Our Team

As the CEO and founder of Simplex-IT, I was “hired” in August of 2007, when we started. I’ve worn every hat over the years, from technician to sales and marketing. I’m transitioning from the “Working for the business” to “Working *on* the business,” which is an interesting mental shift.

The stereotypical response: There’s no such thing as a typical day. First of all, I have to get out of the way of my team, and make sure there’s nothing in their way preventing them from working with our clients. And I’m also constantly looking for ways for us to improve, delivering more services to our customers, creating new partnerships with great organizations. Oh, and have fun. Can’t forget that.

That’s easy. Building Simplex-IT itself. Creating the fantastic collection of different personalities and skillsets and helping them be great. Going beyond the “making computers work” to help our customers achieve their business goals and objective through the use of their IT (Information Technology) resources. The services we offered back in 2007 pales in comparison to where we are today (with more to come).

I worked on my first computer back in High School, in 1975. Got my first job in IT (wasn’t called that, of course) back in 1979. In the 80’s I was Data Processing Manager for the City of Cleveland Heights for about 6 years, and was the CIO (Chief Information Officer) for Patio Enclosures for about 13 years. In addition to that I’ve work about every hat in IT as a consultant to about 40-50 business.

For many years I was busy performing (and teaching) Improv Comedy with the group Point of No Return (www.PNRImprov.org). I might add that they’re still doing very well since I left in 2017 to focus on finishing my book. I am on the Alumni Board for my alma mater, Hiram College. My wife Julie and I like to spoil (ok she spoils, I torment) our 3 daughters and 6 grandkids. We’ve been fortunate enough to create some awards for some non-profits (which we look to continue). And although I just finished my first book (“A CEO’s Survival Guide to Information Technology”), I may be starting another one (on a completely different topic).

I head up the data management operations at Simplex-IT. Became an employee sometime during the summer of 2010 as part of a large client project.

First thing is ‘how is everything?’. Simplex-IT offers monitoring of client’s networks as well as data management resources, such as SQL Servers. Those servers usually send us operational reports, alerts, etc. Things that require attention now. Then it’s on to scheduled projects as well as accommodating anything that ‘pops-up’ throughout the day. It’s uncanny, but Mondays are notorious for systems issues – even though the servers usually had the weekend off! 😊.

My favorite project(s) are development work such as data warehouses, reporting solutions, etc. Keeping mission critical servers running is fun but there is nothing quite as satisfying as building something to make someone’s life easier. Something that makes a tedious job so easy people actually want to do it because it is so easy now.

I actually have a degree in Accounting and used to work as an auditor. Counting inventory in cold warehouses, ‘ticking and tying’, frightening clients by asking ‘may I see the details on this…’ But then I fell in love with IT and have pursued it ever since. I’ve worked at various consulting companies over the years but the mission has always been very similar. Make things easier, more reliable, faster/cheaper/better.

I enjoy outdoor activities, nearly anything that doesn’t involve looking at a computer screen. Believe it or not painting and yard work is quite satisfying! Probably because it means we have good weather hear in NorthEast Ohio. Other fun activities include visiting the MetroParks, photography, roller blading, tennis and … dreaming of surfing in Hawaii.

I was brought into the Simplex-IT family as an Intern April 1st, 2013. Six months later I was added as a full-time member of the team. I am currently a Network and Systems Administrator working alongside the rest of my peers providing the best customer service possible to our clients.

Each day brings forth a new challenge, so typical days don’t really exist in our world. These new obstacles bring the team closer together, and together we prevail. If there was such a thing as a “typical day”, it would be taking on the small tasks like replacing “keyboard batteries” to larger ones like “Backup and Disaster Recovery”.

My favorite projects are the onboarding process. During this process we add new clients to our family. This gives me the opportunity to meet new, and exciting people. I really enjoy making their transition an inviting, and positive experience!

Prior to Simplex-IT, I worked as a Machinist for several years. After that I provided customer support as a field service technician repairing Sharp Multi-Function Printers. During which I’ve obtained two Associates Degrees in IT related curriculums (Computer Electronics Engineering and Information Systems Engineering).

I enjoy playing Massively Multi-Player Online games (MMOs), and then unplug by hitting the Great Outdoors. My current passion is Bass fishing in Ohio’s many lakes, and Ponds. I try to fish a different lake every week throughout the season. This year I will be competing in the Bass tournament scene for the first time!

Officially, Technology Director. That translates to both direct support to our customers and then long term strategic decisions for Simplex-IT. I was hired in May 2010

There are no typical days, every day is different!

Nothing specific but generally speaking it’s our onboarding projects. It usually involves learning about a new environment and then coming up with a plan to integrate them in to our managed services. Some of the networks we have inherited boggle the mind how they function!

I was a system and network admin for a large medical device manufacturing company in northeast Ohio. Daily responsibilities boiled down to keeping all aspects of technology functioning.

I usually spend my time tinkering with makerspace IoT microcontrollers or designing projects with my 3D printer.

My role at Simplex-IT is Network and Systems Administrator, and I was hired on September 25th, 2017

What is a typical day at work for me like? To me and I’m sure many of you can agree that there are no typical days. Each day brings something new and exciting, which is one of the many reasons I enjoy working here.

I‘m not sure if I can say I have a favorite project, I really enjoyed working all the projects I have bene part of as its given me a chance to learn and grow. If I had to pick one though it would be setting up new computers for all our clients. While doing these I can chat with the user I am setting up the computer for and get to learn more about them on more a personal level.

Before Simplex I worked for a company as part of their IT team. I performed a variety of tasks there such as setting up new users, configuring printers, servers and backups. In addition to all that I also helped resolve various issues that users were having on a day to day biases.

Some things I like to do outside work is attend social events such as bowling or catching a movie with some friends. I also like to go on vacation and see the country going to places like Vermont, Tennessee, Florida, and even Las Vegas. And before you ask, what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. When not out and about I am usually at home relaxing watching a movie, gaming, or working on a project I started. Some projects I have done are make a retro game console, build a media server, and build a holder for all the shot glasses I collected from the states I visited. I guess you could say there’s never a dull moment for me, which makes life fun and interesting.

I was hired in April of 2017 as a Senior Network Engineer.

My typical day consists of tackling service and project tickets for our clients. This can involve anything from answering phone calls and replying to e-mails, resetting passwords to troubleshooting printers, or analyzing security threats to setting up a server.

My favorite project was setting up a new server for one of our clients. The biggest challenge was that the client is in another state and all of the equipment was drop-shipped to them! I had to remotely work with the client to get the equipment setup and then get everything installed before migrating everything from their old server to the new one! It was a fun experience!

I worked in the IT department for a national pallet manufacturer based in the Warren, OH area.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in April 2018. When we’re not baby planning, I enjoy kayaking, running, and being outdoors. I’m also studying for work-related certifications.

Operations Director, October 2012

A day at Simplex-IT is always an adventure!  There really isn’t a typical day because we are always faced with new issues.  I enjoy working with our technical team to make sure they have what they need to keep their day going.  My day is always busy and often times the plan of action changes from one hour to the next.  We do have weekly Tech-Time meetings where we come together as a team to set goals, discuss tickets as well as internal projects and process improvements.  It gives us an opportunity to interact together, laugh a little and make forward progress as a whole.

I would have to say the most recent project I have enjoyed working on is the transition over to our new Simplex-IT Payment Portal.  It has been such a positive change to how we receive payments.  If you are not familiar with our Simplex-IT Payment Portal I encourage you to reach out to me and give it a try.  I have received nothing but positive feedback from our clients stating how nice it is to have one location to view, manage and pay open invoices with ease.  The portal not only allows the option pay using ACH as well as credit card, you can also decide if you want to have automatic deductions or pay manually.  This project was rewarding for me because I enjoy helping our clients and making their day easier while improving our processes here at Simplex-IT

I enjoyed working as a Business Analyst for almost 10 years, for what was once Alltel Communications, now known as Windstream.  I began my journey working for the IT side of the company in the Client Services Department and continued to work my way into a Business Analyst position.

My family is my life outside of work.  I have a husband of 20 years, an 18 year old daughter and a soon to be 13 year old son.  Needless to say, they have kept me very busy over the years while managing a career.  My daughter is graduating this spring and will be attending college as a music education major in the fall with an emphasis in flute.  We enjoy watching her perform with the many groups she’s involved with whether she’s playing flute, piccolo, saxophone, piano or singing.  My son plays ice hockey and lacrosse, so I also live the sports mom life.  He too plays piano and saxophone so the music concerts and piano recitals will continue for several more years. I’m not complaining one bit, these years are flying by and I try to enjoy every minute of it!  As a family, we enjoy skiing and snowboarding!  If the hectic schedule allows we enjoy taking a long weekend and heading somewhere cold!

I’m a Director here at Simplex-IT and I do a little bit of everything – Heading up our Training and Project Management practices, as well as our Marketing efforts.

I can usually be found planning our marketing campaigns and community outreach projects, working with clients to deliver customized training, or helping clients with their projects through the use of project management tools and methodologies.

I’ve worked on a lot of fun projects, it’s hard to pick just one. I recently helped a large organization implement Project Online, and that was fun because it involved everything from the initial implementation, to portfolio reporting and dashboards. We also do a lot of unusual marketing campaigns to help differentiate ourselves in the marketplace. We recently worked with a professional cartoonist, and it was amazing to see her take our initial thoughts and turn them into such great cartoons. And yes, Bob is now a cartoon!

Before Simplex-IT, I worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, implementing Project Server/Sharepoint and Project Management methodologies within the government sector. Prior to that I worked for a boutique consulting firm where I did software and technical training, as well as Project Server consulting and implementations. That’s where I met Bob and thought, he’s pretty not so bad ☺

My favorite thing to do outside of work is to escape to our little cabin in the middle of nowhere. We go for walks, have bonfires, and go four-wheeling through the beautiful country, I just love it. My husband and I recently got into wine making, and that’s been such a fun learning experience.

I am the Marketing Communications Associate here at Simplex-IT. I was brought on almost a year ago now, to assist in the development and execution of various marketing campaigns.

What I love about working at Simplex-IT is that there are no "typical days" in the marketing department. Each week I get to work on a new project, so there's never any room for stagnancy, we're always coming up with new ideas on how to get the word out about our stellar IT team..! One week I may be mailing out dollar coins attached to letters graciously requesting a call, another week I'll be looking up "101 bird puns" to find a way to use in our latest pitch.

By far my favorite project thus far at Simplex-IT has been the formal invitation campaign. The chosen verbiage for the formal invitations we sent out lampoons the standard invitation and delivers a great example of our amiable, goofy sense of humor, and more importantly expresses how we will overlook our own pride to ensure our clients smile, are happy & satisfied.

Before Simplex-IT, I was a Budget Analyst at the Department of Human Rights, and Call Center Manager at the Division of Banking in Chicago. I also spent some time working for Non Profit organizations, and acting as Caregiver for members of my family.

Outside of work, I enjoy acting, comedy, & storytelling. Writing, improvising, performing stories that make people smile is my passion. Last year I performed at several community theater groups, including Chagrin Valley Little Theater & Aurora Community Theater. I regularly performed improvised comedy and developed scripts for a few dozen comedy sketches I'm looking to perform this year, and have developed some semblance of a stand up comedy routine. I'm constantly looking for new forms of expression and stories to hear and tell.

I joined the Simplex-IT team as the Sales and Marketing Coordinator in May 2018.

I often team up with Patti to plan and execute different marketing campaigns. A typical day could involve creating social media posts, scheduling blogs, or assembling and mailing out a bunch of rubber ducks to potential clients.

I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to put my graphic design skills to use when creating various social media posts or postcards for our marketing campaigns!

Before Simplex-IT, I was a student and worked as a student assistant at the University of Akron. After graduating in May 2017 with a degree in Mass Communication/Media Studies, I was hired to be an office assistant at a startup tech company in Akron. Before all of that, I was a Starbucks barista for 2 years and yes, I have nightmares about that never-ending drive thru line. I’m grateful that I can still make an awesome latte though!

Anything involving music makes me happy, so you can usually find me at a concert, playing guitar, or listening to my favorite artists. I also love spending time with my friends and family!

I am a Network and Systems Administrator, I joined the team May 7th 2018

A typical day starts off with emails and phone calls, then critical service tickets, and after that the sky is the limit! There is no such thing as a typical day =)

Here is the PR answer: Every project is my favorite!

I worked for a DME billing company as IT Systems Administrator for 5+ years, before that I was at another MSP as System Administrator. Before that…you don’t wanna know 😉

I enjoy many different activities, some of which are: RC car racing, real car tinkering, PC gaming and VR, hiking, the beach, but most of all spending time with my girl, Emily

I am a Network and Systems Administrator. I was hired May 16th, 2018

There is no typical day which is what I like. Something new always pops up.

Not sure I have a favorite. I like working on all the different projects we have going on.

Previously I was a Network Administrator with the US Navy.

I like to do anything outdoors, hiking, biking, swimming, you name it. My husband and I just moved to the area so exploring the area has been our recent hobby. But traveling is what I truly love. I am constantly planning the next big adventure.

I started at Simplex-IT on April 15th, 2019 as a Senior Technician

Unfortunately at a Managed Service Provider there are no typical days. Each day brings a new adventure – whether it be a business-critical issue requiring immediate attention or a client request requiring a new solution to be designed. This variety keeps things interesting and ensures there will always be a new task to challenge and push my abilities. If there’s one constant about each day for me at Simplex-IT, it’s that it always begins with coffee.

Thus far I have two favorite projects. The first one is an effort that Kurt and I have been spearheading to perform a thorough review and overhaul of our security practices. I enjoy this because not only does it require us to be thorough and highly critical, but we also must think ahead. Cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and it’s can be challenging to try to implement a strategy that looks ahead.

My second favorite project was my presentation for our backup solutions at our latest Quarterly Client Training event. I enjoyed the opportunity to educate our clients about a critical aspect of their technology needs and our approach to ensuring their data is safely backed up.

Prior to coming to Simplex, I worked at another MSP for 6 years. I started as a helpdesk technician and departed as their COO. Over those years I wore many hats. It was a fantastic opportunity to expand my skillset and to grow as a professional.

Outside of work I still enjoy tinkering with technology and keeping up to date on the latest technology trends. I’m also a dedicated gamer with hundreds of hours logged across a multitude of games. In addition to all of this – I love space and space exploration. I usually try to watch as many rocket launches when they occur. One of my favorite memories involved my latest trip with my girlfriend to Kennedy Space Center where we were fortunate enough to see a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch and land from only a few miles away.

I was brought on for Client Development. Since Bob was one of my partners with a vendor, I received the Simplex-IT newsletter and saw that there was an opening, so I sent Bob an email. Despite my working with Simplex-IT previously I was hired anyway.

My typical day involves phone calls to prospective clients, searching the web for new client business (there are 10’s of thousands of small and or midsized business in the Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown) and with any luck I will go to visit some of those prospects to follow-up.

So far it has been understanding everything that Simplex-IT does for our clients. I am also understanding the tools that we and our clients use in the commission of their day.

I have been in sales since the late 80’s. I have sold a lot of different products but most of them have been technical in service, hardware or software so Simplex-IT does a little of all of those things which should make it easier for me to catch on. I have worked with a large software company and I have owned a hardware sales and service company so you may find that I know a wide aspect of small to medium business needs and will understand much of what our clients are going through on a day to day basis.

When I am not at work I try to be golfing in good weather (which, I am afraid, has done nothing to help my handicap) and doing nothing in poor winter weather. I have developed some skill in woodworking over the last 30 years or so, enough that I could open a furniture shop. People don’t always like the same things that I do in furniture so I have no shop to avoid fighting with potential clients. I also do enjoy photography though I don’t have as much time to take pictures and manage them through Photoshop so I am slipping from that hobby a bit but the time will come when I will become more active again. If clients or prospects want to try themselves against me in golf, give me a call at 234-380-1277 x-503 and I will let you take a shot at me. I am looking forward to my new life at Simplex.