Personal Bio:
Husein Sharaf’s passion for all things technical began early in life, growing up in a modest home in Fairfax, Virginia. By age seven, he was deftly dismantling—and rebuilding—everything from lawn mowers to vacuum cleaners. By middle school, he was proficient at building websites and coding; and as a young teenager, he worked part time repairing computers. At age 18, Husein shattered all expectations by landing his corporate first job at Booz Allen Hamilton—without a college degree. This would be the first of many experiences working as a federal contractor for this astute, self-taught young professional, followed by several years working as an independent consultant to both commercial and federal clients including, most notably, the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Throughout his whirlwind career as a systems engineer, Husein has always brought along a true passion of finding ways to harness the power of technology to make life better. So it is certainly no surprise that when most people first heard of cloud computing and dismissed it as a Silicon Valley indulgence, Husein looked beyond the contention to see how cloud technology could free businesses from unwieldy infrastructure, spur innovation, and even change business models. Now as fearless head-nerd and President/CTO of his own Microsoft Gold Partner firm Cloudforce in National Harbor, Maryland, Husein leads his eclectic team of engineers in the development of complex cloud solutions to support mission-critical systems for dozens of programs across industries and government.
In addition to all things Microsoft cloud, Husein is also passionate about giving back to his Prince George’s County community and believes it is the responsibility of every business to help develop the types of communities its members and customers want to live and do business in. Husein currently serves on the board of directors of STEMship, a local non-profit aimed at creating STEM learning opportunities for under-privileged youth. Husein is also head of the Technology and Innovation Committee for the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. As someone who acknowledges his own opportunities to make positive impacts doing what he loves, Husein is very proactive about supporting the development of other young IT aficionados—with a special soft spot for those who love to tinker.
Company Bio:
The leading force in the Microsoft cloud, Cloudforce creates, migrates, and maintains custom cloud solutions for businesses and government.In every engagement, Cloudforce serves as a trusted partner to help clients define and refine their technology needs. Cloudforce then crafts and deploys accessible, scalable, and secure solutions to help clients manage and grow their business in efficient and innovative new ways.
Cloudforce staff live and breathe the Microsoft cloud, and provide every customer with the best technology strategy for their organization’s goals and challenges. Cloudforce prizes every business relationship as a new opportunity to connect, collaborate, and help enrich lives—across businesses, across communities, and beyond.