Welcome to my blog. I’m sure by now you are probably wondering just who I am and what I do. I got into blogging at the request of my friends and colleagues (special thanks to Aaron Tiensivu and Elan Shudnow for showing me the light) and as a way to write down all the information that I found myself forgetting over the years. I wanted a place to go to reference old tips, tricks, bugs, fixes, guides, and solutions to issues I’ve found along the way. What you’ll find here is technical information designed to help me and you. Some of the stuff will be for fun but most of the stuff will be technical.
Who am I?
I have been working as an independent contract and consultant since 1997. With each new contract I take with me the lessons learned of each company…what works and most importantly, what doesn’t work. Now I find myself having the best of both worlds. A full time job as a consultant for a growing IT Services company…and I enjoy every minute of it (well not every minute) but, I truly do enjoy this line of work.
In 1997 I graduated from Ferris State University with a degree in Computer Information Systems. After graduation I promptly went to work as an independent contractor. I would take whatever little odd contact I could find. I always stayed true to my beginnings and specialized in products for Microsoft systems. I started in the helpdesk…answering phones and solved one problem, one person at a time. I really did enjoy this type of work as there was nothing more satisfying than fixing an irate user’s problem with a calm voice and a quick resolution. I thrived in this environment and every new contract I added to my growing library of skills. After a few years of persistence and continuous education I made it to the elusive Senior Administrator role, my last stop before making the leap to a full-time consultant.
I do carry a few certifications in the areas that I enjoy working the most. I believe certifications can be as a good measure of one’s skills but, I do not want to be that guy with so many acronyms after his signature he has two business cards. I feel if you carry a certification you better know your product. I cannot count anymore the amount of hours I’ve spent over the years fixing the mistakes of a bad apple. I’m sure you’ve all heard at one point, ”It’s only a Microsoft product, what’s so hard about that? Our staff can do that.” Then you hear Mr. Bad Apple over in the corner, “no problem, we can do that ourselves.” Enough said…
What am I doing now?
Currently I work as a Senior Engineer for CDW Berbee. My passion is Unified Communications (OCS 2007 w/Voice and Exchange 2007 w/Unified Messaging).
My other areas of expertise surround Enterprise Active Directory Architecture and Management, System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA), Disaster Recovery, Security & Risk Management and Citrix Presentation Server. I also know a host of other products/services each related to one or all of the areas above.
Do I offer any professional services?
I work out of the West Michigan area but do travel to Detroit and other areas outside of Michigan as the job requires. My engineering skills are centered around the Microsoft based products listed above with a specilization in Unified Communications.
If you are interested the services I can offer I encourage you to visit CDW Berbee’s website and contact one of our sales reps. You can ask for me by name and together we will work to make your life a little easier and your company a littler more profitable. CDW Berbee now offers a host of software, products and services nationwide and will soon be going global. Stay tuned…we are just getting started.