James Keeling Email and Phone Number

Care and feeding of an IT ProfessionalIt started back in the early 80’s. A Commodore Vic20: as fun as 3.2K of memory can be. Flash forward to the late 80’s where I joined the United States Air Force, cutting my teeth on mainframes and moving on to networks and servers. I left the Air Force in ‘99 and leveraged my work experience and an Associates Degree for a job with a consulting company. I specialized on the Windows and Cisco platforms, earning many certifications including an MCSE, CCNA, and even a Proliant Engineer Cert.As a consultant, I marveled at how much exposure I received to both new and old technologies and how much I learned about troubleshooting and creative thinking. One day developing WAN connectivity for a small bank chain, the next resuscitating an old Windows NT4.0 server. Overall, I enjoyed my time as a consultant and while I didn’t mind the travel, I desired a network of my own.I joined MLT Vacations in July ‘02 as the Sr. Local Area Network Administrator. With over forty servers and almost a thousand users, it afforded me a chance to build something; Upgrading from Exchange 5.5, upgrading Active Directory, applying automation to routine tasks. As MLT had only one Network Engineer, I was also appointed the secondary Wide Area Network Administrator, maintaining and expanding my Cisco knowledge and experience.Addressing the gaping hole in my curriculum vitae, I went back to school attending Metropolitan State University for my bachelor’s in Management Information Systems (MIS) which I attained in 2007. The majority of my work experience has been in the trenches and while I was good at what I did, a management degree drastically expanded my appreciation for the larger world of business. Two truths I’ve learned from my years in the industry. An expert is not someone who knows everything, but knows where to look or who to ask. If you don’t keep in mind where you came from and how you got here, you won’t make it to where you should be.