Enterprise IT Leader & Architect

Ramy Harb

Digital Transformation & AI Leader  |  ITSM & Operational Excellence
20+ years driving enterprise IT across Dubai — from Tier II datacenters to agentic AI

20+
Years in Enterprise IT
AED 60M+
Budget Managed
20%
Cost Reduction Achieved
10
Certifications
6
Major Projects Led

Profile

Strategic IT leader with 20+ years of experience driving digital transformation, AI adoption, and operational excellence across large-scale organisations. Currently serving as the IT Director's principal specialist at Dubai Customs — a cross-functional role spanning AI initiative leadership, budget governance, contract administration, ITSM platform management, datacenter operations, and strategic vendor management across a five-section IT department.

Certified PMP, ITIL v3 Expert, and AWS Cloud Architect with a consistent record of reducing operational costs by 20%, cutting system downtime by 25%, and translating complex technology investments into measurable business outcomes.

Core Competencies

67 competencies across 8 domains — hover to explore, filter by domain

Digital TransformationEnterprise AgilityDigital RoadmapInnovation ManagementChange ManagementBusiness DigitalizationPoC DeliveryTechnology EvaluationAgentic AIGenerative AILLM EvaluationMachine LearningPredictive AnalyticsPower BIPower PlatformRPAIoTData GovernanceCMDB ArchitectureAnalytics MaturityITIL v3 ExpertCobiT5ISO 20000NISTIT GovernanceGRC AlignmentSLA ManagementKPI DesignCompliancePMPProject DeliveryProgramme ManagementRisk ManagementStakeholder EngagementBudget PlanningAED 60M+ BudgetAgileWorkshop FacilitationITSMServiceNowManageEngine SDPIncident ManagementService DeliveryOperational ExcellenceNexthinkRelease ManagementAWSCloud ArchitectureDatacenter DesignTier II DatacenterBCP & DRVMware VCPVMware NSXVDIMicrosoft 365SAP S/4HANACybersecurityIT Security ChampionRisk IdentificationMFAZero TrustVendor ManagementContract LifecycleProcurementRFP ManagementStrategic PartnershipsBlockchain

Professional Experience

IT Finance & Digital Transformation Specialist
Dubai Customs · Sep 2020 – Present · Dubai, UAE
▲
  • →Principal specialist to the IT Director across 5 sections — Infrastructure, IT Operations, Solution Delivery, IT Security, and IT Excellence
  • →Spearheaded agentic AI deployment for the development lifecycle — one of the department's flagship AI initiatives
  • →Led exit from shared services model, architecting a fully independent standalone IT infrastructure from the ground up
  • →Directed Microsoft 365 migration (Exchange on-premises to cloud) with zero business disruption
  • →Built the organisation's first comprehensive CMDB — unified source of truth for all IT assets
  • →Led annual IT budget planning cycle across all five sections — AED 60M+ submission
  • →Achieved 20% IT cost optimisation through vendor negotiations and resource rationalization
  • →Governed full lifecycle of all IT contracts: renewal, KPI monitoring, approval workflows, and vendor onboarding
Senior IT Excellence
Dubai Customs · Nov 2017 – Aug 2020 · Dubai, UAE
▼
Datacenter Manager
Dubai Customs · May 2012 – Oct 2017 · Dubai, UAE
▼
Senior IT Support
Dubai Customs · Prior to 2012 · Dubai, UAE
▼
IT Specialist
SBL Hospitality · Earlier career · UAE
▼

Key Projects

Project Manager
Agentic AI Implementation
Designed and deployed an agentic AI model for the development team, accelerating delivery velocity and reducing manual bottlenecks in the SDLC.
Project Manager
ITSM Platform Implementation
Delivered on-premises ITSM solution achieving ITIL and ISO 20000 certification alignment — unifying incident, problem, change, asset, and release management.
Project Manager
Microsoft 365 Migration
Directed full Exchange on-premises to M365 migration. Zero business disruption. MFA implemented to address cloud security risks.
Business Analyst & SME
Cross-Border E-Commerce Blockchain
Blockchain-based trade consortium with Dubai Customs, Ports Authority, DHL, and FedEx — positioning Dubai as a global e-commerce hub.
Coordination & Business Alignment
SAP S/4HANA Implementation
Coordinated cross-functional workshops, requirements gathering, and business process alignment with SAP functional consultants.
Project Manager
Remote Workforce Enablement
Scaled VDI infrastructure to support 100% remote operations during COVID-19. Microsoft Teams deployment with MFA — delivered on accelerated timeline.

Certifications

📋
PMP
PMI
⚙️
ITIL v3 Expert
AXELOS
📜
ISO 20000 Practitioner
ISO
🏛
CobiT5 Foundation
ISACA
☁️
AWS Cloud Architect Associate
Amazon
🖥
VMware VCP
VMware
🌐
VMware NSX
VMware
🖥
VMware Horizon
VMware
🔧
ServiceNow Administration
ServiceNow
📊
Nexthink
Nexthink

Education

🎓
B.Sc. Computer Engineering
Al-Azhar University, Egypt  ·  1995 – 2001

Published Work & Thought Leadership

Founder of EmergEdge — enterprise IT knowledge platform covering frameworks, infrastructure, and digital transformation strategy.

📘 Enterprise IT Blueprint Series📚 Learning Hub — 18 Frameworks✍️ All Articles