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Duane Licudi

Contact

Location Gibraltar

Email dlicudi@gmail.com

GitHub dlicudi

LinkedIn dlicudi

Summary

Systems Integration Engineer and Developer with over 20 years of experience.

I have extensive experience in UNIX/Linux environments within the ISP/Telecom industries. For the past decade, I have focused on the development and integration of systems at Gibtelecom, including implementing monitoring systems, integrating multiple systems into a unified provisioning platform and achieving ISO 27001 compliance for secure development.

Experience

timeline
        title Timeline
        section John Licudi & Partners, Gibraltar <br> 1997 - 1999
          IT Specialist
        section GibNet Ltd, Gibraltar <br> 2000 - 2005
          Helpdesk
          System Administrator
        section Sapphire Networks, Gibraltar <br> 2005 - 2010
          System Administrator
          Head of IT Systems
        section Licudi IT Consulting Ltd, Gibraltar <br> 2010 - 2012
          IT Consultant
        section Licudi BetVictor, Gibraltar <br> 2013
          System Administrator
          Enterprise Services Engineer
        section Licudi Gibtelecom, Gibraltar <br> 2013 - 2023
          System Administrator
          Systems Analyst, Information Systems
          Head of Development & Integration

Gibtelecom, Gibraltar

Lead Developer at Gibtelecom, responsible for all development and integration of key systems.

  • Position: Lead Developer
  • Duration: 2013 - 2023

Key Achievements

  • Deployed monitoring system using Check_MK providing monitoring for over 60k services.

  • Led the support and integration of Ericsson provisioning platforms (EMA/EDA) with BSS systems.

  • Achieved ISO 27001 certification for secure development.

  • Developed Web/API provisioning platform (Python/Flask/MongoDB) used company wide by Engineers and Customer Care.

  • Developed an SMS Gateway using Django, PostgreSQL, and FastAPI, facilitating SMS services for both customers and internal use.

  • Developed Python/MongoDB MVNO number porting service handling over 20k daily porting changes.

  • Conducted MVNO penetration testing successfully finding numerous security vulnerabilties that could be patched before launch.

  • Developed specialised web portals (Django/PostgreSQL) critical in providing seamless subscriber migrations from legacy services.

  • Developed a Mediation platform (Python/MySQL) to facilitate data warehousing and interfacing of usage records for an MVNO required for regulatory compliance.

  • CI/CD pipelines using Bash scripts (unit testing, vulnerability code scanning, building and deploying from BitBucket Git repositories).

BetVictor, Gibraltar

Middleware Engineer responsible for improving performance and monitoring of critical systems like Oracle Coherence, ActiveMQ, and Apache web servers.

  • Position: Enterprise Services Engineer
  • Duration: 2012 - 2013

Key Achievements

  • Used Splunk to provide health monitoring of Oracle Coherence and ActiveMQ using JMX.

  • Deployment processes to eliminate Oracle Coherence downtime and improve deployment reliability.

  • Diagnosed and fixed configuration issues with the mobile website eliminating downtime.

  • Performed MySQL database optimisations on a live betting platform, significantly improving performance and enabling more events to run in parallel.

Licudi IT Consulting Ltd, Gibraltar

IT consultant specialising in Windows Server 2003 administration, Google Apps for Business setup and management and development of in-house applications.

  • Position: IT Consultant
  • Duration: 2010 - 2012

Key Achievements

  • IT consultant specialising in Windows Server 2003 administration, Google Apps for Business setup and management and development of in-house applications.

  • Designed IT infrastructure for new offices including servers, network switches, telephony and workstations/printers.

  • Migration of a Microsoft Exchange setup of approx. 25 accounts to Google Apps.

  • Payroll application (PHP/MySQL) to automate social security/tax calculations and ability to print on pre-printed payslips.

  • Leave management system (PHP/MySQL) allowing for leave requests to be made online.

Sapphire Networks, Gibraltar

Head of IT Systems and Helpdesk with hands on involvement in System administration and software development and responsibility for entire server infrastructure.

  • Position: IT Systems Manager
  • Duration: 2005 - 2010

Key Achievements

  • Implemented RT (Request-Tracker) and Redmine as ticketing systems.

  • Expanded existing virtualised infrastructure with Xen on CentOS and Citrix XenServer.

  • Document Management. Produced and managed technical documentation, including procedures and documentation for disaster recovery.

  • Provided Training for staff within ITS, Helpdesk and the NOC.

  • Implementing solutions to recover from server failures, particularly in the provision of disaster recovery manuals/scripts for on call action.

  • Application for provisioning ADSL lines on MALC DSLAMs making extensive use of Pear classes for connectivity, and extending classes to hide complexity of provisioning

  • Developed system to manage On Call and NOC Shifts online (gained experience using frameworks iUI, iWebkit and jQTouch for better mobile experience).

GibNet Ltd, Gibraltar

Initially allocated responsibilities for Helpdesk support for GibNet customers, Desktop support and system administration. My role was later expanded to focus more on system administration and programming with emphasis on improving server infrastructure (using mod_security and scripts to monitor for vulnerable code hosting internally and by customers) and implementing more resilient services (implementing master/slave MySQL servers, paired servers for RADIUS/DNS/SMTP, and active backup servers for immediate recovery).

  • Position: System Administrator
  • Duration: 2000 - 2005

Key Achievements

  • Gibraltar .GI Registry (PHP/MySQL, WHOIS, online application forms, integrated billing and payment gateway integration).

  • NAS Dial-Up Frontend. Developed frontend to view and monitor Dial-Up connections using SNMP and PHP.

  • phpMyProjects (PHP/MySQL) Provided an efficient way to log work done on projects and servers.

  • Development and maintenance of an existing user provisioning system based on C, Bash (+dialog) and Perl components.

  • Electorate Lookup web application (PHP/MySQL) on behalf of the Gibraltar Government to provide an online lookup tool of the electorate list for upcoming elections and 2006 Referendum.

  • Frontend for RADIUS accounting data (PHP/MySQL) used by Helpdesk support and customer services.

  • Deployed paravirtualisation using User Mode Linux on a number of servers (as a precursor to newer technologies).

  • Developed custom backup system for a large server infrastructure (MySQL/PHP/Bash). This provided incremental rolling backups easily provisioned via configuration files with the frontend providing status of backup jobs.

John Licudi & Partners, Gibraltar

Employed in Surveying Practice as an IT Manager with particular responsibility for desktop support, training staff and developing databases/documents for construction related projects.

  • Position: IT Specialist
  • Duration: 1997 - 1999

Key Achievements

  • Employed in Surveying Practice as an IT Manager with particular responsibility for desktop support, training staff and developing databases/documents for construction related projects.

Projects

Telecoms Provisioning Platform

Implemented Web/API provisioning platform (Flask/MongoDB). (2013-2023 (Gibtelecom))

Highlights

  • Customer Care Interface using Flask, Bootstrap, Javascript.

  • Flask based RESTful API for external applications.

  • Covered many services including Hosted PBXs, SIP Trunks, eSIMs, Panic Buttons, Land Line Services, Mobile Subscribers, IPTV.

Telecoms Monitoring System

Monitoring system using Check_MK monitoring over 60k services. (2013-2023 (Gibtelecom))

Highlights

  • Responsible for monitoring entire company infrastructure.

  • Developed custom checks, graphs, plugins for monitoring services.

  • Integrated diverse range of devices e.g. UPS systems, environmental sensors, servers, network devices, applications.

Automated Number Porting

Automated MVNO number porting system based on Python/MongoDB. (2013-2023 (Gibtelecom))

Highlights

  • Processed over 20k porting changes per day.

  • Utilised SFTP for file collection, MongoDB for data storage and parsing of CSV/gzip data files.

  • Interfaced with FNR (Flexible Number Registry) using Telnet/MML to activate changes.

  • Multiprocessing capability for multiple activators to run in parallel.

  • Modular architecture (Collector, Importer, Processor, Activator).

  • Fault tolerant with automatic retries and error handling.

ISO 27001

Achieved ISO 27001 certification for secure development. (2013-2023 (Gibtelecom))

Highlights

  • Implemented peer code reviews as part of ticketing system workflow.

  • Created standard operating procedures for secure development compliance.

  • OWASP based security compliance auditing.

  • Implemented detailed workflows for new projects to ensure secure development from the outset.

Cockpitdecks

Contributor to open source Cockpitdecks, a Python interface for various deck controllers for use with X-Plane. (2024-2025)

Highlights

  • Diagnosed and resolved compatibility issues with Loupedeck Live on newer hardware firmware models.

  • Contributed bug fixes and new features to Cockpitdecks repository.

  • Established the repository cockpitdecks-configs and documentation to host a comprehensive set of aircraft configurations for use with CockpitDecks.

Courses

Fundamentals of Agents

Highlights

  • Explain Tools, Thoughts, Actions, Observations, and their formats.

  • Explain LLMs, messages, special tokens and chat templates.

  • Show a simple use case using python functions as tools.

Microservices Fundamentals

Highlights

  • Understanding of key principles for architecting microservice applications.

  • Techniques for building scalable, flexible, resilient, and secure microservices.

Building Microservices

Highlights

  • Structuring domain logic and implementing data mapping layers.

  • Testing strategies for microservices.

  • Handling authentication and authorization in microservice communications.

  • Skills in building maintainable, testable, and secure microservices.

Education

ADIP University of Portsmouth, Psychology

  • Advanced Diploma in Psychology, Portsmouth, UK, 1995-1997, Portsmouth, UK

AHE Chichester College, Science

  • Foundation Course in Science, Chichester, UK, 1994-1995, Chichester, UK

Languages

  • English: Native

  • Spanish: Fluent

Skills

  • Linux (★★★★★, 20+ yrs) - System administration, performance tuning for enterprise services and server management for DevOps (deployment automation, systemd services)

  • Python (★★★★★, 10+ yrs) - Web development, data processing, scripting

  • PHP (★★★★★, 10+ yrs) - Web development, data processing, scripting

  • ISO 27001 (★★★★☆, 2+ yrs) - Experience in implementing secure development processes

  • JavaScript (★★★☆☆, 10+ yrs) - Front-end UI elements with jQuery, Bootstrap, DataTables, Basic DOM manipulation

  • Bash (★★★★★, 20+ yrs) - Used to automate CI/CD pipelines

  • C (★★★☆☆) - Developing command-line tools to incorporate MySQL data into MRTG; kernel patching and compiling for User Mode Linux.

  • Django (★★★★★, 5+ yrs) - Production-grade REST APIs, MVC apps requiring databases and admin portals

  • Flask (★★★★★, 5+ yrs) - Production-grade REST APIs, MVC apps

  • FastAPI (★★★☆☆, 3+ yrs) - High-performance REST APIs

  • PostgreSQL (★★★☆☆, 10+ yrs) - Schema design, queries, performance tuning

  • MySQL/MariaDB (★★★★★, 20+ yrs) - Schema design, queries, performance tuning

  • MongoDB (★★★★★, 5+ yrs) - NoSQL data storage for usage logs, microservices

  • Oracle (★★☆☆☆, 10+ yrs) - Some enterprise usage, queries

  • Redis (★★★☆☆) - Used (with Python RQ) for caching data and queueing requests

  • Git (★★★☆☆, 10+ yrs) - Branching strategies, PRs, CI/CD, code reviews

  • GitHub (★★★☆☆, 5+ yrs) - Open source projects, GitHub workflows/automation and GitHub Pages

  • VS Code (★★★★★) - Daily dev environment, Git integration, remote development, debugging

  • AI Tools (★★★☆☆) - ChatGPT, Copilot, Grok for code suggestions, documentation, automated testing

  • Regex (★★★★★, 20+ yrs) - Extensive use in system administration and development

  • Celery (★★★☆☆, 5+ yrs) - Employed for asynchronous task management, sending emails, two-factor authentication codes and scheduled retrieval of data

  • Nginx (★★★★☆, 10+ yrs) - Used with Django and Flask for reverse proxying and HTTP load balancing

  • Check_MK (★★★★☆, 8+ yrs) - Monitoring of telecoms and internet infrastructure, environmental sensors.

  • Postman (★★★★☆, 5+ yrs) - Incredibly useful tool for API development and security testing.

  • Markdown (★★★★★, 5+ yrs) - Documentation, READMEs, documentation on GitHub

  • RESTful API (★★★★★, 8+ yrs) - Developed APIs using FastAPI, Flask, Django; use of Ericsson node APIs, third-party, and self-developed APIs.

  • Jinja (★★★★☆, 8+ yrs) - Used for templating in Django and Flask, generating SOAP API requests.

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