DevOps Specialist · Researcher · Educator · PhD

Dr.Ahmad
Karim

Cloud Orchestration Expert | DevOps Specialist | Researcher | University Academician

With over 20 years of combined academic and industry experience, Dr. Ahmad Karim brings world-class expertise in cloud infrastructure, container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, and cybersecurity research. Holding a PhD from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, and recognized certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Red Hat, Google, and IBM — a rare fusion of deep research acumen and hands-on engineering mastery.

20+
Years Experience
50+
Publications
4500+
Google Citations
45
H-Index
500+
IT Industrial Projects
1K+
Projects Supervisions
ahmadkarimphd@gmail.com +92 300 633 4401 LinkedIn Profile github.com/karimbzu Google Scholar
Dr. Ahmad Karim — DevOps Specialist
Dr. Ahmad Karim
CCNP · Azure DevOps Expert · Assistant Professor
SCROLL
BZU Multan, Pakistan  /  Est. 2005
Professional Profile

About Dr. Karim

A rare combination of rigorous academic researcher and battle-tested industry engineer.

Dr. Ahmad Karim is a highly motivated and meticulous researcher and technologist with over 20 years of educational and hands-on experience in Computer Science, with a special emphasis on Networks, Systems Administration, Cloud Orchestration, and Cybersecurity.

Currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Technology at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan, he also serves as Director of Student Affairs (DSA) for the department and leads the Cisco Local Academy as an authorized CCAI instructor since 2007.

His industry footprint spans prestigious organizations across the USA, Malaysia, and the UK — including Exelon Corporation, DatiCloud LLC, Telecom Malaysia (TM R&D), Presidio Identity, AssureSign Nintex, DC.gov, ARL Technology UK, and numerous Azure DevOps engagements worldwide.

His research, published in top-tier SCI-indexed journals with a combined impact factor exceeding 100, spans mobile security, botnet detection, big data, IoT, blockchain, and machine learning — with 4,500+ Google Scholar citations, , an H-index of 45, and an i10-index of 50.

Online Profiles

github.com/karimbzu fiverr.com/akbaloch Google Scholar — 4500+ Citations DBLP Computer Science Bibliography LinkedIn — Ahmad Karim PhD
"Passionate about increasing knowledge to drive growth and needed improvements to pace with the growing technology advancements."
— Dr. Ahmad Karim, PhD

Core Expertise Areas

OpenShift OKD/OCP Kubernetes Azure DevOps Terraform/IaC Ansible DevSecOps ML / AI Research CCNP Networking CI/CD Pipelines Mobile Security
Technical Arsenal

IT Skills & Expertise

35+ practical skillsets earned from enterprise-level production deployments worldwide.

☸

Container Orchestration

OCP 4.X OKD 3.11 Kubernetes Istio / Service Mesh Knative (Serverless) Helm OCS/Ceph/Gluster VMware vSphere 7
☁

Cloud Platforms

Azure GCP AWS IBM Cloud OpenStack (TripO/VIO) CloudStack AKS / GKE Azure Functions
⚡

CI/CD & DevOps

Azure DevOps Tekton Pipelines Jenkins GitHub Actions ArgoCD SonarQube Nexus Selenium
🏗

Infrastructure as Code

Terraform Terragrunt Bicep Ansible / AWX ARM Templates YAML Pipelines Kabenaro/Appsody
🔒

Security & DevSecOps

NeuVector Qualys TwistLock Falco Clair / Anchore Keycloak / SSO LDAP / AD Azure Firewall
🌐

Networking

CCNP Level DNS (Master/Slave) DHCP HAProxy (Keepalive) VPN Site-to-Site SSL VPN (Cisco RV3XX) F5 Big-IP NIC Bonding
💾

Storage Solutions

Ceph GlusterFS Noobaa (S3) MinIO NFS / iSCSI Veeam Backup Azure Storage OCS
💻

Programming

Python Java / NodeJS PHP / Laravel Angular / Bootstrap C / C++ C# / VB Oracle 11g TensorFlow
🖥

Operating Systems

RHEL / CentOS Ubuntu / Debian Windows Server Solaris 10 (SPARC/x86) SUSE Linux Security Onion Santuku OS
Work History

Work Experience

Enterprise deployments and consulting engagements spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

🇺🇸
DevSecOps Engineer
Feb 2023 — Present
Exelon Corporation, USA  ·  Freelance / Remote

Leading cloud infrastructure migration and IaC automation for one of the largest US energy companies, leveraging Terraform and Terragrunt across complex Azure environments.

  • Led migration of legacy infrastructure to Azure using modular, maintainable Terraform modules — achieving a more agile, cost-effective environment.
  • Implemented Terragrunt configurations for seamless management of variables, state files, and remote backends across multiple environments (DEV, STAGE, PROD).
  • Designed and deployed Azure Function Apps supporting microservices architectures, optimizing scalability and resource utilization.
  • Spearheaded CI/CD deployment pipelines automating the full release process — resulting in faster and more reliable software releases.
  • Implemented robust monitoring solutions and conducted proactive troubleshooting exercises to resolve application performance issues.
  • Optimized Azure Storage Accounts for secure and efficient data storage for mission-critical applications.
  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to define best practices for deployment, ensuring consistency across staging and production.
TerraformTerragruntAzure FunctionsCI/CDAzure StorageDevSecOpsPython
🇺🇸
Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
Nov 2019 — Jan 2023
DatiCloud LLC — Las Vegas, NV, USA

Provisioned hundreds of production-grade services for this medium-to-large US cloud service provider. Full-stack cloud infrastructure from private/public cloud to SSO and backup systems.

  • Configured HA production-grade OpenShift (OCP 4.8) cluster with OCS using UPI method on VMware vSphere 7.
  • Configured HA VMware Integrated OpenStack (VIO) production cluster with full monitoring and metering.
  • Deployed and configured Apache CloudStack with 3 controllers and 5 worker nodes.
  • Set up Fleio as an infrastructure and billing platform for commercial clients worldwide.
  • Deployed Keycloak SSO as centralized authentication for all services.
  • Deployed Fineract Mifos on Kubernetes cluster along with its payment hub.
  • Assisted development team (NodeJS & Angular) in building an OpenStack marketplace portal.
  • Deployed and configured Veeam Backup and Restore solutions.
OCP 4.8OpenStackCloudStackKeycloakKubernetesVeeamVMware vSphere 7
🇲🇾
Post-Doctoral Researcher — Senior DevOps Engineer
Dec 2018 — Apr 2020
Telecom Malaysia (TM R&D) — TM Innovation Center, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Planned and deployed a complete datacenter from procurement through full infrastructure deployment. Pioneered cloud-native architecture, CI/CD automation, and security hardening for TM's research division.

  • Deployed OKD HA 3.11 Staging Cluster (complete installation): https://dev.cp.tmrnd.com.my
  • Deployed OCP 4.X HA Production Cluster (complete installation): https://console-openshift-console.apps.ocp.tmrnd.com.my
  • Deployed OCP 4.3 HA Test Environment on VMware vCenter.
  • Implemented NeuVector Container Security, Harbor registry, and Security Onion.
  • Enforced cloud-native standards: secure microservices mesh architecture, ArgoCD, Tekton, and S2I pipelines.
  • Configured Istio Service Mesh for secure inter-service communications.
  • Setup Network configuration of Datacenter at Tropicana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
OKD 3.11OCP 4.XIstioTektonNeuVectorHarborSecurity OnionArgoCD
🇺🇸
Azure DevOps Engineer (Bicep / APIM)
Apr 2022 — Feb 2023
Presidio Identity, USA  ·  Freelance / Remote
  • Deployed Azure API Management (APIM) with a monetization model using Bicep.
  • Set up Azure Firewall Premium for enterprise-grade perimeter security.
  • Implemented end-to-end Dev to Prod deployment pipelines with approval logic gates.
  • Deployed APIM with internal connectivity to API endpoints and external App Gateway for developer portal access.
  • Built complete end-to-end infrastructure (Function App, APIM, App Gateway) using Terraform.
BicepAzure APIMAzure FirewallApp GatewayTerraformADO
🇺🇸
Azure DevOps Engineer (Bicep Templates)
Jan 2022 — Jul 2022
Nintex AssureSign, USA  ·  Part-time Remote
  • Worked on Azure DevOps projects using Bicep templates for policy enforcement.
  • Led complete migration of DEV, PROD, and QA infrastructure between Azure tenants.
  • Developed a Python program to initiate status events during ADO pipeline runs.
BicepAzure DevOpsPythonAzure Migration
🇺🇸
OpenShift DevOps Engineer
Oct 2021 — Dec 2021
DC.gov, Washington D.C., USA  ·  Remote
  • Established end-to-end pipeline infrastructure for the DC government's OpenShift project.
  • Integrated SonarQube, Selenium, Nexus, Jenkins, ArgoCD, and OpenShift Pipelines (Tekton).
OpenShiftJenkinsArgoCDSonarQubeTektonNexus
🇬🇧
Azure & ML Infrastructure Engineer
Dec 2021 — Jun 2022
ARL Technology Pvt Ltd — London, United Kingdom
  • Deployed complete DEV to PROD infrastructure including Azure App Service Plans, Azure ML Workspace, Kubernetes clusters, and container registries using Terraform.
  • Built data pipeline fetching on-premise SQL Server data and uploading it to ML Workspace for training.
  • Configured VPN connectivity between on-premise datacenter and Azure.
  • Added custom domain and SSL certificate configuration for web apps.
  • Configured self-hosted Azure agents and resolved Python backend application dependencies.
  • Created scheduled release pipelines for automated backup scripts.
  • Configured private endpoint connectivity between apps and on-premise servers.
Azure MLTerraformVPNSSLPythonAzure App Service
🎓
Assistant Professor & Cisco Academy Lead
Aug 2005 — Present
Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Pakistan
  • Teaching Computer Science / IT subjects to undergraduate, master's, and PhD students since 2006.
  • Managing entire university network infrastructure and services.
  • Supervising PhD and MS students for their research work (14+ theses supervised).
  • Published more than 35 research articles in reputed SCI-indexed journals and conferences.
  • Acting Director of Student Affairs (DSA) since August 2020.
  • Serving as Examination In-charge since May 2009.
  • Authorized Cisco Local Academy Instructor (CCAI) since April 2007.
  • Managed and deployed entire intra-university internet facility of BZU (2007).
  • Deployed Video Conferencing Facility at Inter-Universities Level in collaboration with HEC, Pakistan.
  • Taught Advanced Network subject to Master's students at University of Malaya, Malaysia (2015).
TeachingResearch SupervisionNetwork AdminCisco AcademyHEC
Live Deployments

Project Snapshots

Visual representations of production environments and deployment configurations.

oc — ocp.tmrnd.com.my
$oc get nodes -o wide
NAME            STATUS    ROLES          AGE
master-0        Ready     master,etcd    45d
master-1        Ready     master,etcd    45d
master-2        Ready     master,etcd    45d
worker-0        Ready     worker         45d
worker-1        Ready     worker         45d
worker-2        Ready     worker         45d
$oc get co | grep -v True
All Cluster Operators Available ✓
OCP 4.X HA Production Cluster
TM R&D / DatiCloud — Malaysia & USA

Full HA OpenShift Container Platform 4.X deployment using UPI method on VMware vSphere 7, including logging, metrics, alerts, OCS storage, and operator management.

OCP 4.XVMware vSphere 7OCSCephIstioNeuVector
▶ Azure DevOps — End-to-End Pipeline (.NET / Angular)
✓
BUILD
›
✓
TEST
›
✓
SONAR
›
✓
SECURITY
›
✓
DEPLOY
›
⊙
PROD
DEPLOYMENT LOG
[16:44:11] Deploying to PROD slot...
[16:44:18] Fetching secrets from KeyVault ✓
[16:44:22] Awaiting approval gate...
Azure DevOps — Full CI/CD Pipelines
Multiple Clients — USA & UK

End-to-end Azure DevOps pipelines for .NET, Angular/NodeJS, Java apps — including crash recovery logic, KeyVault secret injection, Qualys security scanning, and VMSS build agents.

Azure DevOpsBicepARMTerraformQualysKeyVaultVMSS
Home > Presidio Identity RG > Resources
⚡
func-api-prod
Function App
🔗
apim-gateway
API Management
🌐
appgw-ext
App Gateway
🔐
kv-secrets
Key Vault
🛡
fw-premium
Firewall Premium
💾
stg-backend
Storage Account
Azure APIM + Firewall Premium Setup
Presidio Identity, USA

Complete end-to-end Azure infrastructure using Terraform: APIM with internal+external connectivity, App Gateway, Azure Firewall Premium, Function Apps, and Key Vault integration.

Azure APIMFirewall PremiumApp GatewayTerraformBicepFunction Apps
OpenStack VIO — DatiCloud Production● HEALTHY
47
INSTANCES
98%
UPTIME
3.2TB
STORAGE
COMPUTE NODES — POD STATUS
NETWORK THROUGHPUT (MB/s)
OpenStack VIO + CloudStack Production
DatiCloud LLC, Las Vegas USA

Configured HA VMware Integrated OpenStack (VIO) and Apache CloudStack (3 controllers, 5 workers) with Fleio billing platform for commercial cloud services delivery.

OpenStackCloudStackVMware VIOFleioAnsible AWXCloudKitty
kubectl — IBM MAS 8.4 on OCP 4.7
$oc get pods -n mas-core
coreapi-0            1/1    Running    12d
coreidp-0            1/1    Running    12d
manage-0             1/1    Running    12d
health-0             1/1    Running    12d
db2u-0               1/1    Running    12d
$oc get MAS mas-inst1 -o yaml
status: Ready  · version: 8.4.0
MAS deployment: SUCCESS ✓
IBM Maximo App Suite 8.4 on OCP
GTS Services, USA — Part-time

Deployed IBM Maximo Application Suite 8.4 (MAS) on top of OpenShift 4.7, including DB2 database, core services, Manage, and Health modules for an enterprise asset management client.

IBM MAS 8.4OCP 4.7DB2KubernetesIBM Cloud Pak
terraform apply — Azure ML Workspace
# azurerm_machine_learning_workspace
resource "azurerm_ml_workspace" "ml" {
  name = "ml-workspace-prod"
  sku_name = "Basic"
}
$terraform apply -auto-approve
azurerm_resource_group.main: Created ✓
azurerm_ml_workspace.ml: Created ✓
azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks: Created ✓
Apply complete! Resources: 12 added.
Azure ML Workspace + AKS Deployment
ARL Technology, London UK

Built complete DEV-to-PROD ML infrastructure using Terraform: App Service Plans, Azure ML Workspace, AKS, container registries, VPN to on-premise, SQL data pipelines, and scheduled backup scripts.

Azure MLAKSTerraformSQL ServerVPN GatewayPython
International Credentials

Certifications & Credentials

Industry-recognized certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Red Hat, Google, and IBM.

🪟
Azure Administrator Associate
Microsoft Certified
ID: EAFB6037ED6DDA1F
No: 91RD5F-19A784
Earned: June 10, 2024
⚙
DevOps Engineer Expert
Microsoft Certified
ID: 1AD4D17873D7C908
No: AD49CD-A7F36C
Earned: June 11, 2024
🔵
CCNP — Cisco Certified Network Professional
Cisco Systems
Cisco ID: CSCO11404682
🌐
CCNA — Cisco Certified Network Associate
Cisco Systems
Cisco ID: CSCO11404682
🎓
CCAI — Cisco Certified Academy Instructor
Cisco Systems
Cisco ID: 5081750CCNA
Active since 2007
🛡
Introduction to Cybersecurity & IoT
Cisco
Cybersecurity + IoT Courses
🔴
DO285 — Containers, Kubernetes & OpenShift Admin I
Red Hat / Iverson Associates Malaysia
5-Day Training, Jan–Feb 2019
🟢
Google Kubernetes Engine — Full Track
Google Cloud / Coursera
Foundations + Workloads + Production
Sep–Oct 2019
💙
IBM Cloud — Microservices with Kubernetes
IBM / Coursera
Microservices Fundamentals + Microclimate
Sep–Oct 2019
Academic Background

Education & Qualifications

2013 – 2016  ·  University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Computer Science — Computer & Network Security
University of Malaya, Malaysia  ·  Fee Waiver Scholarship + HEC Pakistan Partial Scholarship
Graduate on Time (GoT) Award
HEC Scholarship Awardee
Fee Waiver Scholarship
2018 – 2020
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
DevOps & Cloud Research
TM Innovation Center, Cyberjaya, Malaysia (Telecom Malaysia R&D)
2008 – 2010
MS (Computer Science)
Computer Science
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
CGPA: 3.75 / 4.0
Gold Medalist — 1st Position
2002 – 2004
Master of Information Technology (MIT)
Information Technology
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
CGPA: 3.71 / 4.0
Silver Medalist — 2nd Position
1997 – 2000
BSc Computer Science & Programming
Computer Science, Mathematics
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
Grade: 61%  ·  4th Position
Academic Output

Research & Publications

50+ peer-reviewed publications in SCI-indexed journals. Total combined impact factor exceeds 100.

4500+
Total Citations
45
H-Index
50
i10-Index
100+
Total Impact Factor
50+
Publications
01
Securing Federated Learning with Blockchain: A Systematic Literature Review
Qammar, Karim, Ning, Ding — Artificial Intelligence Review
IF = 9.5882023
BlockchainFederated LearningSecurity
02
Securing IoTs in Distributed Blockchain: Analysis, Requirements and Open Issues
Moin, Karim, Safdar, Ahmed, Imran — Future Generation Computer Systems
IF = 7.32019
IoTBlockchainSecurity
03
Mobile Malware Attacks: Review, Taxonomy & Future Directions
Qamar, Karim, Chang — Future Generation Computer Systems
IF = 7.32019
Mobile SecurityMalware
04
Big IoT Data Analytics: Architecture, Opportunities, and Open Research Challenges
Marjani, Nasaruddin, Gani, Karim et al. — IEEE Access
IF = 3.4762017
Big DataIoT1340 Citations
05
Machine Learning-Based Sentiment Analysis for Twitter Accounts
Hasan, Moin, Karim, Shamshirband — Mathematical & Computational Applications
2018
MLNLP654 Citations
06
SMARTbot: A Behavioral Analysis Framework Augmented with ML to Identify Mobile Botnet Applications
Karim, Salleh, Khan — PLoS ONE (SCI)
IF = 3.7522016
BotnetMLAndroid
07
Big Data Management in Participatory Sensing: Issues, Trends and Future Directions
Karim, Siddiqa, Safdar et al. — Future Generation Computer Systems
IF = 7.32017
Big DataIoTSensing
08
Botnet Detection Techniques: Review, Future Trends, and Issues
Karim, Salleh, Shiraz et al. — Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE C (SCI)
IF = 2.5262014
BotnetNetwork Security199 Citations
09
Cyber Threats to Smart Grids: Review, Taxonomy, Potential Solutions, and Future Directions
Ding, Qammar, Zhang, Karim, Ning — Energies
IF = 3.2522022
Smart GridCybersecurity
10
Android Botnets — A Proof-Of-Concept Using Hybrid Analysis Approach
Karim, Chang, Ahmad — JOEUC (SCI-Indexed, Special Issue: Security & Privacy in Cloud)
IF = 0.7442018
AndroidBotnetCloud Security
+ 25 more peer-reviewed publications — view full list on Google Scholar  |  DBLP
Academia

Teaching & Supervision

Courses Taught

  • Advanced Computer NetworksMS — U. Malaya
  • Cloud ComputingMS (IT)
  • Advanced NetworkingMS (CS)
  • Advanced Database ManagementMS (IT)
  • System and Network AdministrationBS(IT) / MIT
  • Network Operating System I & IIBS(TS)
  • Computer NetworksBS(CS) / MCS
  • Internet Architecture & ProtocolsBS (IT)
  • Distributed Database SystemsMCS / BSCS / BS(IT)
  • RDBMS using Oracle 11gBS(IT)
  • Advanced OOP using JavaMCS
  • Operating SystemsBBA(IT)
  • CCNA Discovery CourseCisco Academy
  • Data StructuresB.Sc (Elect. Eng.)

Thesis Supervision (MS/PhD)

Detection of Android Botnet Malware by Machine Learning
Attia Qammar
Securing Federated Learning with Blockchain
Attia Qammar (PhD)
A Secure Software Defined Cloud-Based Blockchain Model for IoT
Sana Moin
SmartBigThings: Learning-Based Big Data Analytics in IoT
Kalsoom Safdar
Deep CNN Layers Effect on Android Malware Detection
Mamona Khan
Learning-Based Ransomware Detection for Android
Rimsha Muneer
Load Balancing Techniques on SDN — Comparative Study
Muhammad Usman Mazoor
Detecting Android C&C Applications via CNN
Mamoona Arshad
DDoS Attack Detection Through Deep Learning
Haider Naseem
Heart Disease Prediction Using Machine Learning
Salman Fakhar
Brain Tumor Detection — Learning-Based System
Amar Nazar
Detecting Mobile Ransomware via Network Traffic
Fatima Tariq
Comparative Analysis of Big Data Visualization Tools
Razia Sultana
SDN Implementation Strategies — Comparison
Ghulam Hussain Zeeshan
Honours & Recognition

Awards & Achievements

🥇
Gold Medalist

Secured 1st Position in MS (Computer Science) with CGPA 3.75/4.0

BZU Multan · 2012
🥈
Silver Medalist

Secured 2nd Position in MIT (Information Technology) with CGPA 3.71/4.0

BZU Multan · 2005
🎓
Graduate on Time (GoT) Award

Completed PhD within the stipulated timeline — a prestigious achievement at University of Malaya

University of Malaya · 2016
🏫
Fee Waiver Scholarship

Awarded full fee waiver scholarship for PhD by University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2013 – 2016
🇵🇰
HEC Scholarship

Higher Education Commission Pakistan Partial Support Scholarship for PhD studies

2016
🏆
Cisco Academy 5-Year Award

Cisco Local Academy 5 Years Best Service Award for outstanding contribution as CCAI instructor

2022