20+
Years in enterprise IT
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Jihad Aravassery
Cloud Architect
Enterprise cloud and security architect focused on Azure platforms, secure transformation, resilience, and executive-aligned delivery.
I design secure, scalable cloud foundations for institutions that need architecture discipline, delivery rigor, and defensible security controls.
- 20+ years in enterprise IT
- 9+ years in Microsoft Azure
- Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- DevOps Engineer Expert
- Cybersecurity Architect Expert
Executive Summary
Architecture leadership for secure, resilient cloud delivery.
Certified technology professional with more than two decades of experience across architecture, infrastructure, and enterprise platforms, including over nine years focused on Microsoft Azure.
Specializes in secure cloud architecture, landing zones, Zero Trust-aligned controls, DevSecOps operating models, and continuity planning for business-critical services.
Works effectively with executive stakeholders, project teams, and operations groups to translate strategic goals into architecture decisions, governance standards, and delivery roadmaps.
Brings practical exposure to Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, document intelligence, and security-centered AI adoption in controlled enterprise settings.
Career Scorecard
9+
Years in Microsoft Azure
15,000
Users supported on SharePoint estate
3+
Years in Zero Trust, AKS, CI/CD, and cloud security programs
Selected Highlights
Cloud, security, and stakeholder strengths backed by the CV.
- Implemented security policies aligned with ISO 27001, NIST, and UAE regulatory expectations.
- Designed Azure solutions, landing zones, and service roadmaps aligned with business goals and budget constraints.
- Applied Zero Trust principles across identity, platform, and data protection decisions in enterprise environments.
- Used Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, and document intelligence in practical enterprise scenarios.
- Delivered Microsoft-certified cloud operations training supporting Emiratization initiatives in the UAE.
Core Expertise
Cloud Architecture
- Azure landing zones
- IaaS and PaaS design
- Architecture diagrams and roadmaps
- Service selection aligned to budget and risk
Security and Compliance
- Zero Trust architecture
- Threat modeling and risk assessment
- ISO 27001, NIST, CIS v8 alignment
- Data protection, encryption, and key management
Platform Delivery
- Secure DevOps processes
- CI/CD pipelines and release governance
- AKS, containers, and Azure DevOps
- Operational standards and support documentation
Resilience and Operations
- Disaster recovery planning
- High availability design
- SQL Server administration and tuning
- Infrastructure modernization and continuity
Experience Timeline
Two decades across architecture, infrastructure, and enterprise platforms.
Lead Cloud Architect
Department of IT, UAE University
- Acted as the lead security and architecture subject matter expert for multi-team cloud initiatives, aligning technical direction with institutional strategy and senior stakeholder expectations.
- Defined a Secure DevOps operating model covering production delivery, architecture standards, deployment guides, and standard operating procedures for cloud solutions.
- Led threat modeling, risk assessment, encryption, key management, incident response, and disaster recovery planning for business-critical environments.
- Designed secure Azure architectures and remediation plans to close security gaps while improving delivery readiness and continuity posture.
Infrastructure Specialist
Department of IT, UAE University
- Managed enterprise infrastructure operations in line with executive strategy, supporting large-scale academic and administrative workloads.
- Operated SharePoint farms across nine servers for approximately 15,000 users and maintained supporting SQL Server high-availability environments.
- Owned SQL Server administration, backup and recovery, performance tuning, access control, encryption, and operational reliability.
- Diagnosed service and database issues, implemented corrective action, and improved stability through monitoring, recovery planning, and performance analysis.
Portal Administrator
College of Information Technology, UAE University
- Documented and implemented portal administration standards for business-facing services.
- Installed and configured application servers and SharePoint portal environments.
- Supported operational monitoring, alerting, troubleshooting, and automated recovery for service availability.
- Contributed to portal-based business systems including university activity management and geo-portal initiatives.
Oracle Portal Consultant
Department of Economy, Abu Dhabi
- Built and maintained Oracle Portal applications across design, coding, testing, and documentation activities.
- Translated business requirements into technical specifications and implemented portal extensions using PL/SQL, Java, JavaScript, and HTML/CSS.
- Integrated external systems into Oracle Portal to improve interoperability and data flow.
- Resolved performance bottlenecks and tuned portal workloads for stability and scalability.
Selected Case Studies
Sanitized project stories focused on architecture outcomes.
Secure Azure Architecture for Institutional Cloud Initiatives
- Challenge
- Multiple project teams needed cloud patterns that balanced delivery speed, governance, and security expectations in a regulated university environment.
- Role
- Lead Cloud Architect and security SME
- Approach
- Defined architecture standards, secure landing-zone direction, stakeholder reporting, and design guidance for project teams. Combined risk assessments, policy controls, and practical service selection to keep delivery aligned with institutional objectives.
- Outcome
- Enabled a repeatable cloud decision model that reduced architecture inconsistency and improved the quality of security-by-design conversations with technical and executive stakeholders.
- Tech / Frameworks used
- Microsoft Azure · Zero Trust · Governance · Architecture documentation
Secure DevOps Model for Production Delivery
- Challenge
- Cloud delivery needed tighter operational control so new features could reach production without weakening security posture or release discipline.
- Role
- Architecture lead for secure delivery strategy
- Approach
- Designed a Secure DevOps process covering deployment standards, operating procedures, cross-team responsibilities, and continuous delivery guardrails.
- Outcome
- Improved release readiness and created a clearer operating model for delivering new capabilities into production with stronger security expectations embedded from the start.
- Tech / Frameworks used
- Azure DevOps · CI/CD · DevSecOps · Operational procedures
High-Availability Data and Collaboration Platforms
- Challenge
- Business-critical collaboration and database services required stronger continuity planning, dependable performance, and recoverability.
- Role
- Infrastructure specialist responsible for platform reliability
- Approach
- Managed SharePoint and SQL Server environments, implemented availability-focused designs, optimized database operations, and formalized backup and recovery procedures.
- Outcome
- Supported reliable service delivery for large user populations while improving data availability, recovery preparedness, and operational stability.
- Tech / Frameworks used
- SQL Server · SharePoint · High Availability · Backup and recovery
Risk Reduction Through Threat Modeling and Security Controls
- Challenge
- Projects required clearer visibility into security gaps, control priorities, and continuity risks before they became production issues.
- Role
- Lead Cloud Architect and risk advisor
- Approach
- Conducted threat modeling and risk assessments, designed mitigations, and introduced encryption, key management, incident response, and disaster recovery measures where needed.
- Outcome
- Strengthened organizational readiness and helped project teams address security risk with more structured, defensible architecture decisions.
- Tech / Frameworks used
- Threat modeling · Encryption · Key management · Disaster recovery
Featured Certifications
Current credentials aligned to architecture, security, and delivery leadership.
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure 2025 Certified Multicloud Architect Professional
- Microsoft Certified Trainer
Additional credentials include Azure fundamentals, Microsoft security specializations, Oracle multicloud certifications, SQL Server training, and analytics coursework.
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure 2025 Certified Foundations Associate
- Oracle Database@AWS Certified Architect Professional
- Power BI Data Modeling with DAX
- Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Administration
- SQL Server: Reporting Services
Education
Formal academic grounding in information technology and computer science.
- Master's in Information Technology, SMU University, India
- Bachelor's in Computer Science, Calicut University, India
Contact / Resume