Rishan Backer — Personal

About This
Journey

From curiosity to cloud engineering — a story told honestly.

Read

Chapter One

How It Started

My journey into technology didn't begin with cloud platforms or cybersecurity tools — it began with curiosity.

I was the kind of person who needed to understand how things worked beneath the surface. Whether it was a network issue, a system glitch, or a device behaving unexpectedly, I was always drawn to the challenge of figuring it out — not just fixing it, but understanding why it broke in the first place.

Over time, that curiosity deepened. I found myself fascinated by the invisible layers of technology — the systems, the security, the logic, the design. That fascination eventually led me into IT engineering, and later into a Master's degree in Cybersecurity at the National College of Ireland, where I learned not just how systems work — but how they fail, how they break, and how to protect them.

Chapter Two

The Turning Point

Every journey has a moment where everything shifts. For me, it was realising that IT wasn't just a job — it was a space where I could build, secure, design, and create.

Working across NOC, system administration, and support engineering gave me a strong technical foundation. But it also showed me something important: I didn't want to be limited to one area. I wanted to understand the full picture — cloud, identity, security, development, automation, design.

It felt like discovering new rooms in a house I thought I already knew.

That's when I started going deeper. Azure, Entra ID, Intune, PowerShell, app development, UI systems. Each new area connected to the ones before it, and the full shape of what I wanted to do became clearer.

Chapter Three

Building This Website

This portfolio grew with me — version by version, idea by idea. It started as a simple personal page and evolved into something I'm genuinely proud of.

I wanted a design that felt calm, personal, and considered. Minimalist but warm. Structured but human. Building it taught me as much as any project I've worked on — component consistency, responsive layouts, design decisions that have to survive real use. Every iteration made it closer to something that actually reflects how I think.

This website isn't just a collection of pages. It's a record of growth.

Chapter Four

Skills That Grew Along the Way

I didn't start with cloud engineering or app development. These skills came from years of exploring, breaking things, fixing them, and going one step further each time.

Networking Taught me structure — how systems communicate and why order matters.
Sysadmin Taught me stability — how to keep things running when they want to fail.
Cybersecurity Taught me awareness — to see what others overlook.
Cloud Taught me scalability — building beyond what a single machine can hold.
Development Taught me creativity — turning logic into something people actually use.
UI/UX Taught me empathy — design is always about the person on the other side.
Automation Taught me precision — a script is only as good as what you tell it to do.
Machine Learning Taught me patience — results come from iteration, not inspiration.

Every skill I have today is connected to a moment where I chose to keep going.

Chapter Five

Where I Am — and Where I'm Heading

Today I'm based in Dublin, pursuing my interests in cloud engineering, cybersecurity, systems administration, and software development. My academic background and hands-on projects have allowed me to explore these interconnected fields, helping me build a broad and versatile technical foundation.

I want to understand systems deeply, secure them properly, and build things that are genuinely useful. Right now, that means pursuing my AZ-104 certification, building Android apps, and continuing to refine both my technical skills and my design instincts.

Location Dublin, Ireland
Status Actively building
Certifications CCNA · MCSE · AZ-104 in progress
Current focus Cloud · Android · Security

This journey is far from over. I want to build more, learn more, and create tools that make a real difference. Most importantly, I want to keep going — because curiosity is what started all of this, and it's what keeps it moving.

Still writing the next chapter.

If you've read this far, you probably know what drives me. Let's connect.

Get in touch →