Introduction
Background and focus
I am Kyle Lauro, an IT project manager based in Flagstaff, Arizona. I have worked in IT for more than twenty years: Windows and network administration, cloud storage engineering, enterprise systems on Department of Defense networks, and eleven years at my day-to-day job, where I moved from systems engineering into leading technology operations and now manage IT projects.
In most of my roles I have planned the change, connected the systems, automated the repeat work, and documented the result well enough for someone else to run it. More recently I have added applied AI to that toolkit, building workflows and tools where AI handles the repetitive work and a person keeps the review and the decision.
What I can help with
- Planning, tracking, and delivering infrastructure and migration projects.
- Connecting systems that do not share data, such as cloud inventory and service management.
- Turning repeat operations work into scripts, workflows, and reports.
- Putting AI to work on real tasks with guardrails and human review.
Leadership
From shop supervisor to director
- 1996 to 2000
Petty Officer and Shop Supervisor U.S. Navy, USS Kitty Hawk
Ran a repair shop aboard an aircraft carrier, working on high pressure boilers and flight deck catapults.
- 2003 to 2012
Windows Systems Administrator Airborne 1
Ran the servers, storage, and backups for an aerial mapping and LiDAR company, redesigned its domain and login security, and wrote its security policy and acceptable use policy.
“As someone who worked under Kyle, I appreciated his knowledge, support and attention to detail.” Jaden Langford
- 2012 to 2014
Technical lead on cloud builds Nirvanix
Managed more than 3,000 servers, led new public and private cloud storage builds, guided remote hands staff in the datacenters, and wrote their work instructions.
“He quickly went from learning the job to mentoring those that were hired at the same time and title.” Leah Oldakowski
- 2014 to 2015
Lead Windows administrator Solute Consulting, Signal Defense
Led enterprise Windows administration for more than 2,000 users and computers on the Department of Defense’s classified SIPRNet network, trained distributed system administrators, and was the main point of contact for the annual DoD security inspection.
- 2015 to 2019
Systems Engineer Day-to-day job
Ran VMware sites in datacenters around the world at 99.9% uptime and led disaster recovery testing.
- From 2019
Manager, then Director of Technology Operations Day-to-day job
Led a team of 15 across cloud operations, network and security, and database administration. Mentored engineers until each team had its own lead, kept SOC 2 audit findings at zero for eight years in a row, and built KPIs that ran from the department down to each person.
“The datacenter operations team has delivered outstanding results under Kyle's leadership.” Alan Cheng
- Now
IT Project Manager Day-to-day job
Manage IT projects and build AI tools for planning, reporting, and documentation.
Experience
1996 to present
Day-to-day job 11 years
Manages IT projects and builds applied AI and automation workflows for planning, reporting, documentation, and integration work.
Led a team of 15 across cloud operations, network and security, and database administration, responsible for a global cloud environment of more than 5,000 virtual machines, 150 physical servers, 50 network devices, and 30 storage arrays. Built the HaloITSM CMDB and workflow system, kept SOC 2 audit findings at zero for eight consecutive years, created department KPIs, and drove migrations from on premises datacenters to hyperscale cloud and from VMware to Nutanix.
Standardized operations and deployments and managed VMware vCenter sites globally at 99.9% uptime. Designed Zerto disaster recovery with a recovery point under 10 seconds and a recovery time under 30 minutes, plus automated WSUS patching, SolarWinds monitoring, and a cross datacenter Active Directory management domain.
Enterprise Windows Systems Administrator Solute Consulting, Signal Defense
Led Windows and Active Directory administration for more than 2,000 users and computers on the Department of Defense’s classified SIPRNet network: Group Policy built to DoD security guides, patching, monitoring and logging, and hardened VMware templates.
Cloud System Engineer Nirvanix
Managed more than 3,000 servers and was technical lead on new public and private cloud storage builds: storage servers, vSphere clusters, Active Directory, load balancers, QA standards, and datacenter build outs.
Windows Systems Administrator Airborne 1
Ran Windows servers, Active Directory and Group Policy, network attached storage, network cabling upgrades, and automated backups for production, finance, and file data at an aerial mapping and LiDAR company. Redesigned the domain and login security, and wrote the company security policy and acceptable use policy.
Associate of Science, Computer Networking Systems Technical Institute, Torrance, California
Graduated with honors.
Petty Officer, Shop Supervisor U.S. Navy, USS Kitty Hawk
Engineering and repair aboard an aircraft carrier, including high pressure boilers and flight deck catapults, across four Western Pacific deployments.
Recommendations
15 from LinkedIn, quoted exactly
Day-to-day job
“The devil is in the details as they say, Kyle is someone who will find them. … Kyle has continuously lead complex IT projects to success. … The datacenter operations team has delivered outstanding results under Kyle's leadership. …”
Nirvanix
“If you want a rock-solid technical team player, look no further. … His technical strength coupled with the earned respect of his fellow ops teammates placed him as lead tech on multiple projects ranging from software deployments on production systems to building complex customized cloud infrastructures for enterprise customers. … He quickly went from learning the job to mentoring those that were hired at the same time and title. … Kyle was responsible for creating and implementing procedures and generating detailed and well authored documentation that helped our team to become more organized and productive. …”
“… He came in with the ability to hit the ground running and owned whatever task assigned. … His skill-set and dedication is top-notch and I would highly recommend him to any company he chooses to work for.”
Airborne 1
“While I was CFO of Airborne 1, Kyle was without question my "go to guy" for our IT group. … From his opinions I was able to accurately forecast the cash flow and operational / staff demands for the entire business. … Simply, he knows his stuff, can answer the hard questions, shows up to work, stays late and isn't afraid to say no, even when it is the unpopular answer. …”
“As someone who worked under Kyle, I appreciated his knowledge, support and attention to detail. … He made himself available whenever I needed to talk and offered constructive suggestions on how to solve problems. … He is a highly organized person, which made it easy when he handed something off. …”
“Kyle is a dedicated, detail oriented manager who is hard working, knowledgeable and extremely professional. … He has been the sole manager of the Airborne 1 data infrastructure and maintained an advanced IT environment with incredible efficiency. …”
“… At a company where data is everything, Kyle successfully managed the storage of terabytes of aerial mapping data representing millions of dollars of inventory with very limited resources. … He also developed and managed the company's sharepoint collaboration software which greatly enhanced communications between departments and remote employees. …”
“… He has managed the Airborne 1 data infrastructure very well and maintained a robust IT environment given massive inputs of lidar and photo data. … I believe Kyle's Navy career also helped forge a strong work ethic, and attention to detail. …”
“… From the data production to acquisition to project management, his oversight in the field and in-office have been not only welcome but a necessary contribution to our client's projects. … Whether it be management, troubleshooting, or building out an IT framework, Kyle is an asset to any business team.”
“Kyle is a dedicated, detail oriented manager that showed the aptitude to excel in any of the tasks assigned to him. … Kyle ingests information and formulates great solutions in high stress environments. …”
“Kyle is a solid worker. … Knows the LiDAR acquisition business from start to finish. …”
Clients and outside colleagues
“Kyle is my go-to person for all of my IT troubles and projects. … I've hired him for a number of projects and each time I continue to be impressed by the quality of service I receive, as well as his timeliness. …”
“Kyle is an innovative and highly skilled system administrator. … The thing that impresses me the most about him is his uncanny ability to look past the theoretical and come up with unique solutions to every-day technical problems. …”
“Kyle is a very professional technician that follows the fast moving trends of the industry and continues to stay ahead of the curve. … I would trust him 100% with my IT department.”
“… gives a hundred percent to every task given to him, he is very trustworthy, consistent and reliable. … He would make an excellent addition to any company.”
Certifications
Microsoft, CompTIA, VMware, ITIL
- Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
- Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA)
- Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
- CompTIA Security+
- VMware Certified Associate, Data Center Virtualization
- ITIL 4 Foundation
Capabilities
Skills by area
Infrastructure
Built VMware clusters, ran vCenter sites across datacenters, designed disaster recovery, and moved workloads from VMware to Nutanix and into hyperscale cloud.
Automation and integration
PowerShell and workflow automation for patching, deployments, and reporting, plus integrations that move clean data between systems, such as cloud asset inventory into a CMDB.
Project operations
Running IT projects end to end: scope, plans, status reporting, vendor coordination, KPIs, audit readiness, and incident follow through, built on ITIL practices.
Applied AI
AI workflows for research, drafting, documentation, and repeat tasks, with defined roles, review gates, and a person approving the result.