A Few Things About Me

Background & Skills

Background

With over 31 years of industry experience, I’ve developed solutions to business technology challenges and opportunities as an IT Specialist, Analyst, Consultant and for the last 7 years as an IT Architect. During the past decade, I’ve also explored the world of social media as it was emerging, pairing it with my passion for technology to discover innovative solutions to modern business needs.

Starting in the late 1980’s, I have had opportunities to work in multiple fields within the technology industry. From a low-voltage and fiber-optic technician to an IT Architect, my career has delivered one exciting experience after another across many facets of the diverse and rapidly changing information technology industry.

I continue to look forward to the evolving future of the information technology industry, knowing that every change, every disruption to how we’ve approached things in the past, is simply an opportunity for growth.

Interests

Outside of technology, I enjoy going outdoors. For several years, I got back into motorcycles and put on over 100K miles in 6 years. Lately, my wife and I have been enjoying getting out on UTV/SxS rides with friends and family. Also, I get out hiking and backpacking as often as possible.

During the cold season, it doesn’t hold me back either. Usually, I’ll get out snowmobiling or snowshoeing a couple times a week along with keeping the snow cleared off the driveway. Hopefully, I’ll add camping to my list of winter activities this year.

Some Numbers

Years in Field

Managed Devices (within a single infrastructure)

Years as Consultant

Common Questions

Experience

For the past 31 years, the Information Technology field has been extremely rewarding. From the early days of MS-DOS and i286s, to today’s world of BYOD, virtualization, and cloud computing. Our industry does not disappoint in challenging us to grow every day.

Innovator

I am always looking to improve efficiency, not only by leveraging industry best practices and my experience in the industry, but also by exploring new possibilities and applying these to business needs in the real world.

Managed Devices

The maximum number of devices I have managed at one time within one organization is over 250,000 endpoints. A mix of both server and workstations. This was in a global organization, so multiple time zones, teams, languages, and regional perspectives needed to be taken into consideration at all times.

Consultant vs. FTE

consulting-vs-fte_small About a third of my career has been spent as either a consultant or freelancer within the Information Technology field. This time is split about 50/50 as contract or consulting. I enjoy both engagement types.

As a full time, employee, my longest role was 10 years with Michael Foods, and I credit the time spent there in helping me more fully understand the “big picture” aspect of IT. Much of that experience has ultimately enriched my skills as my career has progressed.

Why Not Management?

Basically, I am not interested in moving to a management role. My strengths are in learning and understanding business requirements, then working to solve the technological puzzle to support those needs. Moreover, over time I’ve found that I enjoy mentoring and sharing these solutions with customers and peers. This is where my strengths lie.

What was my first computer?

Tandy_Model4P_System_2 A Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4P! That’s ‘P’ as in ‘portable’, mister… all 26lbs of it. Mobility was on my mind, even in 1984, even though it never left the desk in my bedroom. Mine had dual TEAC DSDD 5¼ inch floppy drives, and a 128KB RAM upgrade. It was a great introduction to early computers, programming in MS BASIC, hacking away at the operating system in HEX editors, and some dabbling in assembly language compilers. Ah, good times.

Skills & Technologies

Some of the skills and technologies I’ve mastered during various projects through the years that I’ve participated in or led include:

Microsoft Endpoint Management (including earlier versions):
Configuration Manager (SMS 1.2 through latest)
Intune

Entra ID (Azure AD)
Azure Virtual Desktop
Windows 365 (Cloud PC)
Modern Management (Co-Management)
Cloud Management Gateway
Azure Infrastructure
Microsoft 365
Active Directory and Group Policy
Windows Server
Windows PKI Architecture
Systems Deployment & Management Architecture
Windows Updates and Servicing
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Application Virtualization (APP-V, MED-V)
Remote Access with 2-factor authentication (RSA, PKI, Cisco, RADIUS
Scripting, including highly customized HTA solutions:
- PowerShell
- VBScript
- Hypertext Application (.HTA)
- Batch/CMD

Extensive Documentation
- As-Built Docs
- System Maintenance Docs
- Technical Training Docs
- End-User Training Docs

Microsoft SharePoint Site Design
WordPress infrastructure & implementation
Social tool integration
Web Technologies:
- HTML (and XHTML)
- CSS
- PHP
- LAMP Stack
Real-time database encryption (Protegrity)
Mentoring, Teaching, and Speaking on technology & social media
Founded Social Media Breakfast – Minneapolis / St. Paul, an organization of like-minded individuals, participating in global discussions of technology & social media.
Former Board of Directors & Consulting Partner with National Institute for social media.