Networks and connectivity
Every site reachable from the others, and nothing getting in from outside.
A network that grew on its own ends up a puzzle: no one is sure which cable goes where, or why it crawls at three in the afternoon. I design the whole thing before touching anything, install it, and leave it drawn on a diagram so the next person doesn't have to guess.
- WiFi that actually covers plant and offices
- Permanent links between sites
- Firewall and control over who reaches what
- Diagnosing why the network is slow
- Traffic separation to isolate machines
- Cabling and a network diagram
Servers and backups
Systems up when you need them, and a way back when something breaks.
With backups there's only one question that matters, and it almost never gets asked: has anyone tried restoring one? A backup nobody ever restored isn't a backup, it's a folder. Here they get restored for real, every so often and onto a separate machine, so you know the files will open on the day it counts.
- A file server for the whole company
- Users and permissions in one place
- Copies kept off-site
- Test restores, with a written report
- Virtualization to consolidate aging machines
- Server moves without stopping work
Security
Closing the door before something happens, and knowing what to do if it does.
Nobody attacks a small company because it's interesting: they attack it because a bot found the door open. So the work starts with the boring part: whatever went unpatched, the password reused everywhere, the account of the employee who left two years ago. That's where they actually get in. And if it already happened, there's a procedure instead of improvisation.
- A security review with findings and priorities
- Two-factor on the accounts that matter
- A password manager for the whole team
- Cleanup and analysis after an attack
- Proper offboarding when someone leaves
- Awareness sessions for staff
Microsoft 365 and remote work
Managed mail, files and devices, wherever people work from.
On these platforms it's very common for something to read as enabled while protecting nothing: the license is paid, the dashboard says yes, and the policy was never applied to anyone. After setting things up I check one by one that each piece does what it claims. Buying the licence and leaving it actually protecting you are two different jobs.
- Mail migration with no downtime
- Shared mailboxes for a team
- Company laptops centrally managed
- Secure remote access for people on the road
- Recovering deleted mail or files
- An audit of licenses you are overpaying for
Custom software
Software that adapts to how you work, instead of the other way round.
Before writing a line I spend time on site watching how an order gets taken, how the truck goes out and how it gets collected. Software that doesn't match that fills up with fields nobody completes and ends up living alongside the same old notebook. It's the most expensive way of solving nothing.
- A management system built around your process
- An app to use from a phone
- Simple screens for the shop floor
- Integration with the system you already use
- Dashboards and reports for management
- Rescuing a system nobody supports any more
Automation and integration
Systems that talk to each other, so nobody retypes data.
The rule for what's worth automating is simple: if someone repeats the same task twice a week, there's something there. The point isn't replacing people — it's taking away the part a machine does better, the copying, the cross-checking, the chasing, and handing back the time for what actually needs a person.
- Electronic invoicing inside your own system
- A time clock wired into payroll
- Automatic alerts by email or WhatsApp
- Spreadsheets that fill themselves in
- Reports that build and send themselves
- A bridge between two systems that ignore each other