Mike Houben
Platform Engineer · Founder, Houbsi IT Services
Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Germany
Platform engineer & IT consultant with 10+ years of experience — from 24/7 data center operations and cloud & DevOps to founding my own IT consultancy. I build and operate complete IT platforms: infrastructure, CI/CD, identity management, compliance. Pragmatic, holistic, jargon-free.
Core Competencies
Platform & Virtualization
Proxmox VE · xcp-ng · Docker · Podman · LXC
Network & Security
OPNsense · WireGuard · VLANs · CrowdSec · Traefik · ISO/IEC 27001:2022
CI/CD & Automation
GitLab CI/CD · Ansible · IaC · Semaphore
Identity & Access Management
Keycloak · Authentik · OIDC · SAML · SSO
Monitoring & Observability
Zabbix · LibreNMS · SNMP · Sentry
Cloud & Data Center
Hetzner · Azure · Rechenzentrum · 24/7 NOC
Operating Systems
Debian · RHEL · AlmaLinux · Ubuntu Server
Development
PHP · Laravel · Vue.js · Node.js · MySQL · MongoDB
Collaboration
GitLab · Mattermost · Obsidian · MkDocs · Zammad
IoT & Smart Home
Home Assistant · Frigate NVR · Thread/Matter · MQTT
Career
Geschäftsführer
Houbsi IT Services · Apr. 2024 – present
IT infrastructure consulting for SMBs & startups — platforms, DevOps, IAM, hosting.
NOC IT Service Technician · Data Center
InterNetX · Apr. 2023 – Mar. 2025
24/7 operations of server & network infrastructure. Built internal platforms using xcp-ng, Proxmox, Docker, Ansible. Big Data and Network Monitoring projects.
Cloud / DevOps Consultant
inSyca IT Solutions GmbH · Apr. 2022 – Mar. 2023
Cloud infrastructure & DevOps on Azure. EDI application support (BizTalk), requirement engineering, test planning.
DevOps Engineer & Full-Stack Developer
Projekt Langstrumpf GmbH · Oct. 2021 – Mar. 2022
Complete Hetzner cloud setup, CI/CD automation, DNS. Full-stack with Vue.js (Nuxt, Quasar), Node.js (Strapi), PHP (Laravel, Shopware), MySQL, MongoDB.
Senior Customer Advisor · Deputy Team Lead
CHECK24 · Oct. 2018 – Feb. 2020
Digitalisation of insurance processes — simplified workflows for customers, staff, and internal teams. IT bug analysis and escalation to internal IT. Built internal knowledge base. Deputy team lead.
EU IT Support Centre Specialist
Staples · Aug. 2011 – Apr. 2013
EU-wide IT inbound support. Problem analysis, internal knowledge base, one-touch handling.
Leadership & Organization
Founded & built Houbsi IT Services
Independent positioning, client acquisition, offer strategy and service definition
IT Operations Management — team leadership & development
Staff scheduling, professional development, compliance implementation (ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR)
Regional Manager Swabia — cooperative sales
Coordinating part-time insurance agents across Swabia, personnel acquisition, strategic territory planning
Deputy Team Lead & Knowledge Management — CHECK24
Deputy team leadership, built internal knowledge base, supported apprentice training