I started my IT career as a Data Center Operator. Not because I had a plan, but because I wanted to understand how things actually worked from the ground up. Thirteen years later, having held nearly every role an infrastructure organization has to offer, I became the person responsible for leading those teams.
That journey taught me something that took a while to name. The technology decisions that matter most aren't really technical decisions. They're the ones where you're sitting across from a Cisco or Broadcom rep who knows you need them more than they need you, trying to protect your organization's budget and interests without the leverage that larger companies take for granted. Most IT leaders in smaller organizations accept that situation as just part of the job. I never stopped looking for a better way to handle it.
That conviction is what led me to found Hoard Technology Advisors LLC, where I focus on technology strategy, vendor negotiations, and infrastructure decision-making for small and mid-sized organizations that are tired of being outmaneuvered by enterprise vendors and overwhelmed by advice built for companies ten times their size.
Today I serve as IT Infrastructure Manager at Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, leading teams across Systems Engineering, Network Engineering, Database Administration, Unified Communications, and M365.
If you work in technology leadership at a small or mid-sized organization, or you're thinking seriously about what smart IT strategy looks like outside the enterprise world, I'd genuinely enjoy connecting.