Data center Presales/Solution Engineer

CNS is a technology company that powers the future by providing digital solutions essential to support all enterprise and human development. While growing and managing a robust pool of supplier-partners for the benefit of our clients has always been a priority, we are constantly re-inventing ourselves.

Founded in 1987 with more than 30 years of experience, CNS employs over 320 employees including more than 250 certified engineers. We offer in-depth expertise and a range of best-in-class products that support the digital transformation of all major industries. With offices in three countries, we have an extensive reach into, and regional knowledge of the Middle East markets.
A shift into levering our many years of experience to develop pioneering software in-house will add yet another dimension to our highly innovative solutions-portfolio.

The Data Center Pre-Sales Engineer is responsible for designing end-to-end data center solutions—covering compute, storage, networking, virtualization, and —while also providing technical expertise in passive infrastructure and disaster recovery (DR) resiliency. You will work closely with sales teams, customers, and technical stakeholders to understand business needs, propose the right solutions, and ensure seamless integration into existing environments. including structured cabling, racks, power, cooling, containment, and DC layout design.
The role supports sales teams by translating customer requirements into accurate technical proposals, BOQs, and solution architectures.

Key Responsibilities:

Presales & Technical Consultation:

• Engage with customers to understand their IT infrastructure, workloads, and business challenges.
• Conduct discovery sessions to assess current environments and identify gaps in storage, backup, virtualization, and DR strategies.
• Provide technical expertise on system architecture, high availability, and scalability

Solution Design & Architecture:

• Design and propose multi-vendor solutions that are tailored to customer needs, covering compute, storage, backup, and DR.
• Architect solutions leveraging technologies from VMware, Hyper-V, Veeam, Commvault, NetApp, Dell EMC, HPE, Pure Storage, Veritas, Zerto, Rubrik, and Cohesity.
• Create high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD) for proposed solutions.
• Ensure solutions align with industry best practices for security, performance, and scalability.

Technical Presentations & Demonstrations:

• Conduct product demos, POCs (Proof of Concepts), and workshops for customers.
• Develop technical collateral such as presentations, whitepapers, and use-case scenarios.
• Deliver engaging presentations to both technical and non-technical audiences.

RFP/RFI & Proposal Development:

• Work with sales teams to respond to RFPs/RFIs, ensuring the right mix of solutions is proposed.
• Draft Bill of Materials (BoM) and technical proposals with detailed justifications.
• Provide competitive analysis of different vendors’ solutions.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing:

• Work with cross-functional teams including sales, professional services, and support teams.
• Engage with vendor alliances to stay updated on product roadmaps and partner certifications.
• Conduct internal training sessions for sales teams and junior engineers.

Technical Skills – Active Data Center

• Compute platforms: HPE, Dell, Cisco UCS
• Storage: SAN/NAS (HPE, Dell EMC, NetApp, Pure)
• Virtualization: VMware vSphere, Hyper-V
• HCI: Nutanix, VxRail, Azure Stack HCI
• Backup: Veeam, Commvault
• Networking: L2/L3, SAN (Brocade/Cisco), ToR/leaf-spine basics

Technical Skills – Passive Infrastructure

• Structured cabling standards (Cat6/6A, Fiber OM3/OM4, SM)
• Rack and cabinet design
• Power planning (UPS, PDU, redundancy, load distribution)
• Cooling concepts (CRAC/CRAH, in-row, hot/cold aisle containment)
• Understanding of DCIM tools
• Knowledge of TIA-942, Uptime, ISO standards

Preferred Certifications

• HPE ASE / Dell DCA / Cisco CCNP / VMware VCP
• Nutanix NCP/NSE / Veeam VMSP/VMCE
• Storage & Backup: NetApp NCDA/NCIE, Dell EMC Proven Professional, Veeam VMCE, Commvault Certified Engineer.

Data center certifications:

• CDCP

Good to Have :

• Panduit/CommScope cabling knowledge
• BICSI Installer / Technician
• Azure/AWS certifications (foundation or associate)
• Cloud & Hybrid IT: Experience with Azure, AWS, Google Cloud in backup/DR use cases.
• AI Infrastructure

Soft Skills:

• Strong presentation and communication skills.
• Ability to simplify complex solutions for customers.
• Customer-centric and solution-oriented approach.
• Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills.

Preferred Knowledge :

• ITIL & Cloud: ITIL4 Foundation,
• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate.

Compliance with policies and procedures based on the ISO standards adopted by CNS.