Niels Weistra - DevOps Engineer & Cloud Architect

About Me

I'm a passionate DevOps Engineer and Cloud Architect with extensive experience in designing and implementing cloud-native solutions. As the founder of ITlusions, I help organizations accelerate their digital transformation through modern DevOps practices, Kubernetes orchestration, and secure, scalable cloud architectures.

With deep expertise in enterprise architecture frameworks like TOGAF and scaled agile methodologies including SAFe, I bridge the gap between strategic enterprise initiatives and tactical technical implementation. My approach combines enterprise governance with modern cloud-native practices to deliver solutions that scale both technically and organizationally.

Current Focus

Leading cloud-native transformations with a focus on GitOps workflows, container orchestration, and building robust CI/CD pipelines that enable teams to deliver value faster and more reliably.

Technical Skills & Experience

Detailed breakdown of my technical expertise with proficiency levels and years of experience.
This matrix helps clients understand my capabilities for specific project requirements.

Cloud Platforms

Microsoft Azure

AKS Functions ARM Templates DevOps Storage

EXPERT 10+ Years

Amazon Web Services

EC2 EKS Lambda S3 CloudFormation VPC

ADVANCED 6+ Years

Google Cloud Platform

GKE Cloud Functions BigQuery Storage

INTERMEDIATE 4+ Years

Container & Orchestration

Kubernetes

CNCF CKA Cluster API Operators Service Mesh

EXPERT 7+ Years

Docker

Containerization Multi-stage Security Optimization

EXPERT 8+ Years

Helm

Charts Templating Packaging Releases

ADVANCED 5+ Years

DevOps & CI/CD

GitOps

ArgoCD Flux Automation Workflows

EXPERT 5+ Years

Azure DevOps

Pipelines Repos Artifacts Testing

ADVANCED 8+ Years

GitHub Actions

Workflows Runners Security Automation

ADVANCED 4+ Years

Infrastructure as Code

Terraform

Providers Modules State Management Cloud

EXPERT 6+ Years

ARM Templates

Azure JSON Deployment Automation

ADVANCED 6+ Years

Bicep

DSL Azure Modules Templates

INTERMEDIATE 4+ Years

Programming & Scripting

Python

Automation APIs Data Processing Frameworks

EXPERT 10+ Years

PowerShell

Automation Azure Windows Scripting

EXPERT 10+ Years

Bash/Shell

Linux Automation DevOps Scripting

EXPERT 10+ Years

Enterprise Architecture & Methodologies

TOGAF

Architecture Framework Enterprise Architecture Architecture Repository Governance

ADVANCED 4+ Years

Agile SAFe

Scaled Agile DevSecOps Lean Portfolio Architecture Runway

ADVANCED 6+ Years

ITIL

Service Management Change Management Incident Management Governance

EXPERT 10+ Years

Enterprise Integration Patterns

Solution Architecture API Design Microservices Event-Driven

EXPERT 10+ Years

Monitoring & Observability

Prometheus & Grafana

Metrics Dashboards Alerting Visualization

ADVANCED 4+ Years

Azure Monitor

Log Analytics Application Insights Alerts KQL

ADVANCED 5+ Years

ELK Stack

Elasticsearch Logstash Kibana Logging

INTERMEDIATE 3+ Years

Core Expertise

Cloud Architecture

Design and implement scalable, secure cloud infrastructures on Azure with focus on cost optimization, high availability, and disaster recovery.

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Kubernetes & Container Orchestration

Expert in Kubernetes deployment, management, and optimization. Specializing in multi-cluster setups, service mesh, and cloud-native application architectures.

Explore projects

GitOps & CI/CD

Implementing GitOps workflows with ArgoCD, Tekton, and Azure DevOps. Building robust pipelines that ensure reliable, automated deployments.

View methodologies

DevSecOps & Compliance

Integrating security practices into DevOps workflows. Policy-as-code, vulnerability management, and compliance automation.

Security practices

Featured Projects

ITlusions Platform

A comprehensive cloud-native platform providing DevOps transformation services, featuring automated CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and monitoring solutions.

Visit ITlusions

Kubernetes Multi-Cluster Management

Open-source tools and Helm charts for managing multi-cluster Kubernetes environments with GitOps workflows and centralized observability.

View on GitHub

Technical Blog

Sharing insights on cloud architecture, Kubernetes best practices, and DevOps transformation through detailed technical articles and tutorials.

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Latest Articles

Technical insights, tutorials, and thoughts on cloud-native technologies and DevOps practices.

October 11, 2025 • DevOps, Automation

Ship It & Track It: Webhooks for Process Traceability

Turn your deployment pipeline into a traceable audit trail with smart webhook notifications that land right where your team works.

# webhooks # traceability # monitoring

October 05, 2025 • kubernetes, dns, coredns, networking

External DNS with CoreDNS: Static and Dynamic Zones in Kubernetes

Learn how to set up external DNS access using CoreDNS in Kubernetes with both static and dynamic DNS zones. Complete guide including volume mounts, ConfigMaps, and LoadBalancer configuration.

# kubernetes # dns # coredns

October 03, 2025 • Azure, Terraform, Authentication, Infrastructure

Building Production-Ready Microsoft Entra Domain Services with Terraform

Microsoft Entra Domain Services (formerly Azure AD Domain Services) is a crucial component for organizations looking to implement hybrid identity solutions in Azure. While Azure provides managed domain controllers, setting...

# azure # terraform # entra-id

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Let's Connect

Interested in collaboration, consulting, or just want to discuss cloud-native technologies? I'm always open to connecting with fellow technologists and organizations looking to accelerate their digital transformation.