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MEET KURTIS PICKETT: VLCM SOLUTION ARCHITECT

Written by Priscilla Silva | Mar 20, 2015 3:00:00 PM
Networking is important in an engineer's life, not just their job, but networking with other professionals to stay connected with others in the industry. Meet Kurtis Pickett, a VLCM Solution Architect with 12 years of experience under his belt.

Networking is important in an engineer's life, not just their job, but networking with other professionals to stay connected with others in the industry. Meet Kurtis Pickett, a VLCM Solution Architect with 12 years of experience under his belt. He stay connected with his professor from college courses, and that professor eventually landed him a position here, at VLCM. Kurtis now supports VLCM customers who use our Managed Services to maintain their network including small and medium-sized businesses. 

In his role, Kurtis assesses and plans the proper implementation of varying IT solutions for VLCM customers. He has expertise in just about every field of IT. From routing and switches to security and wireless, Kurtis can do it all and do it well. Previous to his time with VLCM, Kurtis was the network engineer of control systems and automation for Kennecott Copper Mine, where he implemented a fully-new redundant design to support the organization. Read on to learn more of his skills and how he delivers for our customers.

 

Kurtis studied programming in his college experience and uses his skills to understand our customers' networks while considering longevity and security. He went on to say, "Good hackers make good engineers because they understand systems protocol." With this in mind, he focuses on the end user, ensuring they have a smooth experience while connected and troubleshooting their firewalls when their networks are vulnerable. 

Working on the Professional Services division with responsibility for MSP clients across a wide range of network topologies and equipment has given Kurtis the ability to achieve notable accomplishments. He redeployed 200 edge switches in under 2 weeks, ahead of schedule for a large school district. Kurtis has also engineered sites for full wireless coverage, deployed a new call center with full redundancy from server core to edge switching, and has redesigned interal business networks and systems. His education from Salt Lake Community College in Applied Science has given Kurtis the means to excel in IT.

Check out Kurtis' certifications, below:

  • Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA, Route/Switch), currently training for CCNP
  • Certified Barracuda Security Engineer
  • Certified Barracuda Backup Manger
  • Certified ShoreTel Communications ST14
  • Certified LANDesk CLE Systems and Security Management

His certifications constantly change as he renews and discovers new technology to support. Kurtis has recently acquired an interest in programming electronics, creating rules that signal electronics to act in a certain way. His future aspiration is to build something he's proud of, maybe even robotics! He also enjoys digital photography as a hobby and being outdoors. He would say yes to a Real Salt Lake soccer game any day, so invites are welcome.

VLCM is proud of their solution architects and the great engineering solutions they provide our customers. Be sure to contact us with any questions on how these engineers can make your data center life easier.