# Kwes Michael Quist

Kwes Michael Quist is a remote worker on Himalayas, Principal Technology Consultant at Independent Practice, based in United States.

Source: https://himalayas.app/@kwesmichaelquist

```text
Lead Security Engineer consulting independently on Zero Trust, NIST-aligned security, and enterprise infrastructure.
```

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Availability | Looking for a job |
| Location | United States |
| Authorized to work in | United States |
| Salary expectations | 150k+ USD |
| Job categories | Security Engineer, Cyber Security Architect, Network Engineer, Cloud Architect, Chief Information Officer, Technology Consultant |
| Skills | Security Engineering, Cybersecurity, Zero Trust Architecture, NIST CSF, Security Architecture, Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, Incident Response, ISO 27001, Cloud Migration, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, VPC, Network Architecture |
| LinkedIn | https://linkedin.com/in/kwesi-michael-q-9119002 |

## About

```text
In my independent consulting practice, I work with enterprise and institutional clients on cybersecurity architecture, cloud infrastructure, and strategic IT advisory. At Asperitas Consulting, I design and implement Zero Trust controls, assess vulnerabilities, and support incident response aligned with NIST CSF and ISO 27001.

Through Q7AI Consulting / Kohl Children's Museum, I serve as lead technology advisor and engineer Cisco Meraki wireless infrastructure across a public campus, coordinating a phased rollout without disrupting daily operations. I also use Azure Log Analytics to audit configurations and assess lateral movement risk for enterprise clients.

At Q3 Consulting Services, I founded and led a technology consulting firm, closed 27 enterprise clients, and generated $1.27M in revenue. I migrated 10+ clients from on-premise data centers to AWS and Azure cloud VPCs, and designed multi-site network and security environments.
```

## Experience

### Principal Technology Consultant (current)

Independent Practice. Jan 2024 - Present

```text
Operating an independent consulting practice serving enterprise and institutional clients across cybersecurity architecture, cloud infrastructure, and strategic IT advisory.
```

Skills: Cybersecurity-Architecture, Cloud-Infrastructure, IT-advisory, Zero-Trust, NIST-CSF, ISO-27001, Log-Analytics, Cisco-Meraki

### Virtual CIO & Strategic Technology Advisor

Astound Business Solutions. Jan 2020 - Dec 2024

```text
Served as embedded virtual CIO for mid-market enterprise clients, owning technology strategy, vendor relationships, and security roadmaps across multi-site environments aligned with NIST CSF. Directed contract negotiations and right-sizing of telecom and managed service agreements, delivering significant recurring savings.
```

Skills: Virtual-CIO, technology-strategy, Vendor-Management, Security-Roadmaps, NIST-CSF, SD-WAN, Cloud-Connectivity, Remote-Monitoring, Executive-Briefings

### Network Engineer

Remprex, LLC. Jan 2019 - Dec 2020

```text
Designed and implemented enterprise network infrastructure across 12 national and international sites, exceeding the 8-site annual target. Led SD-WAN deployment and upgraded the Canadian National Railway System network, achieving measurable performance gains.
```

Skills: Network-Infrastructure, SD-WAN, Routers, Switche, IoT, Disaster-Recovery, Canadian-National-Railway

### Virtual CIO & IT Infrastructure Advisor

Impact Networking. Jan 2018 - Dec 2018

```text
Acted as virtual CIO for enterprise clients, directing server farm upgrades and migrations from on-premise infrastructure to outsourced managed services. Reduced a flagship client's quarterly IT spend by 27% through vendor contract audits and deployed remote network monitoring systems.
```

Skills: Virtual-CIO, Server-Upgrade, Cloud-Migration, Supplier-Audits, Remote-Monitoring, NIST-CSF

### Network Specialist III

Systegration (Medline). Jan 2017 - Dec 2018

```text
Deployed Cisco Unified Call Manager VoIP with zero downtime during live business hours, coordinating migration by department sections. Led migration from Avaya to Cisco Call Manager, managing 2,000+ DID lines and PRI circuits.
```

Skills: Cisco-Unified-Communications-Manager-(CUCM), VoIP, Avaya, Cisco-6500-6509, VSS, Network-Performance

### Network & Telecommunications Engineer

Norwegian American Hospital. Jan 2016 - Dec 2017

```text
Reduced monthly telecom expenses 79% by auditing carrier bills and canceling obsolete services. Designed, configured, and maintained LAN, campus, and wireless networks across a 16-building medical campus.
```

Skills: Telecom-Expense-Management, LAN-WAN, Wireless-Networks, Cisco-Unified-Communications-Manager-(CUCM), VoIP

### Chief Information Officer / Founder & Managing Principal

Q3 Consulting Services. Jan 2010 - Dec 2016

```text
Founded, staffed, and led a technology consulting firm, recruiting and managing a team of 4 engineers and consultants, building a sales pipeline from zero, and closing 27 enterprise clients. Generated $1.27M in total revenue over six years and migrated 10+ enterprise clients to cloud VPCs on AWS and Azure.
```

Skills: Business-Development, Team-Management, Cloud-Migration, AWS, Azure, LAN-WAN, IP-Telephony, VoIP, Wireless, Cisco-ASA, NIST

### Senior Sales Account Executive

Comcast Business Services. May 2012 - Jul 2014

```text
Designed 17-location MPLS network solutions and sold metro ethernet Data Center connectivity to enterprise clients across the Midwest.
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Skills: MPLS, MetroEthernet, Data-Center-Connectivity, Enterprise-Sales

### Senior Sales Engineer

XO Communications (Verizon Carrier Services). Jul 2007 - Apr 2012

```text
Designed carrier-grade WAN/MAN connectivity solutions for CLEC, IXC, ISP, and content provider clients. Led rollout of MPLS connectivity for Diesel across 28 national locations and presented technical solutions to C-suite stakeholders.
```

Skills: LANs-and-WANs, MPLS, CLEC, IXC, ISP, ContentProvider, C-Suite-Presentations, RFQ, RFI

### Business Development Manager

Qwest Communications

```text
Spearheaded the launch of Qwest Total Care Solution, driving $100M in revenue across six states and achieving 112% average annual quota attainment.
```

Skills: Business-Development, Revenue-Growth, Quota-Attainment

### Regional Sales Engineer

Paetec Communications

```text
Earned 'Best Salesperson of 2005' by achieving 110% of annual sales quota, increasing profitability 38% through strategic WAN/MAN/LAN/VoIP solution design.
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Skills: Sales, WAN-MAN-LAN, VoIP, Solution-Design

### Enterprise Account Executive

[AT&T](https://himalayas.app/companies/at-t)

```text
Achieved 97-103% annual quota attainment as an Enterprise Account Executive.
```

Skills: Enterprise-Sales, Account-Management

## Education

### ITT Technical Institute

Professional Education, Information Technology

```text
Continued professional education through 25+ active industry certifications in cloud architecture, cybersecurity, and network engineering.
```

## Tech stack

- Splunk
- Tableau
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform
- Kubernetes
- F5
- CrowdStrike
- Cisco ASA
- Ansible
- Puppet
- Docker
- Juniper
- ServiceNow
- Power BI
- Fortinet

To contact Kwes Michael, message them from this profile with a Himalayas employer account: [Hire on Himalayas](https://himalayas.app/hire).

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