Experienced methodical and practical architect, specialising in cloud services and technology, with a strong security background.
Designing a global compliance and payment processing service, Nick has leveraged AWS Cloud Services to deliver the next generation of Cloud Telephony services for compliance and PCI DSS Payment services. Delivering the first QSA-Validated Global PCI-DSS Level 1 telephony and payment service platform.
Utilising best of breed tools from vendors such as EMC, AWS, and Splunk, the platform is self healing, auto scaling, and highly elastic in its response to customer demands, and the needs of businesses operating in different territories, in different timezones.
A strong understanding of Splunk, and a global deployment of the tool in all the regions where the platform operates, makes me an experienced Splunk architect, and user.
I have presented for Amazon Web Services and Splunk on best practices and sharing my experiences for both on several occasions.
Specialties: Global Architecture, and Cloud Best Practices, Amazon Web Services, Splunk, Security: PCI-DSS, PSN (GCSX) CoCo, Telephony: SIP, TDM, POTS, Class4/5 Switches, Networking:TCPIP, Cisco Switching and Routing, Voice, VPN, 802.1x, BGP
Nick Hills MBCS BSc
e. nick@nickhills.com
m. +44 7031 939550
Lives: East Grinstead, Sussex
Works: Westminster, London
nick@nickhills.com
Cloud Architect, Splunk, PCI Compliance in AWS, ISMS, Massivly Global Scalable Architecture• September 2013 - Present
Designing and implementing cloud infrastructure to provide telephone voice and data recording for regulatory and compliance and PCI DSS payment services for contact centres and service providers.
The Cognia platform is a fully redundant geo-dispersed self-healing carrier grade telephony platform running across 5 continents.
Key challenges have been:
- Taking the platform through QSA-validated compliance for PCI DSS Level 1, to design and build the worlds first carrier grade, global cloud telephony and payment services platform.
- Designing Splunk infrastructure and applications to enable reporting and auditing for PCI-DSS and other application performance and security enhancements.
- Building a self-managing infrastructure which automatically reacts to changes in usage to bring additional telephony components into and out of service as demand varies, or failures occur.
Global Telephony, Splunk, Financial Services• 2011-2013
Designing and delivering a Global Mobile Phone Call recording platform across different technologies such as Blackberry and GSM networks.
Call recording in Financial Services demands high levels of security and confidentiality, durability and coverage. The Comliant Phones solution is the only Mobile recording solution which works in any country on any network.
Virtulisation, Compliance, Shared Services Architecture• 2002 - 2011
Responsible for Network and System Architecture. Managed the transition from a full physical infrastructure to a virtualized server and desktop environment. Managed VOIP upgrade, and integration of telephony and messaging applications into a converged solution.
Firewalls, Exchange, Consultancy• 1999
Customer facing support role. Desktop support, telephony & firewall management.
University of East Anglia • 1999 - 2002
Courses including Mathematics, Animation, Network Architecture, Operating Systems, C++, Java, and Media Engineering
The Skinners School, Tunbridge Wells • 1997 - 1999
Information Technology, Design Technology, Business Studies, and AS Level Electronics
The Skinners School, Tunbridge Wells • 1995 - 1997
The aim of the Scout Association is to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local national and international communities. District Trustee, Webmaster, technical advisor