About me

Hi there! 👋 Welcome to my personal blog! I appreciate your interest, and I’m glad you made it here.
So, you want to know a little more about me? 😀

Personal

I’m Tobias To(mandl), 40 years young, a passionate AWS evangelist and experienced ICT Solution Architect, Cloud Architect and Cloud Consultant.

I live in Weißenohe, Bavaria, Germany — a charming small village in the Forchheim district, part of Franconia known for its stunning nature and great local beer. If you ever visit, don’t miss the breathtaking Sinterstufen im Lillachtal 🏞️🚶‍♂️ and the Fünf-Seidla-Steig 🍺🚶‍♂️ hiking trail.

Beyond tech, I’m a family man, happily married with the woman of my dreams 💞 and father of two wonderful kids 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 (2 and 8 years old), who constantly remind me that even the best-planned architectures can face unexpected trouble! 😄

Professional background

With 24 years of experience in the IT industry, including 18 years in ICT design and solution architecture, I’ve had an exciting journey through various roles and industries.
Let’s have a closer look:

Senior Presales Consultant AWS (Ingram Micro)

Since April 2023, I’ve been working as a 🚀 Senior Presales Consultant AWS at Ingram Micro Distribution GmbH, the #1 AWS Distributor of the Year in both 2023 and 2024.

In this role, I support AWS Partners across the DACH region, helping them innovate and build tailored cloud solutions for their customers.

What makes this position unique?
We operate as an extension of AWS itself, bringing me even closer to AWS with better capabilities, NDA information, and faster support than typical AWS Partners can get.

Who I Work With in this role

I collaborate 🤝 with AWS Partners of all sizes and verticals:

• AWS Premier Tier Partners 🏆 who need assistance with AWS MAP cost calculations or MAP tagging or guidance on achieving an AWS Competency or AWS Service Delivery Specialization.
• AWS Advanced Partners who require support with AWS Well-Architected Framework Review (WAFR) or OLA for their customers, or simply a second opinion on a new offering.
• AWS Select Partners who want to expand their customer base with expert guidance on customer calls or by providing a pitch - even white-labelled - in proposal presentations during an RFP process.
• AWS Registered Partners who are just getting started with AWS and need enablement—whether through AWS APN Immersion Days, AWS cost optimization, or AWS security best practices workshops.
• Ingram Micro partners who haven’t yet adopted AWS (e.g. Veeam Backup MSPs) but are now ready to take their first steps.
• Companies in the AWS ecosystem aiming to reduce their AWS spending by 3%–19% by partnering with us.

What Drives Me in This Role

What excites me the most? 🎯 The variety of customer and partner requests.
And not just the technical ones — many touch on AWS programs and processes. Every day feels fresh and dynamic, which keeps me challenged and inspired.

I learned to tailor my communication from tech-to-tech discussions to C-Level conversations, a skill I’m truly thankful to have developed in my current role.
It has also enriched my public speaking engagements, where I’ve presented at events across Germany, including a pre-event at Hotel Adlon before the AWS Partner Summit and other industry gatherings with 50+ attendees.
Translating complex cloud topics into engaging discussions is a skill I’ve honed over time — and I genuinely enjoy it.

Beyond my main responsibilities, I lead the Ingram Micro EMEA Technical Community - a hub where AWS experts from across Europe connect, share knowledge, and collaborate. Representing our community’s ideas at the leadership level has allowed me to expand my impact 🚀 - and that’s something I absolutely love!

AWS Lead Engineer (Rackspace Technology) (2022 - 2023)

Before joining Ingram Micro, I worked as an ☁️ AWS Lead Engineer at Rackspace Technology, an AWS Premier Partner.
Although I came from a position where AWS was only a small part of my day-to-day work (as we also had Google and Azure) and 90% of customer workloads were still running on-premises in private clouds (often based on OpenStack) or in virtualised environments, my willingness to experiment and my passion for AWS meant that this was not a problem at all - it was a perfect fit, even if I had to learn a lot.

In this customer-facing consulting role, I served as a named cloud consultant for multiple clients, providing hands - on guidance for complex cloud operations and leading internal teams as a Tech Lead. I helped organizations improve scalability, security, and cost efficiency while troubleshooting and optimizing AWS environments.

During this time, I was introduced to the managed services model 🌍, where I learned how ongoing governance, automation and optimization shape cloud operations. I focused heavily on AWS cost optimization, using both native AWS tools and VMware CloudHealth.

I also gained my first exposure to penetration testing 🔐. While I didn’t perform the tests, I led strategy meetings, collaborated closely with CISOs on the customer side, and oversaw the remediation work carried out by our technical teams.

Another highlight was reducing technical debt and modernizing AWS environments after lift-and-shift migrations to VMC on AWS. This involved refactoring architectures, optimizing workloads, and guiding clients toward cloud-native solutions that are more scalable and efficient.

Various roles at Nokia (2001 – 2021)

In 2001, I began my career with an in-house training program at Lucent Technologies @ Bell Labs in Nuremberg. Over the next 20 years, I held multiple roles under Nokia and its predecessors (Alcatel-Lucent and Lucent Technologies), working with a broad range of technologies and gaining valuable insights along the way.

Solution Designer

From 2005 to 2012, I served as a 🛠️ Solution Designer, with a primary focus on IT infrastructure — especially networking.

One major project involved supporting Deutsche Telekom in deploying their IMS network (NGF-A1). My key task there was managing the communication matrix — a self-developer, semi-automated, database-driven system that modeled the communication relationships of hundreds of network elements in the next-generation voice network. This was not just used for documentation, but also for generation of the Juniper SRX firewall rules.

As part of the New Product Introduction (NPI) team, I helped to introduce and later scale Small Cells / Femto solutions — an overlay mobile network concept that brought 3G connectivity into homes via xDSL backhauls (where carrier-supported). Working side-by-side with seasoned (network) architects - impressive luminaries - I learned designing geo-redundant, on-premises setups with both local and global load balancing from scratch.

Later, I took on the technical responsibility for the network design for several Small Cells trials, including leading the entire trial for A1 Telekom Austria on-site in Vienna. I became a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a Small Cells firefighting team focused on network issues, particularly with the Nokia Service Router 7750, which I loved planning, configuring, and troubleshooting via console.

During this time, I also worked with Sun SPARC servers, HP BladeServers (FlexConnect), ATCA hardware systems, SANs, and Fibre Channel, all of which laid the groundwork for my future in IT infrastructure design.

Domain Architect

From 2013 to 2018, I moved into a Domain Architect role, focusing on Device Management solutions (originally shaped by Motive, later integrated into Nokia, and then sold back to Motive). I was responsible for designing and planning ACS (Automatic Configuration Server) networks based on TR-069/CWMP protocol.

I authored high- and low-level design specifications and contrived and built a Puppet/Foreman-based configuration management framework called the Motive Automated Orchestration Framework (MAOF), enabling automated software rollouts on-premises, in private clouds, and across hyperscalers.

I participated in community discussions to promote serviceability improvements and handled last-resort troubleshooting for critical issues.

My broad IT infrastructure background—including compute (physical, virtualized, NFV/VNF/OpenStack), databases, storage, and networking (load balancing, routing, switches, firewalls), plus security, geo-redundancy, high availability, and disaster recovery — was key to ensuring mission - critical deployments of these device management solutions.

Customer Solution Architect

Though I had been performing similar tasks before, my official promotion to an End-to-End Customer Solution Architect took place in 2018. I served in this role for three years, until I chose to leave Nokia.

Highlights of this role included:

• End-to-end planning and design of ITK networks for Automatic Configuration Servers (ACS) - covering fixed (TR-069/USP) and mobile (M2M/IoT) device management.
• Creating design and specification documents, and taking responsibility for proposals, delivery, and maintenance handovers.
• Serving as the Technical Lead on customer projects, providing strategic consulting and solutions in close collaboration with clients.
• Applying expertise in IT infrastructure—compute, storage, and networks—across both on-premises environments and major cloud providers.
• Championing innovation, process improvements, and harmonization efforts.
• Managing projects in the public sector with strict confidentiality requirements (VS-NfD)

My end-to-end role offered both visibility and accountability in all project phases, extending beyond technical skills to include project management, people management, presales, and operations. As a luminary for the Nokia Home Device Manager, I served on the board, influencing product development, roadmap, and containerization strategies for this monolithic application.

Providing root-cause analysis for especially complex issues was a highlight and a welcome challenge. Over my two decades in telecommunications, I witnessed the evolution from dedicated physical servers to blade servers, from static virtualization to dynamic virtualization, from private clouds (including our OpenStack-based deployment) to hyperscalers, and from monolithic architectures to containerized microservices.

Ultimately, native cloud deployment (e.g. Amazon EKS) wasn’t part of Nokia’s strategic direction, despite customer demand. If customers wanted Kubernetes, they had to choose Nokia’s own container platform (running on Amazon EC2). But the slow pace of public cloud adoption in the highly regulated telecom sector also played a role in my decision to move on, even though I liked my job.

My Passion for AWS and Cloud Technologies

I opened my first personal AWS account in 2011 — soon followed by a business account (some might call it “shadow IT”). In the beginning, I primarily explored free tier services. Back then, cloud computing was still new; Controlling wondered what my Concur expenses were about, and I faced a few curious questions at first.

In 2012, I wrote my Bachelor’s thesis (extra-occupational distance study) about Opportunities and risks of cloud computing and conception of two use cases, featuring AWS as my hyperscaler of choice. This early exposure paved the way for a career heavily centered around AWS.

Although AWS remains my favorite hyperscaler, I came to appreciate the value of a multi-cloud strategy - or at least a solid cloud exit strategy. Studying Gregor Hohpe’s works, exploring placement strategies, and understanding enterprise architecture patterns expanded my technical perspective to a more strategic thinking. In 2023, I wrote my Master’s thesis (extra-occupational distance study), Potentials and challenges of multi-cloud and conception of a multi-cloud IT strategy for an enterprise.

AWS isn’t just work for me — it’s my hobby and passion. Over 14 years, it has been my first and favorite hyperscaler. I love staying at the forefront of cloud innovation and sharing what I learn. I consider myself a bridge builder: simplifying complex technology, solving tough problems, and connecting people.

Whether it’s hosting webinars, enabling teams, or helping others grow on AWS, I genuinely enjoy the process. I stay active in the AWS community by attending AWS User Groups (Nuremberg), Immersion Days, and speaking at public events—always eager to explore new ideas. My employer encourages this by letting me give public talks every few months within the German AWS partner ecosystem—a personal highlight of my work. I love connecting with fellow cloud enthusiasts and discovering how they’re pushing technology forward.

Hobbies

• Family & Nature: I love spending time with my kids and exploring the outdoors on long walks.
• Smart Home Automation: I enjoy experimenting with OpenHab (now migrated to Home Assistant) to automate and visualise every aspect of my KNX-based home.
• Staying Active: I keep fit through HIIT, Core-Workout, and Pilates, and I also volunteer as a sports instructor at the local sports club.
• Ziva Meditation: This practice helps me maintain my self-care routine and stay balanced in my busy life.

Get in Touch

Let’s connect! 🚀 If you share my passion for AWS, cloud computing, or technology in general, I’d love to hear from you. 🌐 Find me on LinkedIn to stay updated and catch my latest blog posts about the AWS Cloud.