Michael F. Ashworth
Network Architect | Virtual & Cloud Networking | Datacenter Infrastructure
Professional Summary
Senior Network Architect with 18+ years of enterprise IT experience specializing in virtual/cloud networking, datacenter infrastructure, and hybrid connectivity. Leads design and delivery of scalable network architectures for global venue, hospitality, and acquisition-driven environments—including multi-region Azure SD-WAN, NSX microsegmentation, VXLAN leaf/spine migrations, and FlexVPN WAN modernization. Proven in translating business, application, acquisition, and property requirements into zero-trust standards across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid platforms. Bilingual English/Spanish.
Professional Experience
Global Experience Specialists, LLC (Viad Corp, Pursuit Collection)
July 2013 - PresentTechnical architect and senior network engineering contributor for global enterprise, datacenter, cloud, WAN, wireless, and network security infrastructure across corporate, venue, hospitality, and acquisition-driven environments.
- Provide technical direction and design ownership for scalable network infrastructure, translating application, property, acquisition, and business requirements into deployable standards and architectures.
- Designed and delivered greenfield datacenter builds and in-place site rebuilds, covering rack layout, structured cabling, network hardware configuration, out-of-band management, thermal considerations, and lifecycle refreshes.
- Deployed Meraki SD-WAN virtual infrastructure in Azure using multi-region hub-and-spoke architecture with BGP peering to Azure Route Server.
- Rebuilt private WAN architecture from legacy DMVPN to FlexVPN with cloud-hosted hubs peered to Azure Route Server for consistent hybrid routing.
- Partnered with automation architecture to design and configure network integrations across multiple Azure Landing Zone patterns, aligning routing behavior across cloud and enterprise domains.
- Own NSX microsegmentation architecture and implementation; contribute to CSW segmentation design to align policy, routing, and zero-trust controls across platforms.
- Designed and deployed VXLAN leaf/spine architecture for datacenter migration; built and supported virtual network platforms and overlays including Cisco CSR1000v, virtual WLC, F5 BIG-IP VE, DMVPN, and cloud NFV.
- Earlier progression through NOC, engineering, and lead roles included M&A network integrations, new property build-outs, MPLS/Internet circuits, QoS design, firewall/wireless/router upgrades, SOX/PCI firewall review, and site turn-ups/shutdowns.
CompuCom Systems, Inc.
November 2008 - February 2013- Provided WAN outage response and troubleshooting for remote clients worldwide, including Cisco/Telco CPE troubleshooting, carrier escalation, diverse access technologies, and device monitoring for Fortune 500 retail and financial clients.
- Supported service desk transition and operations across Windows/Office, POS, Active Directory, Novell eDirectory, onboarding/offboarding, documentation, QA, and global go-live support.
iSESGO
November 2007 - July 2008- Provided on-site desktop and network support, PC build/maintenance, and full site build-outs including routers, switches, servers, computers, and power backup systems.
Qualifications & Technical Expertise
Architecture Focus: enterprise LAN/WAN, datacenter networking, virtual/cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, routing architecture, site standards, M&A integration, and scalable infrastructure design patterns.
Cloud & Virtual Networking: Azure networking, Azure Route Server, Azure Landing Zone network integration, Meraki SD-WAN/vMX, FlexVPN, DMVPN, BGP, NFV, hub-and-spoke routing, and virtual overlays.
Datacenter & Infrastructure: greenfield rack builds, rack/cabling cleanup, out-of-band management, thermal considerations, VXLAN leaf/spine, Cisco DCNM, VMware, Hyper-V, Dell VxRail, and storage networks.
Security & Segmentation: NSX microsegmentation, CSW segmentation design, zero-trust network architecture, Cisco ASA/Firepower/FTD, Palo Alto, firewall reviews, and SOX/PCI remediation.
Routing & Platforms: Cisco IOS, IOS-XE, NX-OS; Juniper JUNOS and ScreenOS; iBGP/eBGP, OSPF, EIGRP, route redistribution, asymmetric routing, Cisco/Meraki, HP, Brocade, Dell, Avaya, and Ubiquiti.
Wireless & Tooling: Ekahau site surveys, wireless controllers, point-to-point wireless backhaul, SolarWinds, Nagios, ServiceNow, Visio documentation, PowerShell, and Bash.
Certifications & Education
Certifications & Education: Cisco CCNA (2017, expired); Juniper JNCIA-Junos (2013, expired); Licenciatura en Ingeniería en Computación, Universidad Americana de Acapulco (2011); bilingual English/Spanish.