Allow me to introduce myself.
Hi there, I’m Derek Williams, a Senior DevOps Architect based in Lexington, Kentucky, with over 11 years of experience building cloud solutions that businesses can rely on. I’ve spent my career working with Azure and AWS, setting up scalable architectures, and making sure everything runs smoothly—whether that’s through streamlined CI/CD pipelines, Kubernetes clusters, or tools like Terraform for infrastructure as code. One of my favorite projects was leading a team of 11 engineers to roll out a solid AWS setup that we could replicate easily, all while sticking to best practices. It felt great seeing that come together and knowing it made a real difference for the client.But I’m not just about the tech—I’m a guy who loves the simple things in life. On weekends, you’ll probably find me cheering on the Bengals (I’ve been a die-hard fan since I was a kid) or habing a nice cocktail with friends or clients. I also enjoy taking my dog for long walks around the neighborhood—it’s the best way to clear my head after a day of diving into code. When I’m not working, I’m often tinkering with personal projects in .NET, Go, or TypeScript, just because I love the challenge. And if the weather’s nice, I might be out grilling some barbecue (I’m a bit of a sucker for that smoky flavor) or kicking a soccer ball around at the park.
What really drives me at Williams Enterprises is helping my clients succeed. I take the time to understand what they need, whether it’s a rock-solid Kubernetes setup or a Grafana dashboard to keep an eye on their systems. I’m a bit of a stickler for details—I’ve cut deployment costs by as much as 40% and boosted performance by 20% on projects like an MSSQL migration that had to go just right. I love digging into the nitty-gritty, rolling up my sleeves, and even getting into lively debates about engineering practices—it’s how I make sure I’m delivering the best solutions possible. For me, this isn’t just a job; it’s about creating something that genuinely helps my clients, and I’m committed to doing that with care and a whole lot of enthusiasm.