Where do I even begin? The last 10 weeks as an intern with InfusionPoints have been an absolute whirlwind. As an enrolled computer information systems senior at the University of Appalachian State, I was given the unique opportunity to meet the InfusionPoints hiring team at the 2024 annual cyber summit. I was initially impressed with the vision that InfusionPoints employs as a scrappy, yet highly effective consultation organization. I was also interested in the space that they were operating in, with a focus on AWS and next-level compliance consulting in the cloud. Almost immediately, I was served by a diverse network of cloud professionals who specialized in their field and were eager to answer any questions about the industry, AWS, or their day-to-day responsibilities. I was pleasantly surprised with how friendly and open-armed the entire team was during my first two weeks. I am now finsihed as an intern with InfusionPoints and my opinion remains the same. During the interview process, I was told that my internship with InfusionPoints would be self-driven and would allow me to learn throughout the summer continuously. After 10 weeks with the organization, this could not be more accurate!

Moving into week 3, my peers and I were separated into team-oriented “rotations”, where we were assigned a designated team to work with for each of the coming weeks. The freedom to reach out to members of various teams and soak up knowledge from the perspectives of many was invaluable. I could not be happier with the amount of opportunity that was laid at my feet. I am now addicted to the scrappy, always learning, and execute culture that has been built behind the name of InfusionPoints. I began my rotational journey with the advisory team where I was able to shadow the development of FedRAMP documentation, sit in on calls with current and potential customers, and contribute to the creation of gap assessment questions. I also had ample opportunity to individually meet with members of the team to better understand their responsibilities. It was incredible to see the depth of the FedRAMP authorization process and why InfusionPoints is the best at what they do. Sequentially, I was rotated to work with engineering where the team demonstrated the function of our newest serverless application, allowed me to shadow the deployment of Terraform into production, and even assisted me in setting up my own Terraform state linked to an AWS free tier account. This experience taught me a truckload about infrastructure as code and how to utilize serverless features in AWS. My time with the engineers quickly came to an end and I was rotated to work on-site with the security operations team. The security operations center was mind-boggling, allowing me to monitor and assist, in real-time, the escalation of security alerts and the response to concerns across many different environments. I was also able to jump hands-on and develop an internal CVE report for a newfound vulnerability that could be blasted out to our customers. It was fascinating to see the distributed responsibility behind operating as an MSSP and to contribute to the process of monitoring and escalating real threats. Finally, I was rotated out to work with the cloud operations team where I shadowed the execution of vulnerability scans across starkly different AWS environments and investigated the results to enhance the security of the systems. While working with cloud operations, I was gobsmacked by the response of the entirety of the organization during the CrowdStrike Global Outage that I witnessed first-hand through the eyes of various engineers and members of a variety of teams. Although a challenging experience, it was a masterclass opportunity to learn. As an MSSP, it was remarkable to see the troubleshooting of not only our systems but the systems that InfusionPoints is responsible for.

These diverse rotations allowed me to flourish as a learner of the cloud and soak up a multitude of information that will help drive me toward success in the future. Furthermore, InfusionPoints supported and invested in me by allowing me to study for, practice for, and execute the Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification exam, supplied through AWS. The self-driven approach and opportunity to collaborate over the last 10 weeks have significantly bolstered my knowledge, confidence, and skills. It has been quite the honor to work with a company that genuinely cares about its employees and works diligently toward the future of its customers. My internship with InfusionPoints truly has been a memorable and life-lasting experience.