I have been working with personal computer based systems for 18 years. After attending college at Eastern Michigan University, I started out doing computer support for a small company called Protech Computers in the mid-eighties. At that time, the original IBM PC had just came out with two huge floppy disk drives and no hard drive. Networking was not really too practical back then but a startup company called Novell would soon make PC networking a reality for businesses of all sizes.
After a few years, I decided to go to work for a small consulting company called Professional Computer Consultants. It was there that I developed a passion for helping small businesses use computers to make their company more efficient. At that position, I started to set up Novell based networks and write custom programs to automate various business processes.
My next position was with Grand Trunk Western Railroad in Detroit. There I learned Novell inside and out and supported several hundred networked client PC's. I also wrote custom business applications using a little known programming environment called DataFlex.
After my stint with the railroad, I began working for the Mercy Health System headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan. My first position there was in the Network Support Department where I again supported several Novell servers and several hundred client PC's. I also started to develop my expertise in the Windows NT environment. After a few years at Mercy I took a Data architect position in the company. In this role I was responsible for maintaining databases and developing Executive Information Systems which the company management used for making business decisions.
At this time also, I started my company doing network consulting on the side. At that point, I remembered what I enjoyed so much about this type of consulting. It is really gratifying to help a small business owner install a network or solve a system problem because the results in efficiency are immediately evident. In a large company, sometimes it seems that your contributions can easily be lost in the shuffle.
After a few years, my side business had reached "critical mass" and I knew I either had to scale it back or quit my job at Mercy and pursue my business full time. This was not an easy decision because I was married with two kids (I now have 3) and my wife chose to wait until the kids got older to pursue career interests. In other words, we only had one income and I was it. After careful (and prayerful) consideration, I decided to go it alone and Enterprise Micro Solutions was born. That was over 5 years ago and I have never looked back.
I think that I am in a unique position to help my clients because I am equally familiar with both the hardware and software side of things. My customers also quickly sense that I am honest and ethical with a goal of helping them use their investment in technology to better their competitive position. If I was independently wealthy, and didn't have to worry about paying the mortgage each month, I would do this type of work free of charge. Until I win the Lotto however, you will find my fee schedule very affordable when compared to the competition.