Meet EMC Proven Professional and Newly Certified Cloud It-as-a-Service Expert: Andy Ritter

Andy Ritter currently serves as a Senior Technologist in the Hampton Roads/Richmond area of Virginia.  He is a lead technical architect in Data Center activities including Storage, Virtualization, Backup/Recovery, DR, as well as all other aspects of Network/Systems Administration.  His current certifications include EMC IT-as-a-Service Planning and Design Expert, EMC Cloud Architect Virtualized Infrastructure Specialist, EMC Backup/Recovery, EMC ISM, VCP 5 (after completing required coursework), ITILv3, MCITP: Enterprise Admin, MCSA, CCNA, and CCNA Security.  His 10 year career has taken him across a wide variety of sectors including Health Care, Financial, Government and Education.  His latest challenge will be joining the team at ePlus as a Senior Consultant.

After achieving a B.A. in English from Old Dominion University Andy jumped into the IT field and has never looked back.  He enjoys the challenge as well as the complex decision making and analysis that the modern IT gamut encompasses.  The critical thinking required to see a project grow and mature from the planning stages all the way to the end-of-life cycle is one of the factors Andy loves most about his career.

Andy was drawn to the virtualized Data Center and Cloud track offered by EMC because of its’ dependence on a firm understanding of not just Storage, but Networking and Virtualization.  He wanted to achieve IT-as-a-Service Expert certification to develop a true depth in the wave of the future for IT shops of all sizes.  Andy believes the process driven automation and flexibility that the Cloud provides will be a huge asset to all segments of IT.  As cloud based services become more prevalent in organizations, he wants to have the understanding and the design and implementation skills to meet the diverse and most challenging needs of the client.

Andy resides in southeastern VA and enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his wife and two boys.