Ben Walster
Service Lead Event Management Monitoring and Automation @Co-op
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WORK HISTORY
Service Lead Event Management Monitoring and Automation @Co-op
Manchester, GB
Strategic Infrastructure & Automation Lead: I drive the strategic vision, end-to-end management, and adoption of core observability, AIOps, and ITSM platforms. My focus is transforming reactive IT operations into a proactive service model that maximizes system reliability and operational efficiency.Operational Excellence & Incident Reduction:Result-Driven Reduction: Led a cross-functional effort that delivered a 24% overall reduction in incidents over two years, including a 41% reduction in Priority 3 tickets. Achieved by focusing on root cause elimination and automation.AIOps & Alert Modernization: Advanced monitoring maturity through collaboration on alert tuning, event correlation, and enrichment to reduce noise.Completed an AIOps Proof of Concept demonstrating an additional 40% event reduction using AI/ML for suppression.Workflow Automation: Directed the implementation of PowerShell-driven workflow automation tied to alert mechanisms, enabling immediate first-time fixes (e.g, disk cleanups, service restarts) and accelerating Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR).Strategic Integration & Governance:ITSIM & Service Integration: Managed the technical integration strategy for diverse monitoring tools (SCOM, Nagios, Azure Monitor, etc.) with the AIOps platform. This enables centralized event correlation, enrichment, and business service impact analysis before forwarding to the ITSM system for accurate ITIL process data.Stakeholder Reporting: Partnered with teams to translate complex monitoring data into clear, actionable Power BI dashboards and reports, supporting continuous ITIL improvement and organizational transparency.Asset Governance: Ensured the operational health and data integrity of the Software License and Asset Management (SLAM) platform (e.g, Flexera), supporting effective license compliance and asset lifecycle management.
EDUCATION
Oldham College
BTEC, IT Applications
SKILLS
ABOUT BEN WALSTER
Senior Infrastructure Engineer | 20+ Years in Global IT Systems Design & Performance OptimisationFor 20+ years, I\'ve been a results-driven Infrastructure Engineer specializing in the design, implementation, and management of global, highly-available IT systems. Proven success in analyzing complex business needs and translating them into efficient, scalable IT solutions that drive operational excellence. I am skilled at leading collaboration across global teams and external vendors to maximize value and delivery.Strong background in infrastructure services, system migrations, and developing high-quality technical documentation. I excel at presenting complex technical solutions to stakeholders at all levels to ensure alignment and buy-in.Key Skills & ExpertiseCore Infrastructure: Active Directory, GPO, DHCP, DNS, Microsoft Windows Server/Client, Domain Migrations (Quest).Automation & Analysis: PowerShell, VBScript, Power BI, Microsoft Excel/Access, Visio.Monitoring, Automation & AIOps: Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), Azure Monitor, Backup & Security, Nexthink, Interlink Software Manager of Managers, Alert Integration (to Ivanti Service Manager), Event Correlation, Alert Enrichment, Incident Workflow Automation.Hardware & Vendors: Cisco, Global Team Leadership, External Vendor Management.I\'m passionate about leveraging technology to solve business problems and continuously enhance IT performance, security, and reliability. Let\'s connect to discuss how my experience can drive innovation for your organization.
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