(SME) – IBM MQ & DataPower Assessment

Project Overview:

Our organisation is undertaking a critical assessment project to thoroughly evaluate the current state ("As-Is") of our existing IBM MQ and IBM DataPower infrastructure. We require a highly experienced Subject Matter Expert (SME) to lead the technical assessment activities, providing deep insights into the architecture, configuration, performance, security, and operational practices of these key middleware components.

Role Summary:

The MQ & DataPower SME will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive technical assessment of the client's current MQ and DataPower environments. This involves detailed analysis, identification of configurations, operational practices, potential risks, and documenting the existing landscape accurately. The SME will leverage their deep technical expertise in both technologies to provide a clear picture of the "As-Is" state, forming the foundation for future strategic decisions to reach Active-Active Architecture to be state.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Discovery & Analysis:
• Conduct thorough discovery sessions with technical teams and stakeholders to understand the current usage, topology, and business context of the MQ and DataPower environments.
• Perform hands-on analysis of existing MQ (Queue Managers, Clusters, Channels, Queues, Security settings, etc.) and DataPower (Appliances, Domains, Services like MPGW/WSP, etc.) configurations.
• Review existing technical documentation, architectural diagrams, and operational procedures.
2. Assessment & Evaluation:
• Evaluate the current architecture, configuration, and implementation against established best practices for both IBM MQ and DataPower.
• Assess the operational health, including aspects of performance, monitoring, logging, alerting, and maintenance procedures.
• Review security implementations (TLS/SSL, MQ AMS, DataPower AAA policies, firewall rules, vulnerability management linkage).
• Assess high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) setups and capabilities for both platforms.
• Identify potential performance bottlenecks, single points of failure, security vulnerabilities, operational inefficiencies, and compliance gaps within the current setup.
3. Documentation & Reporting:
• Develop comprehensive "As-Is" assessment documentation, clearly detailing the current state architecture, configurations, data flows, dependencies, and integration points for MQ and DataPower.
• Document all findings, observations, potential risks, and areas of concern identified during the assessment.
• Prepare clear and concise summary reports and presentations tailored for both technical and potentially management audiences.
4. Collaboration:
• Work closely with internal project teams, client technical staff, and relevant stakeholders throughout the assessment process.
• Facilitate technical workshops and interviews as needed to gather necessary information.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Deep Subject Matter Expertise: Proven, in-depth, hands-on expertise in both:
• IBM MQ: Minimum 5-7+ years of experience covering architecture, installation, configuration, administration, security (including TLS/SSL, AMS), clustering, pub/sub, performance tuning, troubleshooting, monitoring, and high availability/disaster recovery patterns across various operating systems (Linux/Unix/Windows, z/OS a plus). Familiarity with different MQ versions.
• IBM DataPower Gateway: Minimum 5-7+ years of experience covering appliance setup (physical/virtual/container), domain configuration, service development (MPGW, WSP, XML Firewall, API Gateway), security implementation (AAA, WS-Security, TLS, OAuth/OIDC), transformation languages (XSLT, GatewayScript), troubleshooting, firmware management, logging, monitoring, and HA/DR strategies.
• Integration Knowledge: Strong understanding of enterprise integration patterns, messaging concepts, SOA, API Management, web services (SOAP/REST), and associated security standards (TLS, WS-Security, JWT, SAML, OAuth).
• Assessment Experience: Demonstrable experience conducting technical assessments, health checks, or architectural reviews, specifically for middleware platforms.
• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving ability, capable of dissecting complex technical environments.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts 1 clearly to diverse audiences and produce high-quality technical documentation.  
• Autonomy: Ability to work independently, manage tasks effectively, and drive the assessment activities with minimal supervision.

Qualifications:

• Relevant third-level qualification in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Extensive, verifiable hands-on experience with IBM MQ and IBM DataPower in complex enterprise environments is paramount.

Desirable Skills:

• IBM Certifications related to MQ or DataPower.
• Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Shell, Python) for automation/analysis.
• Familiarity with related technologies (e.g., IIB/App Connect Enterprise, API Connect, Kafka).
• Experience with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Instana, Dynatrace, Splunk, ELK Stack).
• Understanding of containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes/OpenShift) in relation to MQ/DataPower.
• Experience working within regulated industries (e.g., Finance, Insurance).

Requirements

- per-diem

- Travel expenses

**This role is only for 8 weeks with 2 trips onsite at customer site ( 10 nights)