About Lionel Kanyowa
Bridging traditional IT with modern DevOps — driven by a passion for building secure, scalable, human-centered systems.
My DevOps Journey
Network Administrator
Managing hybrid environments, Active Directory, and enterprise security
DevOps Transition
Learning automation, IaC, and cloud-native practices
Cloud Engineer
Building scalable, secure infrastructure solutions
My Story
Current Role
I'm a Network Administrator with a systems engineering mindset. In my current role, I manage a hybrid environment integrating on-prem Active Directory with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), supporting identity, access, and policy controls across users and devices. I oversee firewall configurations (Fortinet), enterprise antivirus (Sophos Central), group policy management, and virtual server infrastructure — ensuring secure and stable operations for a distributed workforce.
DevOps Focus
Increasingly, my focus has shifted toward DevOps practices: automation, reproducibility, cloud-native infrastructure, and policy-as-code. I'm building foundational skills in scripting, cloud platforms, and infrastructure as code.
Daily Tools
I work in the terminal daily (PowerShell, bash, Neovim), manage device compliance through Intune, and lead technical onboarding/offboarding through Microsoft 365 Admin. While I'm still early in this journey, I bring strong operational discipline.
Mission
This site is a space to document that journey — the wins, the lessons, and the evolution from sysadmin to DevOps engineer. If you're on a similar path, I hope it resonates.
Quick Facts
- 📍 Location: Michigan
- 💼 Target Role: DevOps Engineer
- 🎯 Focus: Cloud Infrastructure & Security
- 📧 Email: lionelkanyowa@gmail.com
- 🔗 LinkedIn: Connect with me
Technical Expertise
Technologies and tools I work with daily
🔐 Identity & Access Management
Microsoft Active Directory (AD) - Group Policy, user/group management, domain services
Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) - Hybrid identity, conditional access, device registration
Microsoft Intune - Device compliance, configuration policies, mobile device management
Microsoft 365 Admin Center - User provisioning, license management, security policies
🛡️ Security & Network Infrastructure
Fortinet Firewalls - Security policies, VPN configuration, network segmentation
Sophos Central - Endpoint protection, threat detection, centralized managementHybrid
Infrastructure - On-premises to cloud integration, secure connectivity Network
Administration - TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLAN management
⚡ Automation & Scripting
PowerShell - Administrative automation, user onboarding/offboarding workflows
Bash Scripting - Linux system administration, automation tasks
Neovim - Text editing, configuration management, development environment
Infrastructure as Code - Learning Terraform, exploring cloud-native automation
🖥️ Systems & Virtualization
Virtualized Server Infrastructure - Hypervisor management, VM deployment and maintenance
Windows Server Administration - Domain controllers, file services, system monitoring
DevOps Transition - Building skills in CI/CD principles, reproducible systems
Technical Operations - Onboarding/offboarding processes, compliance management
Certifications & Learning
Currently in-progress... ⏳
Always learning and staying current with the latest in DevOps and cloud technologies
2025 Goals:
- 🎯 AWS Solutions Architect Associate
- 🎯 Kubernetes CKA Certification
- 🎯 HashiCorp Terraform Associate