Rico Nolan
About Rico Nolan
Rico Nolan is a Sr. Infrastructure Network Engineer at Skytap, where he specializes in automated deployments and network security. He has a diverse background in network engineering and administration, with experience at various organizations including Lutheran High School of Orange County and Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Work at Skytap
Rico Nolan currently serves as a Senior Infrastructure Network Engineer at Skytap, a position he has held since 2020. In this role, he has automated deployments and configuration upgrades using Ansible, Python, Terraform, and APIs. He has also developed compensating controls for End-of-Life/End-of-Support Cisco and Juniper routers, firewalls, and switches. Nolan has led incident response efforts during a significant DDoS attack on global data centers, utilizing tools such as ThousandEyes and Splunk. Additionally, he has authored policies, standards, and procedures to ensure compliance with ISO27001, PCI-DSS, and SOC2. His contributions include deploying and scaling leaf/spine production networks in IBM and Azure data centers to support global growth.
Education and Expertise
Rico Nolan studied at Brandman University, which is part of the Chapman University System, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Studies with a minor in Criminal Justice Forensics from 2013 to 2016. He also completed an Associate's Degree in General Studies at Brandman University from 2012 to 2014. Earlier, he attended Santa Ana College, focusing on Managed Information Systems and Psychology, achieving General Education from 2002 to 2003. His educational background provides a strong foundation for his expertise in network engineering and security.
Background in Network Administration
Before joining Skytap, Rico Nolan held various positions in network administration and technology. He worked as the Director of Technology at Lutheran High School of Orange County from 2004 to 2011, where he managed the school's technology infrastructure. He also served as a Systems and Network Administrator at the same institution for one year in 2003 to 2004. Nolan transitioned to Brandman University as a Network Communications Analyst from 2012 to 2015, where he further developed his skills in network management.
Previous Experience in Network Engineering
Rico Nolan has extensive experience in network engineering prior to his current role at Skytap. He worked as a Senior Network Engineer at Sinclair Broadcast Group from 2015 to 2019, where he contributed to the organization's network infrastructure. His earlier role as an Infrastructure Network Engineer at Skytap lasted from 2019 to 2020, where he focused on network deployment and management. This diverse experience has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of network systems and security protocols.