It's About Choice

Small businesses have more choice over technology solutions than ever before.

• Instead of owning PC's, they've a choice to perform data processing across mobile devices, phones, and tablets.
   
• Instead of owning a big phone system, they've a choice to go entirely mobile, or, purchase light-weight Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone systems that uses the Internet to make phone calls.
   
• Instead of purchasing a big software application to run their accounting and customer relationship systems, they've a choice to lease it, and shove the risk of its management on somebody else.
   
• Instead of owning and running a big server themselves, they can lease the same capability from cloud computing providers.
   
• Instead of locking themselves in to huge multi-annual contracts with banks, they can do low-cost, no-term credit card processing with low-cost mobile payment systems like Square.
   
• Instead of having to shuffle data around on memory sticks, they've a choice to share data immediately and securely, anywhere they are.
   
• Instead of having to manage data backup and recovery themselves, they've a choice to push that management on to the backs of computer professionals.

Choice! I also guess they can choose not to do these things. But why would they choose that ...? Unless, of course, they weren't aware of the choices available to them, or, don't think that their choices will impact their competitiveness. 

I help with both of these matters. I help explain their options, implement solutions, and tie their investments to real savings, real productivity, and real profitability.

R

What I Do

Who I Help

I help small businesses use technology better. I define a small business as one with 1-50 employees – for-profit or non-profit – and usually without an internal IT Department. I have customers all across the country.

What I Do

Do you want (or need) help with your computers, phones, tablets, email systems, servers, networks, or social media strategy? Do you want to work with somebody who loves what they do, who will talk to you without belittling geekspeak, and who’ll be a partner in your success? Well, I just might be your guy!

What I Don’t Do

Regrettably, I do not help residential users of computers. My clients are businesses or solo-professionals.

Platforms I Work With

I’m an expert with PC’s and Mac platforms, Windows, Linux, and MacO/S. I’m also very familiar with IOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, as well as Android (Droid) and Blackberry. I work on Windows Servers, Mac Servers, and Linux Servers; VOIP phones as well as PBX and Key Phone Systems. I’ve been doing this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

How I Can Help

Hey, I’d love to help you! There are four ways:

Hourly Rate

I bill my time in quarter-hour increments at $125/hour.

The No-Cost Consult

Listen, I don’t charge anybody to learn how I can help them out. I also don’t charge for asking questions. I’m serious about wanting to be your partner, and that means I’m willing to learn about your business, your customers, what your needs are, and describe how I could help – without charge. Phone, email, Skype, or even on-site if you’re in Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR. Let’s get to know each other and see if we can do business together.

Block Retainers

Okay, if you’re not a regular client and if you’ve got technical questions, need some immediate help with server or network, your social media campaign, or you’re computer’s just plain busted – and time is of the essence – this track is for you. You can buy five or ten hour blocks of time to ask me whatever questions you have and get your problem fixed straight away.

Request For Proposal

If you have a  large project and need a more thorough response, and want a competitive bid, please use the contact form below to have me prepare a proposal for your company.

Don't Know Which Service is Best for You?

No problem! Just complete the contact form. I’ll contact you within an hour or two and we can chit-chat about what you need. Make sure you leave me your phone number so I can call you back right away!

My Story

I like to say that I started using computers when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I was about ten when my father introduced me to a Commodore Vic-20. I started using the computer for games, programming, and accessing other computers on bulletin board systems throughout the United States.

When I went to college, I thought I’d be an artist. Well, that didn’t pan out and I had to focus on something that’d feed me. During the early 1990′s, Total Quality Management was really en-vogue so I thought I’d end up doing that, until a friend of mine called me up and asked if I would like to be on Microsoft’s technology support team for a new product called Windows95. It was brand-new technology and sounded really cool. I progressed from technician, to network engineer, systems manager, IT director, and finally vice president of information technology for a corporate credit union. These were the boom-years in tech and it was an exciting time to be working.

After Y2K, though, a lot of my work was about cost-containment: reducing staff, increasing efficiency, outsourcing, and doing more with less. I saw the writing on the wall and figured, hey: this is all what IT was going to be about and cost-containment was dull. I wanted to innovate! So I hung-out my own shingle in 2004 and went at it alone.

Running my own gig has been great for me: honestly, there’s nothing better than being able to use tech to pull-off something amazing – like we did in the 1990′s – or at least help a company use technology more effectively. The capability offered by microcomputers today rival the power of mid-range and mainframe systems that I managed over a decade ago; there’s a lot anyone can do with little investment. I try to bring enterprise-level expertise and service to the small business and differentiate myself from other break/fix techs by concentrating on trust, value, and respect – core ideas that made me successful in the enterprise.

Thanks for your time today. Please join me on Facebook to learn more about how I can bring value to your small business.

R