFS. Implemented security requirements from the BSI IT-Grundschutz (German federal security standard). Working with a Ceph partner on Rook development.
Build, operation and automation of the storage platform (since 2023)
Built the platform (in production since 2023), fully automated with GitOps: the whole environment builds itself, zero touch. Developed a container with Ansible and the CTERA SDK (Python) that sets up new CTERA environments as a Kubernetes job. Object storage on Kubernetes, secrets, DNS, monitoring and logging. CTERA upgrades, plus troubleshooting and fixes together with the vendor.
Design of an object and file storage platform (2022 - 2023)
Designed a highly available, scalable object and file storage solution on VMware, using the vSAN Data Persistence Platform (SNA) and the vSphere Supervisor. Analysed the market and evaluated vendors and products, including PoCs. Supported a public tender for storage solutions. Planned hardware and configuration and wrote the high-level and low-level designs, working closely with enterprise architects and the customer.
Senior Consultant & Architect
Standalone Horizon environment
Built a fully standalone environment for the Research Data Center Network (RDCnet), with no shared components. Researchers work on virtual desktops while the data stays in the institute's data centre. Installed ESXi, vCenter, domain controller, file server, load balancer, Connection Server and UAG. Golden image for Instant Clones, profiles and folder redirection with DEM/FSLogix, GPOs.
Senior Consultant
Operations support and renewal of the Horizon environment
Third engagement for the same client as 12/2019 - 06/2021. Supported operations of the VDI environment and the upgrade to vSphere 8 and Horizon 8 with App Volumes and DEM, plus new Windows versions and bug fixing.
Senior Consultant & Architect
Review and tuning of a new Horizon 8 environment
Reviewed a Horizon environment for 800 to 1,000 users that a service provider had built. Challenged the configuration, checked it against best practices and tracked down faults. Analysed performance problems of clients connecting over the internet, with network latency as the main issue. Configured NVIDIA vGPU, compared H.264 hardware encoding (NVENC) with the Blast codec and tuned the desktops, including some high-end VMs.
Senior Consultant & Architect
Operation and stabilisation of vSphere, vSAN and Horizon
Ran and stabilised an ageing VDI environment with full clones for about 1,000 users on an all-flash vSAN (OSA) stretched cluster with more than 20 hosts. Worked through a long list of vSAN faults with VMware Support, replaced the cache disks in more than 40 disk groups and reinstalled every host. Migrated the Windows vCenter to the VCSA. Planned server maintenance contracts, ordered new disks with procurement, sorted out licensing with VMware sales and supported the managed service provider. Wrote many PowerShell scripts for operations and reporting, among them a utilisation analysis used to size a Kubernetes environment. Upgraded Horizon 7 to 8. In the end the acute incidents were fixed and the environment was no longer at risk of a total outage.
Review and rebuild of the VDI environment
Reviewed an external provider's design for the new environment and reworked it together with the architect, including the switch from full clones to Instant Clones. Prepared the move from a managed cloud to the customer's own data centre. Took part in rebuilding the VDI, configuring Horizon, UAG, vSphere and vSAN.
Senior Consultant
Emergency rebuild of the Horizon environment
Called back by the same client (see 12/2019 - 06/2021). Rebuilt the VDI environment on vSphere 8 and Horizon 8 until it was running again: reinstalled components such as ESXi, vCenter, Horizon and App Volumes and restored the DEM configuration.
Senior Consultant & Architect
Design and build of a Horizon environment with Cloud Pod Architecture
Implemented a Horizon 7 & 8 environment with Cloud Pod Architecture for about 1,000 users on managed hardware at a cloud provider: architecture, installation of every component, golden images and every single App Volume. Active/passive design across two data centres with global server load balancing; helped the cloud provider configure the F5. Packaged more than 20 applications as App Volumes and replaced View Persona with DEM. Migrated nearly 900 decentralised desktops to the new central environment and supported IT operations through the cutover.
Senior Consultant
VDI design for the production floor
High-level design for a VMware Horizon PoC in the production areas of two sites. Defined the use cases, presented to the head of production and agreed the scope of the second phase.
Consultant
Replacing NetApp 7-Mode
Replaced NetApp 7-Mode systems. Moved business-critical NAS data from IBM N-Series to NetApp AFF MetroCluster using SnapMirror and 7MTT, kept critical applications available throughout and optimised the existing NetApp landscape.
Employment 2011 to 2019
Consultant Professional Services
Automated private cloud for a banking customer
Built and handed over a fully automated cloud environment (SaaS) as part of the team. Main responsibility for vRealize Operations: architecture, high availability, hardening and dashboards. Also vRealize Network Insight and vSphere troubleshooting.
Complete VMware stack for a PoC (Banking)
Built a complete VMware stack for a proof of concept.
Horizon VDI for 10,000 users (Healthcare)
Architecture and analysis of the existing setup of a VDI environment for 10,000 users; catalogued every application as the basis for packaging with App Volumes. Part of a large Kanban team.
Consultant & Trainer
Many short engagements, most of them 1 to 5 days
New NetApp systems, VMware and NetApp migrations and updates, backup and DR with Veeam and CommVault, and health checks, some on behalf of NetApp as a Certified Delivery Partner. Presales work with sizing and PoCs.
Upgrade of a distributed NetApp landscape (Manufacturing)
Health checks of every system in a complex, distributed NetApp landscape on behalf of NetApp, then planned and carried out the entire upgrade to ONTAP 9.
Replacing a NetApp 7-Mode MetroCluster (Healthcare)
From presales and the migration plan through to implementation: migrated the whole setup from 7-Mode to a Clustered Data ONTAP MetroCluster with All Flash FAS and Brocade SAN at two sites, including the LUNs, the connection of the hospital information system and backup with Veeam.
Full-stack design and build of a complete infrastructure (Pharma)
Greenfield build; built the entire stack single-handedly, from design to go-live: Fujitsu servers, Juniper Virtual Chassis, NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP, vSphere, Citrix XenApp and backup with CommVault.
Training
vSphere courses at a training provider, mostly VI112 vSphere Fundamentals, and helped develop the course material. NetApp training on site at customers as well.
Technician Associate (Consulting Services)
Plan/build team in the data centre (Public Sector)
Planned and carried out data centre changes, tested new technologies and wrote scripts in PowerShell and Perl, working with NetApp MetroCluster and vSphere among others.
Other customer engagements
Checked a bank's vSphere environment against the VMware Hardening Guide; vSphere upgrades and NetApp installations for other customers.
Apprenticeship in the data centre division
Trainee programme with stints in sales, the solution centre, consulting, project management, networking and operations, plus a six-week NetApp SEAL programme. Certified as VCP, NCDA and CCNA while still an apprentice.
Selected certifications
VCAP-VCF VKS
VMware Certified Advanced Professional – VMware Cloud Foundation VKS
2026
VCP-VCF Architect
VMware Certified Professional – VMware Cloud Foundation Architect
2026
VCP-VCF Administrator
VMware Certified Professional – VMware Cloud Foundation Administrator
2026
NCI
NetApp Certified Instructor
2023
VCAP-DTM Design 2022
VMware Certified Advanced Professional – Desktop Management Design 2022
2022
VCI
VMware Certified Instructor
2020
Contact
Planning a project or need help with your environment? Email me at kontakt@marcfischer.de.
I can send you a detailed CV with all projects as a PDF.