Nikhil K

Independent Consultant

Freelance • Freelance

Apr 2026 - Present • 6 mos

I work with organisations to improve IT Service Delivery, ITIL-based ITSM and IT Disaster Recovery capabilities, helping establish practical operating models that improve service reliability, accountability, resilience and operational maturity across production and recovery environments. I specialise in: - 𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 & 𝗜𝗧𝗦𝗠 — assess and improve Incident, Change, Problem, Implementation and Service Transition processes, governance, roles and service performance. - 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — transition new infrastructure, cloud and technology products into sustainable BAU operations with defined support models, monitoring, processes, KPIs and ownership. - 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 & 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 — design roles, RACI, governance and performance frameworks that strengthen ownership and execution across internal teams and MSPs. - 𝗜𝗧 𝗗𝗥 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 — develop DR/BCP strategies, recovery operating models, testing approaches and DRaaS evaluations aligned to business RTO/RPO requirements. - 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — identify operational gaps and develop practical improvement roadmaps covering process, people, technology, governance and performance. - 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — develop practical guides and coaching approaches to improve process accountability, continuous improvement and operational performance.

Senior Manager (VP) - Global Infrastructure Services

Northern Trust • Full-time

Feb 2021 - Sep 2022 • 1 yr 7 mos

* Headed APAC Network Engineering and Operations delivering secure hybrid connectivity across on-prem and Azure cloud environments, including Azure Virtual WAN and HPE SD-WAN enabling SASE and Zero Trust access for 25,000+ global users. * Led a $9.5M global Azure VPN modernisation program across four regions, achieving 99.9% uptime and delivering a customized regulatory-compliant architecture for Australia. * Owned enterprise lifecycle governance of VPN and network infrastructure, modernizing firewalls, WLAN, and core platforms (F5, Check Point, Cisco) while ensuring service transition readiness. * Built a 24x7 ITIL-based global Network Operations Center model integrating incident, change, and problem management with ServiceNow dashboards for ticketing & reporting. * Strengthened vendor governance and automation frameworks , reducing incident response time (MTTR) by 30% and overall incident volumes by 85%.

Director - NOC, Global Service Operations

11 Systems • Full-time

Sep 2019 - Feb 2021 • 1 yr 5 mos

* Led a global NOC of 100+ engineers across 3 delivery centres (Pune, Costa Rica, and the US), supporting 250+ enterprise clients and maintaining 24x7x365 service availability across multiple time zones with ownership of global delivery of enterprise managed services and disaster recovery services across hybrid cloud platforms. * Managed a $10 million operational budget, balancing service excellence and cost efficiency. * Reduced incident volume by 70% and mean time to repair by 25% through automation-led network service improvements. * Improved change success rates to 98% through governance modernisation and risk validation frameworks. * Delivered $200K in annual operational savings by driving automation, process reengineering, and strategic outsourcing while maintaining quality of service and audit compliance. * Collaborated with global account directors and client partners to review service performance, drive trust across the client portfolio.