Jon Barson
Computer Guy, Father and Husband
ABOUT
Hi, My name is Jon
Welcome to my hub on the web. In these days of ubiquitous social networks it is more important than ever to maintain your own hub on the web under your direct control. Many of us who are early adopters of technology have been burned when a much loved service has been turned down. While the nice people at Facebook and Google (and others) have welcomed you into their social networks, they also are the only ones with the keys. Your presence there is at their whim. Having your own presence is more important now than ever.
Here is where I come in. While you may agree with me about having a presence, not everyone has the skills to do so. Luckily I do. Working together we can get you your own little corner of the Internet.
Technology is mastering a million easy things
What I do is listen to your needs and craft them into solutions. I take care of the million nitty-gritty technical challenges that you face so that you can take care of what matters most to you.
Hard won experience
I have worked for some of the largest corporations in the world and came through with flying colours. I have also helped many small businesses and people with their small corner of the Internet. From boardrooms to the helpdesk I can deal with everyone involved. Balance in all things is essential to ensuring projects run smoothly.
EXPERIENCE
Independent Contractor
A variety of clients Toronto 2010-Present
Collaborated with small businesses enhancing their web presence. This included assisting them with their websites, from choosing service providers to managing their web sites. Worked on personalized web-based applications. Using tools such as Google Analytics, I reported to customers how their sites did with respect to their clients and made suggestions as to what their next steps were.
Technical Service Manager
Verizon Business Toronto 2007-2010
Acted as an advocate on the client’s behalf to ensure the quality of all products on a global basis. Reported on the performance of client’s products and services, including ensuring Service Level Agreement adherence. Served as a consultant to clients to drive network optimization, stability and durability. Partnered with sales, service, billing and technical teams to develop and implement a consistent global network service plan. Produced and presented both standard and customized network reports. Served as an escalation point for technical troubles and ensured that issues were resolved quickly and accurately. Developed and project managed Service Improvement Plans for chronic/critical client issues. Performed ongoing network hardening and diversity reviews. Clients included Honeywell, The Bank of Nova Scotia, The Bank of Montreal and Diageo plc.
- Consulted with Sales engineering on solutions for my clients to ensure the proper integration with their network.
- Routinely met with clients at their site to conduct service reviews.
- Was available for customers on a 24/7 basis for trouble escalations.
Key Account Support Specialist
MCI Canada Toronto 2000-2007
Worked with large enterprise customers to ensure that all technical services were working with the highest efficiency and reliability. Operated as an escalation point for clients on a 24/7 basis. Ensured that customers received all reports and assisted them in identifying potential issues for further investigation. Oversaw compliance with Service Level Agreements and approved payment of penalties when warranted. Managed enterprise migration projects for legacy systems (POP mail, DNS and UUCP). Clients included large high-profile organizations such as AOL, Vonage and the Government of Ontario.
- Managed POP3 email migration for over 30,000 email users from a legacy to a modern diverse solution.
- Planned, managed and migrated customers onto a new Domain name service (DNS) solution. This required individually vetting 16,000 domains names. This resulted in a more diverse and reliable service.
- Oversaw decommissioning of the legacy products UUCP mail and Usenet feeds.
- Trained Tier 1 agents on troubleshooting methodology and specfics of customer services.
Network Control Centre Technician
UUNET Canada Toronto 1999-2000
Monitored and engaged in troubleshooting of the UUNET Canadian Internet backbone and associated services (e.g. POP mail, DNS). Acted as a single point of contact for clients to assist them with all aspects of their Internet service. This included troubleshooting technical issues and facilitating repairs. Organized and managed vendor repairs of remote equipment. Dealt with global Internet routing issues. Assisted clients with general inquiries. Assisted in training new agents. Recorded and maintained customer records.
Network Support Technician
Nesbitt Burns Toronto 1996-1998
Remotely supported the brokerage arm of the Bank of Montreal with over 40 sites across Canada. Operated as a second level escalation after the help desk for all desktop issues including networking, email printing and business applications. Consulted on the choice of, the planning, implementing and supporting new desktop faxing software package for all 2000 users. Conducted regular remote office visits to implement server upgrades and conduct in-person training.
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Hardware
- Cisco routers
- Cisco switches
- Dell, Apple and IBM compouters
- Juniper J-series services routers
- Redback DSL SMS
- Lucent Access Pointrouters
- Lucent TNT dial access concentrators
- Lexmark and HP printers
- Network hardware
Software
- Apple OS X
- Unix/Linux
- Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Office
- Adobe Acrobat
- Open/Libre Office
- Evernote
- Google Drive/Docs
- Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera
- Outlook,Mail.app,Thunderbird
- Apache
- Cisco IOS
Languages
- Javascript
- Bash
- Ruby
- Python
- Perl
Networks/Protocols
- TCP/IP
- DNS
- DHCP
- POP3
- SMTP
- IMAP
- UUCP
- NNTP
- FTP
- SSH
- NAT
- RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP
- VPN, L2TP, SSL, MPLS
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Social
Here is how to get a hold of me: