Tech & AI enthusiast · Nicosia, Cyprus

Marios Savva

I work as IT Director, cybersecurity strategist, governance and compliance lead, digital transformation leader, and freelance web and AI builder

I lead IT at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Over 8+ years I've moved from payment-systems operations and infrastructure engineering into IT leadership, with a focus on cybersecurity, ISO 27001, eIDAS and PCI DSS compliance, Microsoft 365 and VMware environments, and digital transformation.

Explore my journey Get in touch LinkedIn
8+years in IT
7
positions since 2015
3certifications
MBAUCLan Cyprus, 2024

Career journey · 2015 → today

Six organisations, one direction

Each step added a layer: security, then operations, then systems, then leadership. Open any role to see what I worked with, what I learned, and how it led to the next one.

  1. Responsibilities

    • Monitored the embassy through CCTV surveillance
    • Operated access control for staff and visitors
    • Provided VIP security
    • Physical security of the compound

    Skills acquired

    • Physical security
    • CCTV surveillance
    • Access control
    • VIP security
    • First aid

    Highlights

    • Certified in First Aid at Work (EMP Medic First Aid, 2017–2020)

    Fresh from a BSc in Forensic Computing, this role grounded security in the physical world. It led to IT Engineer at Correct Group, where I moved into hands-on technology work.

  2. Responsibilities

    • IT support, troubleshooting and technical help for users, systems and infrastructure
    • Resolving hardware, software and network issues in a business environment

    Skills acquired

    • End-user support
    • Troubleshooting
    • Hardware & software
    • Networking basics

    Hands-on support work gave me the footing to join production operations at a global payments processor as Operations Technician II at TSYS.

  3. Positions at TSYS

    1. Operations Analyst IIMay 2021 – Aug 2021
    2. Operations Technician IIJan 2018 – Apr 2021

    As Operations Analyst II

    • Analysed recurring production and batch issues to find root causes
    • Reported on operational performance and client service levels
    • Worked with support and development teams on fixes and process improvements
    • Reviewed changes and deployments for operational risk before release

    Skills added

    • Root cause analysis
    • Problem management
    • Operational reporting
    • Process improvement
    • Change review
    • Cross-team coordination

    As Operations Technician II

    • Monitored production and verification schedules, batch processing and client SLAs
    • Handled operational and technical issues, escalating to senior management when needed
    • Supported client-impacting issues in a controlled payments environment
    • Maintained and deployed client servers, software and environments: QA, UAT, PreProd, Migration, Production and DR

    Technologies & scope

    • Production operations
    • Batch processing
    • SLA monitoring
    • Multi-environment deployments
    • Incident management
    • Disaster recovery
    • Banking & payment systems

    Highlights

    • Moved from Operations Technician II to Operations Analyst II after three years and four months
    • Kept six environments, from QA through Production and DR, deployed and maintained for clients
    • Three and a half years running payments production against client service levels

    Running production for banking systems showed me how much depends on solid infrastructure. Next I moved closer to it as Systems Support Engineer at JCC Payment Systems.

  4. Responsibilities

    • Customer service and support for the app's users
    • Support for the business clients on the platform
    • Made changes for clients inside the Foody application

    Skills acquired

    • Customer service
    • User support
    • Client support
    • Application administration
    • Clear communication

    Supporting both end users and business clients on a live app sharpened my service mindset, which I carried into end-user and vendor work at JCC Payment Systems.

  5. Responsibilities

    • Kept systems secure, available and compliant in a regulated payments environment
    • Administered Active Directory, OUs and policies in line with access governance
    • Patched endpoints and operating systems and remediated third-party software through enterprise tools
    • Ran Microsoft 365, Exchange Server and Exchange Online, VMware ESXi, DHCP and DNS
    • Maintained backup and redundancy with Veritas Backup Exec
    • Worked with vendors and internal IT to resolve software, hardware and security issues

    Technologies & scope

    • Active Directory
    • Group Policy
    • Microsoft 365
    • Exchange Online
    • Exchange Server
    • VMware ESXi
    • SentinelOne EDR
    • McAfee ePO
    • ManageEngine UEM
    • ManageEngine AssetExplorer
    • Application control
    • Endpoint privilege management
    • Delinea Thycotic PAM
    • Windows Server
    • Entra ID
    • Veritas Backup Exec
    • DHCP / DNS
    • ISO 27001
    • eIDAS
    • PCI DSS

    Highlights

    • Supported ISO 27001, eIDAS and PCI DSS compliance, providing controls and evidence for monthly audits
    • Created, maintained and migrated mailboxes and groups across on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online
    • Ran endpoint protection with SentinelOne EDR, McAfee ePO, application control and privilege management
    • Earned Microsoft AZ-900 (Apr 2022) and SC-900 (May 2022)
    • Completed an MBA at UCLan Cyprus alongside this role (2023–2024)

    Owning systems, security tooling and audit evidence, together with the MBA, prepared me to lead a whole IT function as IT Director.

  6. Responsibilities

    • Lead IT operations, cybersecurity, infrastructure and digital transformation across the organisation
    • Develop and maintain IT policies, procedures and best practice aligned with business, security and compliance needs
    • Oversee information security controls, infrastructure resilience and risk-aware operations
    • Coordinate vendors and stakeholders on secure technology projects and service continuity
    • Support data protection compliance and ISO 27001 aligned practices

    Focus areas

    • IT leadership
    • Cybersecurity strategy
    • Digital transformation
    • Vendor management
    • IT governance
    • Strategic planning
    • ISO 27001
    • Data protection
    • Budget planning
    • Project management
    • Team leadership
    • Stakeholder management

    Platforms I run

    • WatchGuard Firebox
    • WatchGuard EPDR
    • WatchGuard Email Protection
    • WatchGuard AuthPoint MFA
    • WatchGuard ThreatSync & MDR
    • Microsoft 365 & Entra ID
    • Teams & SharePoint Online
    • Microsoft Azure
    • VMware ESXi
    • Microsoft Hyper-V
    • Synology NAS
    • NAKIVO Backup & Replication
    • ManageEngine Endpoint Central
    • ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
    • ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
    • ManageEngine AssetExplorer

    Highlights

    • Head the IT department, managing a team of two direct reports
    • Accountable for cybersecurity, IT policy, infrastructure, vendors and ISO 27001 aligned practice across the Chamber

    Today I set direction for the Chamber's technology: strategy, security and governance, delivered through the right partners.

Skills universe

What I know, and where I learned it

Ten areas, from Microsoft infrastructure to governance and leadership. Pick a skill to see its level and the roles where I built it, or filter by area.

Knowledge evolution

Four tracks of growth

How leadership, technical, security and business knowledge built up across each stage. Highlighted cells mark where a track stepped up.

Bars show cumulative depth on a four-step scale.

Leadership dashboard

The five areas I run

Level, time practised and where each area shows up across my career.

Freelance · Alongside the day job

Building with AI

I also work as a freelancer, building websites and automations for clients. I use AI throughout the work and keep pushing it to see what one person can achieve in this new era.

Talk about a project

Websites

Fast, hand-built sites for businesses and professionals, taken from brief to design, copy and launch.

Automations

Workflows that connect tools and take repetitive, manual steps off people's desks.

AI exploration

Using AI as a working partner for design, code and research, and testing how far it can go. This site was built that way.

Home lab

Self-confessed home lab addict

My home lab is where I try things first: virtualisation, storage and containers, running on my own hardware.

Proxmox VEVirtualisation for VMs and LXC containers hypervisor
TrueNASNetwork storage on ZFS storage
DockerContainers for self-hosted services containers
…and always the next experiment

Certifications

Credentials

Select a card to turn it over.

Education

Study that shaped the path

A forensic computing degree started the security thread. An MBA, taken while working at JCC, opened the way into leadership.

Jan 2023 – Jan 2024

MBA

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan Cyprus)

Studied alongside my systems role at JCC. The business and strategy grounding led directly into the IT Director role in 2025.

Sep 2012 – Jun 2015

BSc (Hons) Forensic Computing

Canterbury Christ Church University

  • Forensic computing investigation
  • Forensic intelligence & modelling
  • Operating systems
  • Computer law & ethics
  • Data recovery & analysis
  • Database development
  • Software development
  • Computer systems

A three-year full-time degree and the technical, investigative base for everything after, starting with security work at the U.S. Embassy.

Contact

Let's talk technology

Open to conversations about anything technology: IT strategy, cybersecurity, infrastructure, cloud, networks, compliance and the systems that keep organisations running. The best way to reach me is a message on LinkedIn.

Message me on LinkedIn