Statement of Qualifications
Name: Chris Stacks
Title: Principal Architect
Christopher Stacks is a Principal Architect focused on engaging customers to solve strategic technology and business challenges through open-source technologies, practices, and principles. He brings extensive experience across both technical and business domains, leveraging strong consulting capabilities to deliver measurable value.
He has served as a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) administering RHEL 6.x and 7.x systems across public cloud, financial, trading, and telecommunications environments. He also holds experience as a Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA), administering medium-sized RHEV 3.0 environments within production trading systems.
In addition to systems engineering expertise, Christopher possesses strong software development skills across multiple programming languages, enabling advanced automation and infrastructure optimization. He maintains a proven record of delivering high-quality projects on time and aligned with client expectations.
His hands-on experience includes Infrastructure-as-Code, Python, Ansible, Perl, Bash, CI/CD pipelines, Jenkins, Puppet, Chef, and enterprise security controls.
Cloud Explorer (Multi-Cloud Visibility + Guided Operations)
Interactive platform for discovery, topology mapping, and safe, auditable action across multi-cloud environments.
Scope & Impact
- Built continuous inventory + metadata ingestion across cloud provider APIs to maintain near real-time infrastructure snapshots.
- Modeled compute/network/storage/identity/policy relationships into a topology graph for recursive query and “explainable” architecture views.
- Designed guardrailed execution patterns (least-privilege + audit logging) to enable safe operational workflows without invasive agents.
- Added AI-assisted analysis to convert raw cloud state into human-readable narratives, summaries, and remediation guidance.
Technologies
RAG-Style Chat + Inventory & Evidence Automation
Conversational interface for querying cloud inventory, policies, and compliance artifacts with retrieval-backed answers.
Scope & Impact
- Implemented semantic retrieval over cloud inventory + documentation to support contextual questions (“what exists, where, and why”).
- Integrated compliance references (NIST 800-53 / CIS / FedRAMP) for evidence-linked responses and control interpretation.
- Designed workflows to generate repeatable evidence packages: what was checked, what was found, and what to remediate.
Technologies
TorchLite (Compliance Automation Framework)
Headless automation system to validate security controls and map findings to compliance requirements.
Scope & Impact
- Built a control-validation engine to evaluate cloud configuration and identity endpoints against defined control expectations.
- Automated evidence collection and generated structured outputs suitable for audit review and continuous compliance reporting.
- Integrated CI workflows for repeatable compliance checks and standardized reporting across environments.
Technologies
TorchShell (Interactive Cloud Engineering Toolkit)
Operator-focused CLI for secure discovery, cross-subscription automation, and rapid execution of repeatable workflows.
Scope & Impact
- Created a container-first CLI workflow for inventory discovery, validation, and orchestration across cloud accounts.
- Implemented secure config handling for operator ergonomics without sacrificing safety (encrypted configuration + controlled execution).
- Delivered a fast, “dark-mode-first” UX with hotkeys, workflow shortcuts, and consistent command structure.
Technologies
Public Cloud Computing Environment (FedRAMP Program)
Scope & Impact
- Designed and implemented ILOM firmware patching procedures for 35,000+ systems.
- Developed and managed monthly patching procedures for Oracle US Gov / DoD Public Cloud.
- Utilized JIRA API for change management and cross-team integration.
- Led OpenSCAP remediation and security control management using Ansible playbooks.
- Managed software deployment and WebLogic server operations.
Technologies
Financial Trading Environment (Senior Linux Engineer)
Scope & Impact
- Designed and implemented a redundant RHEV 3.0 internal infrastructure.
- Configured eight hypervisors and two management servers using Red Hat Cluster Suite.
- Implemented backup and recovery using Acronis.
- Managed enterprise storage using NetApp FAS2240 with iSCSI-based connections.
Technologies
Aerospace Environment (LDAP Single Sign-On Solution)
Scope & Impact
- Gathered environmental data across 800 RHEL-based Linux systems.
- Designed and deployed automated managed file solutions for RHEL 5.5 and 6.0.
- Conducted weekly stakeholder meetings to guide LDAP implementation.
Technologies
Financial Institution (Spacewalk & Cobbler Management)
Scope & Impact
- Created and managed base channels and configuration files for Spacewalk and Cobbler.
- Automated RHEL deployments and virtual machine builds.
- Built custom RPMs and managed local yum repositories.
- Utilized Spacewalk API for advanced automation.
Technologies
Throughout his career, Christopher Stacks has served in a variety of roles as a trusted problem solver. Prior to joining VMware, he was employed by Oracle, where he earned three promotions and led critical engineering initiatives.
He has also served as a primary on-site platform consultant for Red Hat and led engineering efforts across financial institutions, trading environments, and aerospace organizations.
Christopher graduated with honors from Robert Morris College with a 4.0 GPA and continues to expand his expertise through ongoing certification efforts in networking and Red Hat-based technologies.