Cloud, network & security architecture

Infrastructure that real estate, banking and payments companies run on.

I'm Yared Demissie. Since 2006 I've worked as an independent architect and technical lead, usually embedded with a client for years at a time, owning the network and security layer from design through operation.

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2006Yared Consulting Inc founded

10 yrsLongest active engagement

1stNew Direct Clearer in Canada since 1984, built with Peoples Trust

4Continents of Azure network estate led for Colliers

Selected work

Long engagements, real outcomes. Each of these is an infrastructure I designed, built and then stayed on to run.

Peoples Trust · Payments · 2018 to 2023

Canada's first new Direct Clearer since 1984

Technical Lead on the ACSS project that took Peoples Trust from Indirect to Direct Clearer for exchange, clearing and settlement. Built the Azure payment platform, the datacenters and networks joining the Payments Canada network, and the security controls that exceed its requirements. Live June 2022.

IBM Connect:Direct implemented and automated with custom code
End-to-end validation with Payments Canada and the existing direct clearers before go-live
AWS and Azure network estate: Palo Alto Transit VPC pattern automated with Terraform, GlobalProtect with SAML MFA, PCI compliance and audit

Colliers · Real estate · 2022 to present

Global Azure network lead

Hub-and-spoke with active-active firewalls across Canada, the US, EMEA and APAC, then Azure vWAN. Network design patterns for every application team, networking for a new Google Cloud environment, and an Aruba CX spine-leaf datacenter with Palo Alto 5410s and F5.

QuadReal · Real estate · 2016 to present

Greenfield estate to Azure

Designed the datacenter, head offices, remote sites and DR from scratch, then led the exit from physical datacenters into Azure and a WAN redesign on SD-WAN, Prisma Access and Equinix Network Edge. GPON for smart buildings; 5G and wireless offload for commercial and residential properties.

VCC · Education · 2024 to present

Two campuses to Aruba AOS 10

Migration from AOS 8 mobility controllers to AOS 10 on Aruba Central with 9106 gateway clusters and inter-campus site clustering, so the APs at one campus fail over to the other. A year earlier, a Palo Alto redesign so the downtown campus runs independently of Broadway.

Yared Consulting product · AI · 2024 to present

BuildingIQ, an operations copilot for buildings

Answers only from a building's own runbooks, as-builts and equipment records; guided troubleshooting trees; change requests that wait for a person to approve. Hybrid retrieval over Qdrant, Gemini, LangGraph, MFA in front. In pilot with a large commercial real estate client, scoring 100 of 100 on the eval suite.

What I do

Four kinds of engagement. Most clients start with one and keep me on for the others.

Cloud and network architecture

Azure, AWS and Google Cloud network design; hub-and-spoke and vWAN; datacenter fabrics; SD-WAN and WAN redesign; wireless with Aruba Central and ClearPass. From requirements and HLD/LLD through proof of concept, cutover and as-built.

Security and firewall programs

Palo Alto migrations, Panorama, GlobalProtect and Prisma Access; firewall hardening and best-practice assessments; PCI and Payments Canada compliance; segmentation and VRF design that lets a site survive on its own.

Fractional technical lead

Leading engineers, PMs and analysts through assessments, landing zones and remediation; writing the service catalog, security policies and playbooks; and staying on to run what was built.

AI systems for operations

Since 2024: assistants and agents grounded in your own data, with the controls an infrastructure person expects. Answers come only from the knowledge base, a person approves before anything changes, secrets live in a vault, data stays in Canada, and an eval suite scores every release. Built on Claude and Gemini with Qdrant, Supabase, n8n and Docker, self-hosted or in your tenant.

Stack

Microsoft AzureAWSGoogle CloudPalo Alto NetworksAruba CX, Central & ClearPassF5SD-WAN (Velocloud, Viptela)CloudflareTerraformNutanixCiscoCheck PointPCI DSSClaude & GeminiQdrantSupabasen8nDocker

Common questions

Short answers to what people usually ask before they get in touch.

What kind of work does Yared Consulting take on?

Cloud, network and security architecture for organizations that need someone to own that layer end to end: Azure and multi-cloud network design, Palo Alto firewall programs, Aruba campus and datacenter networks, SD-WAN and WAN redesign, and fractional technical lead roles. Most engagements run for years rather than weeks.

Which industries do you work in?

Mostly real estate, financial services and payments, and post-secondary education. Current and recent clients include QuadReal, Colliers, Vancouver Community College and Peoples Trust, where I was Technical Lead on Canada's first new Direct Clearer since 1984.

Where are you based, and do you work remotely?

Surrey, in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. I work remotely and on site. Clients have included teams across Canada, the US, EMEA and APAC.

Do you work through an agency or directly?

Directly. Yared Consulting Inc has been an independent company since 2006, and I am the person who does the work.

Do you build AI systems?

Yes, since 2024, and only the kind I would run myself: grounded in the client's own data, answers limited to the knowledge base, a person approving any change, secrets in a vault, data resident in Canada, and an eval suite scoring every release. BuildingIQ, an operations copilot for commercial buildings, is a Yared Consulting product in pilot with a large real estate client. I also run a multi-tenant agent platform for small service businesses.

How does an engagement start?

Send a short note through the contact form describing the project. I reply within two business days, and we start with a conversation about scope before any proposal.