Mark LaCore
First and foremost...
I am not currently looking for a change in employment.
I am open to hearing about opportunities that meet my needs.
I am willing to collaborate on projects that are not in conflict with my current employment.
Who I Am
With over 20 years of experience in IT, I am an excellent fit in any team that needs a
technologist with a broad range of skills. I am familiar with the ins and outs of most
modern and legacy technologies, and I am able to quickly learn new technologies and
apply them to solve problems. I am a self-starter, and I am able to work independently
or as part of a team.
My area of interest is automation of toilsome tasks and tool creation in the IT and cloud space. With familiarity in many public and private cloud technology stacks and cloud services, I am able to design and implement solutions that are right for your organization.
I am a maker, and I enjoy building things. I have a home lab with a variety of technologies that I use to learn and experiment.
I am a husband and father, and I enjoy spending time with my family. I am a musician, and I enjoy playing guitar along with my favorite bands.
I am a gamer, and I enjoy playing video games with my friends. I am a nerd, and I enjoy learning about new technologies and how they work. I am a tinkerer, and I enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together.
I am also a microdrone enthusiast. Building and flying them is so much fun!
My area of interest is automation of toilsome tasks and tool creation in the IT and cloud space. With familiarity in many public and private cloud technology stacks and cloud services, I am able to design and implement solutions that are right for your organization.
I am a maker, and I enjoy building things. I have a home lab with a variety of technologies that I use to learn and experiment.
I am a husband and father, and I enjoy spending time with my family. I am a musician, and I enjoy playing guitar along with my favorite bands.
I am a gamer, and I enjoy playing video games with my friends. I am a nerd, and I enjoy learning about new technologies and how they work. I am a tinkerer, and I enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together.
I am also a microdrone enthusiast. Building and flying them is so much fun!
What I Do
- Design and develop organization-wide IT solutions, as an individual or part of a team
- I am a fan of the ITIL service model and try to apply its methods to the solutions I design
- Improve IT service delivery and resource performance by introducing or designing new tools to measure key performance indicators
- Forecast resource utilization and identify future needs
- Develop custom tools to reduce toil, enabling staff to focus on other things
- Develop and maintain documentation for all systems and processes
- Expert-level knowledge of all Windows OS
- Comfortable in any Linux, UNIX, or MacOS environment
- Useful with APIs
- Full-stack development experience
- Good at getting stubborn builds to build, resolving dependencies
What You Need
- Flexible working arrangement: I do my best work at my home office, 7AM - 4PM.
- I am open to a hybrid arrangement only if the office space is in Downtown San Jose. I choose to not commute.
- I will not consider companies hostile to minority or neurodivergent people.
- A mutually supportive team to accomplish a task, function, or product development.
- While I am a team player, I am not interested in customer or user support.
- Competitive compensation and benefits appropriate for the San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley.
- I will not consider hourly or contract work.
Tech I'm Good With
- Virtualization
- VMware
- Hyper-V
- VirtualBox
- Parallels
- KVM
- QEMU
- Cloud Technologies
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
- Cloud Migration
- Secrets Management
- Infrastructure as Code
- CI/CD Pipelines
- Containers
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Core Technologies
- Python
- Linux
- Windows
- PowerShell
- MacOS
- Networking
- Security
- Automation
- Scripting
- DevOps
- Full-Stack Development
- Web Development
- Database Management
- Git
- Active Directory
- Microsoft System Center
- Microsoft Exchange
- Compliance & Baselines
- Web
- IPv4 and IPv6 Address Management
- Maker Skills
- 3D Modeling
- Autodesk Fusion 360
- OpenSCAD
- Blender
- Tinkercad
- 3D Printing
- Resin and FDM
- Chitubox
- Simplify3D
- Electronics
- Prototyping and Breadboarding
- Soldering
- Arduino
- Raspberry Pi
- Micropython
- Bluetooth and BLE
- WS2812 and NeoPixel Projects
- Home Automation
- Home Assistant
- HomeKit
Certifications I've Earned
- CC - ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity
- MCSE - Microsoft Ceritified System Engineer
- MCSA - Microsoft Certitfied Solutions Associate
- Windows Server 2012
- MCITP - Microsoft Certified IT Professional
- Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2
- MCTS - Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
- System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuration
- Windows Server 2008 R2, Desktop Virtualization
- Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization
- MCP, MCP+I
- RHCSA - Redhat Certified Systems Administrator - RedHat Enterprise Linux 5
- RHCT - RedHat Certified Systems Technician - RedHat Enterprise Linux 5
Positions I've Held
Sr. Software Engineer at AppleCupertino, 2017 - Present
- Worked as part of a team to develop an onboarding process for onboarding gen-pop Windows systems into internal security platforms
- Helped build, design, and maintain a SCCM environment for Windows systems
- Developed and maintained several security tools and microservices to automatically onboard Windows systems into internal securtity platforms
- PowerShell-based "Minimum Security Requirements" telemery tool
- Collection of PowerShell scripts to collect data for PCI auditing
- Several Python-based ServiceNow ticket / work order automations
- Web service for Software Signing of PE binaries and MSI files with a Microsoft Authenticode certificate in a HSM
Palo Alto, 2012 - 2016
- Utilize Configuration Manager for ongoing configuration management, reporting, patch management, and compliance enforcement
- Creation and maintanance of Windows images, Embedded and non-Embedded
- Developed zero-touch computer provisioning task sequences for Desktop team
- Development of SCCM Application deployment packages
- Remediation of problems and risks via script or Configuration Baselines
- Testing and deployment of security updates and patches
- Utilize Operations Manager for event and performance monitoring
- Utilize System Center Orchestrator to automate IT processes, new hires, terminations
- Utilize System Center Service Manager for incident and change management
- Designed Retail / Wellness Center IT support infrastructure
- Developed locked-down Windows image for Retail points of sale
- Developed media delivery system for Wellness center lobbies based on the Raspberry Pi computer and Drupal
San Jose, CA, 2007 - 2012
- Provided customer support for general Windows Client/Server customers
- Scope of work involved System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft Exchange, Linux, Active Directory, and Citrix
- Developed and maintained custom tools for internal use
Las Vegas, 2005 - 2007
- Designed entire network infrastructure
- Tech stack based on Active Directory, Exchange, and BlackBerry
- Provided IT support for all users
San Jose, 2002 - 2005
- Provided IT support for all users
- Server Rack & Stack for IT and User use
- Maintained McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator
Sunnyvale, 2000 - 2001
- Provided 2nd-tier desktop support to local users
- Assisted in the deployment of Windows 2000
