		Personnel Qualifications

Small and large consulting firms each have their advantages and disadvantages. With a single-person consulting firm, coordination problems and costs are minimized, and consistent, high-quality service can be assured. A large consulting firm has more people to cover client needs, but if the client load is increased to pay for the added overhead, and if finding, keeping, and coordinating qualified personnel are problematic (as they so often are), client service can suffer. Sometimes the decision boils down to a choice between a single, highly qualified and dedicated professional or a whole team of less capable, poorly motivated technicians.

After operating with a larger staff for some years, Vista Consulting has returned to being a single-person consulting firm operated by its owner, Steve Moore. This approach has proven to work most effectively. Just as a physician, attorney, or general contractor uses specialists to perform specialized tasks, Steve works with cabling contractors, data communications vendors, printer repair shops, etc., as needed. For small clients, Steve will generally do nearly everything, except for perhaps sending a printer, monitor, or tape drive out for repair now and then. If a larger network cabling or equipment roll-out calls for it, Steve can call on a network of specialized vendors and computer technicians who are available as needed. For clients with a very large amount of routine IT work, Steve can help hire, train, and supervise a less experienced, less expensive IT employee.

The critical factor that makes this approach work, is ensuring that there is one person designing the IT system and coordinating its implementation, and ensuring that that person has the knowledge, experience, and professional ethic to see that it is done right. Of course, whether the lead firm consists of one or twenty individuals, documenting the system design and configuration is important.

Steve Moore's Resume and Certifications

Steve Moore has been working with computers since 1971 and founded Vista in 1981. He has lived in and around Sonoma County, California nearly all of his life. The following links provide more details about his qualifications:

Resume in Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format