Compute & Storage Solutions Architect

OUR COMPANY:

EOS IT Solutions is a Global Technology and Logistics company, providing Collaboration and Business IT Support services to some of the world’s largest industry leaders, delivering forward-thinking solutions based on multi-domain architecture. Customer satisfaction and commitment to superior quality of service are our top business priorities, along with investing in and supporting our partners and employees.

We are a true International IT provider and are proud to deliver our services through global simplicity with trusted transparency.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

The Compute & Storage Solutions Architect sits within the EOSITS  team and is the technical authority for server and storage solution design in a pre-sales capacity. The role owns the translation of customer capacity, performance and growth requirements into costed, buildable end-user configurations across the major OEM platforms, and is accountable for the technical accuracy and commercial soundness of what EOSITS proposes.

The role works directly with customers, EOSITS sales, professional services colleagues, and OEM channel and distribution partners, from first requirement through to bill of materials, quotation and design sign-off. It includes taking part in the technical relationship with the OEM community including Dell Technologies, HPE, Lenovo, Supermicro and others keeping EOSITS current on platform roadmaps, configuration rules, licensing and channel program requirements.

As a secondary responsibility, the role provides infrastructure-layer input, ensuring that server, storage and networking foundations proposed to customers are fit for the container platforms and workloads our managed services team will host. It is an escalation point for infrastructure design decisions raised through service governance and a mentor to the wider technical presales team on compute and storage design.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Server & Storage Pre-Sales and Specification 

• Own the technical pre-sales response for server, storage and associated infrastructure opportunities, from qualification through to proposed solution and bill of materials
• Produce accurate, buildable and commercially competitive configurations using OEM configurators and quotation tools (for example Dell Technologies, HPE, Lenovo and Supermicro platforms), including compute, storage, networking, rack, power, cabling, software licensing and support entitlements
• Specify storage solutions across the appropriate technologies, SAN, NAS, unified, all-flash and hybrid arrays, software-defined and hyperconverged, and object storage selecting protocol, media, protection and tiering to suit the workload
• Validate proposed configurations against OEM configuration rules, compatibility matrices, firmware and interoperability guidance, lead times and end-of-life/end-of-sale positions before issue
• Prepare solution documentation to support the sale, solution descriptions, bills of materials, rack elevations, cabling and power schedules, and high-level designs
• Work with EOSITS commercial and procurement colleagues on pricing, deal registration, special pricing requests and margin position, and provide the technical justification behind the proposed configuration

Capacity, Sizing & Requirements Translation 

• Gather and interrogate customer capacity, performance, availability and growth requirements, and translate them into a defensible end-user configuration with a documented sizing rationale
• Perform sizing for compute (CPU generation and core count, memory, GPU/accelerator where applicable), storage (usable versus raw capacity, IOPS, throughput, latency, data reduction and protection overhead) and connectivity
• Use OEM and third-party sizing tools, workload assessment data, and customer-supplied performance telemetry to underpin recommendations rather than rules of thumb
• Model growth, refresh and scaling scenarios, and advise on the trade-offs between scale-up and scale-out, capacity headroom, and the commercial impact of each option
• Size infrastructure for virtualisation, database, backup, and container platform workloads, including the underlying compute and storage for Google Cloud Edge and other Kubernetes environments
• Challenge and qualify requirements where the stated need and the observed workload do not align, and document assumptions, dependencies and exclusions clearly

OEM & Channel Relationship Management

• Act as the EOSITS technical point of contact for OEM and distribution partners, maintaining working relationships with vendor pre-sales, product and channel teams
• Maintain personal currency on OEM product portfolios, roadmaps, configuration rules and channel programme requirements, attain and hold the relevant OEM accreditations
• Support EOSITS in meeting and maintaining OEM partner status requirements, including the technical accreditation levels that underpin partner tier and pricing
• Engage OEM specialist and architect resources on complex opportunities, and manage escalations relating to configuration validity, availability or roadmap position

Customer Engagement & Solution Architecture

• Act as the senior technical presence in customer-facing pre-sales engagements: discovery sessions, requirement workshops, solution presentations and design reviews
• Present and defend proposed architectures to customer technical and executive stakeholders, translating technical decisions into business and commercial terms
• Lead the technical response to RFI, RFP and tender submissions, including compliance matrices, technical narrative and supporting design material
• Run and support proof of concept, benchmark and demonstration activity where required to substantiate a proposed solution
• Maintain the technical relationship with key accounts through the delivery lifecycle, providing continuity from pre-sales design into implementation and into the managed service

Platform & Managed Service Alignment

• Ensure that proposed compute, storage and networking foundations are suitable for the platforms they will host, including cloud edge, virtualisation and data protection estates
• Provide infrastructure design input to the Kubernetes Platform Managed Service on node sizing, node pool hardware profiles, persistent storage architecture and network connectivity
• Work with the internal team to confirm that proposed solutions are supportable, within managed service standards, and correctly reflected in service scope and cost
• Provide architectural escalation support to the operations teams for complex infrastructure incidents, capacity issues and problem investigations

Continual Improvement & Standards

• Maintain the EOSITS library of standard configurations, sizing models, pricing assumptions and design collateral, and keep it current with OEM portfolio changes
• Feed lessons from delivery and from lost or re-worked bids into the CAPA and continual service improvement process
• Maintain alignment of solution design practice with ISO/IEC 20000-1 service management practices and any customer or regulatory requirements
• Mentor and develop colleagues in sales, pre-sales and engineering on compute and storage technologies, sizing method and configuration discipline

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• Degree-level qualification in Computer Science/IT/Engineering, or equivalent demonstrable experience at solution architect level
• Minimum 5+ years' experience in enterprise infrastructure, with at least 3+ years in a customer-facing pre-sales, solution architecture or technical design role
• Demonstrable, hands-on experience specifying and configuring enterprise server and storage platforms from more than one major OEM, Dell Technologies, HPE, Lenovo, Supermicro or equivalent
• Practical working knowledge of OEM configurators and quotation tooling, and of the configuration rules, compatibility matrices and licensing models that govern them
• Deep understanding of enterprise storage, block, file and object
  • SAN, NAS, all-flash, hybrid, software-defined and hyperconverged
  • RAID and erasure coding; data reduction, snapshots, replication and backup integration
• Deep understanding of server platform design: CPU and memory architecture, NUMA, PCIe and expansion, local and shared storage options, out-of-band management, rack, power and cooling considerations
• Proven history of customer engagement in a pre-sales and architecture capacity, including workshops, solution presentations and design reviews with technical and executive audiences
• Experience contributing to RFI/RFP and tender responses, and to the commercial shaping of a proposed solution
• Working knowledge of data centre networking and connectivity as it relates to compute and storage design (Ethernet, Fibre Channel, NVMe-oF, top-of-rack and fabric topologies)
• Experience producing solution documentation, bills of materials and high-level designs to a professional standard
• Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to present and defend design decisions to technical and non-technical audiences
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across international and distributed teams, and with vendor and partner organisations

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

• Current OEM channel and partner certifications — for example Dell Technologies (DCS/DCP Design or Sales tracks), HPE (ASE/Master ASE, HPE Partner Ready technical accreditations), Lenovo (LATP/DCG technical accreditations) or Supermicro partner accreditation
• Certification across two or more OEM portfolios, or across both server and storage tracks within a single OEM
• Storage vendor specialist certifications (for example NetApp, Pure Storage, VAST, Nutanix, VMware vSAN)
• Experience of data centre facilities design considerations: rack layout, power distribution, cooling and containment, and structured cabling
• Google Professional Cloud Architect certification, or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• TOGAF or equivalent enterprise/solution architecture framework knowledge
• Experience supporting e-gaming, financial services, healthcare or other high-availability regulated environments
• Experience with edge, distributed and colocation deployment models
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent IT service management framework knowledge, and familiarity with ISO/IEC 20000-1 aligned service operations
• Awareness of project and programme management methodologies

The EOS pay range for this job is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, experience, education, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, market data, or other laws. 

EOS is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We invite you to consider opportunities at EOS regardless of your gender; gender identity; gender reassignment; age; religious or similar philosophical belief; race; national origin; political opinion; sexual orientation; disability; marital or civil partnership status or other non-merit factor. 

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