Zubair Alexander - SeattlePro Founder & CISO

SeattlePro Enterprises founder, CEO, and CISO
30+ years of experience in cybersecurity and privacy-related technologies
Master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance
Internationally recognized cybersecurity expert, author, and speaker
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) international award recipient for 12 consecutive years
Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 1995
CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+) since 2001
Author of the final exam questions for the Digital Forensics course that’s part of master’s degree in cybersecurity at Western Governors University
Over 30 industry certifications, including CEH, CHFI, CNDA, M365 Security, Security+, A+, Network+, CTT+, MCT, MCSE, MCSA, MCDST, MCITP, MCTS, CIW, and CNA
Experience covers a wide range of spectrum: Senior Executive, Advisory Board Member, Cybersecurity Advisor, IT Consultant & Instructor, Security Architect, Ethical Hacker, Cybersecurity Strategist, Digital Forensic Investigator, InfoSec GRC Analyst, Network Engineer, Systems Administrator, Technical Advisor, Courseware Developer, Author, Technical Editor, College Instructor, and Public Speaker

College Credentials

Zubair’s college credentials include:

Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance
Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering
Associate of Arts in Computer Information Systems

He taught Information Technology (IT) courses at his alma mater University of Washington in Seattle, where he received his Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering degree. He also taught at North Seattle College, where he received his certificate in Computer Information Systems.

Consulting

Zubair started his technology career in IT consulting. In 1999, he founded SeattlePro Enterprises, an IT consulting and training organization in Seattle. After about 15 years, the company’s interest and focus shifted to primarily offering cybersecurity services. Zubair’s specialties include Enterprise & Cloud Security, Microsoft 365 technologies, SharePoint, Azure, Active Directory, Exchange, Hyper-V, and Windows operating systems.

In his consulting career, Zubair has architected networks for small, medium, and large businesses with over 30,000 users. His consulting and training clients include mega corporations, some worth over $800 billion. He helps businesses with their cybersecurity strategy, enterprise architecture, network security audits, enterprise security risk assessments, vendor risk management, cloud security, data privacy, and regulatory compliance initiatives.

Zubair also offers fractional and virtual CISO services to businesses that can’t afford a full-time CISO. He excels in troubleshooting hardware and software problems, and his real-world experience is one of his greatest strengths. He applies his vast experience in enterprise security to practically every consulting project.

Training

Since he received his Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) certificate, Zubair has trained tens of thousands of students across the United States, including many Train-the-Trainer courses at Microsoft. His students include Network Administrators, IT Managers, Security Architects, Security Analysts, Business Managers, IT Consultants, and other IT professionals. He has achieved more than 30 IT certifications and passed over 50 certification exams. He is qualified to teach over 100 Microsoft training courses. As a Microsoft-endorsed trainer, Zubair has trained Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) and Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) technicians for many years.

Zubair is also a CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+). He teaches CompTIA’s A+, Network+, Security+, and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioners (CASP) courses. Zubair loves to teach and share his knowledge. His student testimonials substantiate his passion for technology.

Authoring

Zubair has written extensively for over 25 years and is known worldwide for his books and articles on Microsoft technologies. His experience includes writing for Windows NT/Windows 2000 Magazine as a Contributing Author. He also served as a Tech Editor and was a member of the Editorial Review Board for the magazine. After the magazine was rebranded as ITProToday.com, Zubair continued to serve as a Contributing Author and a Tech Editor.

In addition to writing Windows Advisor columns for Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) magazine, he has reviewed technical books and articles for several major publishers in the United States. Zubair has also written Professor Windows columns for Microsoft TechNet and numerous articles for Pearson (the world’s largest learning company) and Redmond Magazine. His courseware development experience includes authoring five training courses for Microsoft SharePoint and providing subject matter expertise to Microsoft for several Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courseware.

Zubair co-authored a book on Windows networking services and was among the very few authors who wrote a book on Microsoft’s software firewall called Microsoft ISA Server 2000. His books on Microsoft SharePoint include SharePoint 2010 Best Practices and SharePoint 2013 Best Practices.

His blog articles on 50 different technical topics are available on Alexander’s Blog. Visit the Publications page for his articles written for various third-party publishers.

Microsoft Engagements

For the past couple of decades, Zubair has worked on dozens of projects at Microsoft as an independent contractor and shared knowledge with various Microsoft groups as a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Here’s a sample of some of his Microsoft engagements over the years.

Provided Advisory Services to Microsoft CEO, Vice Presidents, Directors, and Program Managers.
Provided strategic guidance to Microsoft ISA Server group upon request from Microsoft’s Vice President of Security Business Unit.
Trained Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) consultants, Program Managers, Technical Account Managers, Tech Support professionals, and end users.
Represented MCS as the Lead Architect on a 9-month network design project for a large enterprise.
Taught train-the-trainer courses on advanced technical topics to other Microsoft Certified Trainers.
Authored Microsoft certification exam questions for Microsoft Office 365, Windows Server, and Windows client operating system.
Provided SME services to Microsoft Exchange exam.
Performed technical reviews of Microsoft Learning courses.
Delivered seminars and webinars for Microsoft.
Authored regular columns for Microsoft TechNet (online & print magazine).
Authored white papers and case studies on various topics.
Authored technical articles for MVP program blog.
Offered feedback to various Microsoft product groups to improve their products.
Worked with Microsoft Virtual Academy to enhance their program.
Organized community events with Microsoft Premier Field Engineers.

Microsoft 365 Cloud Technologies & SharePoint

Zubair has worked with Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) technologies since its inception in 2011. His knowledge of the Microsoft 365 cloud platform is broad and deep. He has extensive consulting and training experience with the full spectrum of Microsoft 365 and Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) components, including the technical infrastructure of the cloud services and the social and business collaboration features, such as Office 365, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, Exchange Online, OneDrive, Yammer, etc.

In addition to securing the Microsoft 365 Admin Centers, Zubair’s specialties also include protecting the various endpoints (Windows and Mac desktops; and Windows, Android, and iOS mobile devices), Entra ID, and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite and related technologies, such as:

Microsoft Intune
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Azure Information Protection (AIP)
Azure Rights Management (ARM)
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
Single Sign-On (SSO)

As a Microsoft 365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert and Microsoft 365 Certified Security Administrator Associate, Zubair is uniquely qualified to plan, migrate, deploy, manage, and secure the entire Microsoft 365 tenant for organizations.

Zubair has worked with SharePoint technologies since its inception in 2001. His subject matter expertise covers almost every area and aspect of SharePoint on-premises and SharePoint Online: installation, configuration, assessment, deployment, site design, taxonomy, architecture, intranet/extranet portals, upgrade, migration, branding, governance, research, troubleshooting, and more. To acknowledge his SharePoint contributions to the global community, Microsoft awarded him the coveted international Microsoft SharePoint MVP award.

Microsoft MVP International Award

Microsoft has recognized Zubair by presenting him with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) international award for inspiring excellence and demonstrating willingness to share his knowledge with peers in technical communities around the globe. He has received the prestigious annual MVP award for 12 consecutive years in the following categories.

Windows Server Management (1 year)
Active Directory Services (10 years)
SharePoint Server (1 year)

Zubair was also recognized as the featured IT Pro of the Month on Microsoft’s website.

Enterprise Security

Zubair is an internationally recognized information security professional. He received a master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance and has served on the EC-Council’s Certified Network Defender International Advisory Board for seven years. Zubair holds several security certifications, such as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), Certified Network Defense Architect (CNDA), Security+, and Microsoft 365 Certified Security Administrator Associate.

Enterprise security has been Zubair’s passion since he wrote his first book on a security topic. He has spoken publicly on privacy and cybersecurity issues at numerous conferences, workshops, and webinars; taught many security courses over the years to public and private organizations and offered training/consulting services to the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy on cybersecurity matters. He has also provided strategic guidance to the U.S. Air Force in their Active Directory design project.

Zubair wrote the final exam questions for the Digital Forensics course, which was part of the master’s degree in Cybersecurity at Western Governors University. He was a member of the team that helped North Seattle College develop an Ethical Hacking curriculum. He was also instrumental in helping South Seattle College develop a cybersecurity program, which included a Network Security Administration degree.

Advisory Boards

As a member of several advisory boards, Zubair has shared his knowledge and experience, provided guidance, and offered advice to international and local organizations in the United States for over 15 years. He has contributed to the following advisory boards.

EC-Council Certified Network Defender International Advisory Board
Microsoft Windows Server International Customer Advisory Board (ICAB)
North Seattle College IT Technical Advisory Board
Seattle Central College IT Networking Technical Advisory Board
South Seattle College Cybersecurity Technical Advisory Board

Community Involvement

Zubair is a member of InfraGard, a partnership between the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and members of the private sector. The InfraGard members include business executives, entrepreneurs, military and government officials, computer professionals, academia, and state and local law enforcement, each dedicated to contributing industry-specific insight and advancing national security.

In 2004, he started his technical blog. Alexander’s Blog covers a wide range of topics on Microsoft products and services in 50 categories. It’s dedicated to serving the IT community across the globe and receives several million hits each month from readers in over 190 countries and territories.

In 2008, he started Seattle IT Pro User Group (SITPUG) to serve the greater Puget Sound IT community around Seattle and its suburbs. SITPUG focuses primarily on Microsoft products and services and is now a LinkedIn group.

In September 2020, Zubair joined the newly formed Western Governors University Alumni Cybersecurity Club. The club is an online community for alumni working in the cybersecurity field. The club holds talks and demonstrations to discuss cybersecurity issues.

In 2023, he was nominated by EC-Council as a Cybersecurity Career Mentor. Zubair has mentored thousands of IT professionals and college students through many programs, such as Microsoft MVP Program, University of Washington’s Huskies@Work Program, Microsoft Certified Trainer Program, South Seattle College Cybersecurity Advisory Board, etc.

Sports & Recreation

Computers are not his only passion. Zubair considers himself to be one of the biggest sports fans in the world. He likes to participate in sports and watches just about every sport you can imagine. His athletic career began with track and field in the first grade and continued throughout his primary and middle school. He received a scholarship and excelled in competitive sports in high school and college.

While attending the University of Washington, Zubair was regularly involved in recreational sports activities, such as roller-skating, squash, table tennis, racquetball, badminton, tennis, pickleball, soccer, swimming, and archery. He is ambidextrous and plays all racket sports equally well with either hand. He taught roller-skating classes for about ten years at the University of Washington. At one point, he was roller-skating 400 miles a month at an indoor roller-skating rink.

Before he started his professional career in technology, Zubair won five trophies at the Northwest Roller-Skating Championship, including the overall roller-skating champion title. He was also the winner of the Washington State Open Table Tennis championship. If you ask him for his favorite sport, he will name at least a dozen. His other interests include mind-challenging activities, chess, puzzles, quizzes, card games, and performing magic tricks.

What does Zubair think about his career in the high-tech industry? He likes to tell his friends he doesn’t have a job; he gets paid for his hobbies.