Lugano · Ticino — Switzerland

Andrea
Vergori

Head of IT & CTO Senior Sysadmin Software Engineer

I lead the technology strategy of a Swiss manufacturing company without losing touch with the hardware or the code. Over twenty years across enterprise infrastructure, security, business continuity and software development — from payment-terminal firmware to Business Intelligence.

Let's talk Career path
Portrait of Andrea Vergori
Andrea VergoriHead of IT · CTO
CH · IT
20+years in IT, from embedded systems to IT leadership
2022Head of IT and CTO, on the company leadership team
CH+ITtwo markets, two frameworks: Swiss nFADP and EU GDPR
01 — Profile

From strategy
to code.

I am Head of IT Department and Chief Technology Officer at a Swiss manufacturing company. As a member of the leadership team I set the IT strategy, manage people, budget and vendors, and am accountable for the company's security and business continuity.

I got here from the server room. Before leading a department I spent years designing and running enterprise virtual infrastructure — VMware, hyperconvergence, Linux clusters, disaster recovery — for companies and system integrators across Lombardy and Switzerland.

And before that I wrote software: C and C++ on secure EMV payment terminals, drivers, network protocols and cryptography on embedded Linux and FreeRTOS. That engineering background is still my edge: I design workflows, BI and internal tools knowing exactly what runs underneath.

“Technology serves the business best when the people leading it can also build it.”

02 — Expertise

Four areas,
one vision.

Skills built in the field and brought together in a single role: the person setting the strategy also knows the systems and software it runs on.

/01

Leadership & IT strategy

Technology roadmap aligned with business goals; team, budget and vendor contract management. KPIs and reporting to the board.

IT StrategyBudgetVendor mgmtKPITeam lead
/02

Infrastructure & cloud

Enterprise virtualisation and hyperconvergence, Windows and Linux servers, hybrid identity and mail, networking and firewalls, public cloud.

VMwareHPE SimpliVityNutanixProxmoxRHEL / DebianAD · M365Azure · AWS
/03

Security, compliance & continuity

System and data security, personal-data protection under Swiss and EU law, disaster recovery and business continuity designed and tested.

nFADPGDPRDR / BCVeeamCheckMKFirewall
/04

Software development

From embedded firmware to business applications: C/C++ on critical systems, Python, SQL Server, intranets and corporate Business Intelligence.

C / C++PythonEmbedded LinuxFreeRTOSEMVSQL ServerBI
03 — Experience

The journey.

The milestones that matter, most recent first: IT leadership, enterprise systems administration, software development.

2022 — present
Current role

Head of IT Department · Chief Technology Officer

Switzerland Leadership team member
  • Plans and delivers IT strategy aligned with business objectives
  • Member of the leadership team shaping company strategy
  • Manages and develops the IT team
  • Owns the IT budget; negotiates contracts with vendors and partners
  • Security and integrity of systems and data; GDPR / nFADP compliance
  • Designer and operational owner of Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
  • Develops and runs corporate Business Intelligence
  • Designs workflows and processes to track department activity and KPIs
2020 — 2022

Senior System Administrator · Project Manager

Switzerland
  • VMware virtual infrastructure on HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged platform
  • Windows and Linux servers (Red Hat, Debian and derivatives)
  • Active Directory and Exchange, on-prem and online; Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft SQL Server administration and programming
  • Multi-tier Disaster Recovery with Veeam: on-prem, tape library and cloud
  • Corporate intranet for data analysis (BI)
  • Monitoring with Nagios / CheckMK; HPE switching, firewalls
  • Information security and company procedures
2018 — 2020

IT Infrastructure Senior Specialist · Project Manager

Italy
  • Enterprise virtual infrastructure on VMware, Oracle VM and Proxmox
  • HPE SimpliVity and Nutanix hyperconvergence (NCP certified); 3PAR, NetApp, IBM Storwize storage
  • Physical and virtual Linux systems, including clusters (Pacemaker)
  • Backup and DR with Veeam, Backup Exec and Commvault
  • Cloud environments on Microsoft Azure, AWS and DigitalOcean
  • Project management and direct client relationships
2015 — 2018

IT Infrastructure Engineer · System Administrator

Italy
  • Design and maintenance of complex IT infrastructure
  • VMware and Hyper-V virtualisation; Windows and Linux servers
  • Mail on Exchange 2016 and Zimbra, on-prem anti-spam
  • LDAP and Active Directory (including clustered), RADIUS authentication
  • Firewalls (appliance, custom Linux, Juniper) and monitoring systems
2013 — 20152004 — 2006

Embedded Software Engineer

Italy Secure payment terminals
  • Development on FreeRTOS and embedded Linux terminals (Yocto and proprietary)
  • Programming in C, C++, Python and Ruby
  • Drivers, network protocols, cryptography and security key programming
  • Magnetic-stripe and EMV electronic payment flows
  • Cross-compilation toolchains (GCC/Eclipse, IAR); ARM, Raspberry Pi, ST Nucleo platforms
  • Secure POS on embedded Linux: degree thesis on a Visa SmartPOS EMV 4.0 runtime
2011 — 2015

Software Engineer · System Administrator

Italy Freelance
  • Software and embedded development (ARM, iPhone, Android, Raspberry Pi)
  • Systems administration and project management

Clients included: Fiat, Nokia, BTicino, City of Milan, Mainsoft, E-Money, Tesar.

04 — Education

Studies, certifications,
languages.

Academic background

Degree in Computer Science (Laurea in Informatica) University of Insubria, Varese
Graduate studies in Cybersecurity University of Pisa · information security exams passed within the Master's programme
Global Entrepreneurship, Economics and Management University of Insubria · coursework in management, innovation and economics

Certifications & courses

  • Certified apprentice trainer, ICT (AFC/EFZ) 2024
  • Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) 2020
  • Red Hat Enterprise High Availability 2018
  • SUSE Linux SAP Cluster 2018
  • IBM Power Blade 2017
  • CompTIA Server+ 2010
ItalianNative
EnglishC1 · B2
FrenchA2
05 — Lab

Something
is taking shape.

06 — Contact

Get in touch.

For projects, collaborations, speaking, or simply a chat about infrastructure, security and software. I reply personally.

Mobile · Italy+39 329 347 6729
Work · Switzerland+41 78 325 50 54
← Back to profile
Musician · Session player

Andrea
Vergori

Keyboards & HammondBassGuitar
Discography

Twenty years
of stages and studios.

2019Linked
To Life
Dark Blue Inc.Album · El Puerto Records
2018Resilient
Heart
Reece (David Reece)Album · Mighty Music
2016Insanity
Sixty Miles AheadAlbum · bass
2014Going
Nowhere
Bouncing The OceanAlbum · metal fusion
2012Up for
Anything
Wheels of FireAlbum · Avenue of Allies · AOR
2008..as in a
deep dream
Liquid ShadowsAlbum · progressive metal
Order your copy · €10 + shipping →
Listen

On Spotify.

Video

Live & official videos.

Biography

From thrash
to Hammond.

  • Kiko Loureiro, Andy Timmons with Bouncing The Ocean
  • Jeff Scott Soto with Wheels Of Fire
  • Leo Leoni with New Jersey
  • Dark Tranquillity, Evergrey with Reece
  • Tour DE · SE · AT Sainted Sinners

His musical career began as a rhythm guitarist and bassist in several thrash metal bands of the Lombardy underground scene.

In 2004 he joined progressive metal band Liquid Shadows on keyboards; originally a Dream Theater, Stratovarius and Secret Sphere cover band, they moved on to original material and released ..as in a deep dream in 2008.

In 2008 guitarist Gianluca Ferro brought him into the metal fusion project S.H.I.N.E., later renamed Bouncing The Ocean, with Edo Sala (Folkstone, Simone) and Alberto Bollati (Wine Spirit, Mike Terrana Band, Mr. No), releasing Going Nowhere in 2014.

In 2010 he joined AOR band Wheels Of Fire; in 2012 they recorded Up for Anything for Avenue of Allies, distributed in Europe, the US and Japan. In 2015 he joined Sixty Miles Ahead on bass.

Between November 2017 and February 2018 he played Hammond and rhythm guitar with David Reece (ex Accept) and Frank Pané (Bonfire) in Sainted Sinners across Germany, Sweden and Austria. In January 2018 he started working on David Reece's solo album (REƎCE) and joined Frank Pané's international band Dark Blue Inc. with Göran Edman (Yngwie Malmsteen), Hal Patino (King Diamond) and Harry Reischmann (Sarah Brightman, Bonfire).

He works with Soundwave Distribution and endorses Avid Technology and M-Audio. Session player on keyboards, guitar and bass.

Gear & Endorsement

The gear.

Keyboards

  • Korg Kronos X
  • Korg Triton
  • Kawai MP7
  • Clavia Nord Electro 3
  • Moog Theremini
  • M-Audio MIDI controllers
  • Ultimate Support

Basses & guitars

  • BassesIbanez SoundGear SR900 Fretless
  • Fender Precision Bass ('71 Reissue)
  • Yamaha TRBX 505
  • GuitarsESP LTD EC-1000 Eclipse
  • Yamaha APX 500 III (acoustic)

Amps & processing

  • Kemper Profiler
  • Line 6 Helix HX
  • Laney IRT-X
  • Laney Cub Head full-tube
  • Ashdown MAG 300 EVO II
  • Cicognani Power Load
EndorserAvid TechnologyM-AudioWorking withSoundwave Distribution
Booking · Session

Need a keyboard player?

For live shows, studio sessions or collaborations, drop me a line from the contact page.

Get in touch