about
I build IT infrastructure, and I build it myself
I am Alessandro Montibelli, an independent IT consultant. I work with small and mid-sized companies that need someone to design the infrastructure, migrate it when the time comes, and then stay with it.
How I got here
I started at the hands-on end of this trade: machines to bring back to life, networks to make sense of, systems somebody else had built and nobody had written down. It is a school I would recommend to anyone in this line of work, because it teaches something courses do not: almost no problem is the one it looks like at the start.
Over time the work moved upstream. From fixing what had broken to designing things that would not break, from the single call-out to the migration plan, from one machine to a company's whole infrastructure. That is what I do now: consulting on and designing IT infrastructure for small and mid-sized companies, plus custom business software when a process does not fit any product on the market.
What interests me technically
What interests me is the point where the infrastructure meets how people actually work. A technically correct system that adds two steps to eight people's mornings is a bad system, and within six months somebody will have found a way around it.
Specifically, I enjoy the continuity side: working out what happens when a piece stops, which dependencies nobody had noticed, how long it really takes to get back up. It is the least visible part of the job and the one where a designed infrastructure shows itself against one that simply accumulated.
The other half is development. Writing software helps the consulting too: someone who has built an application understands better what it needs underneath, and someone who runs infrastructure writes applications that can be maintained.
Working with clients
I work directly. There is no salesperson taking the request, a technician carrying it out and a manager answering for the delays: there is one person doing all three, who therefore cannot blame anyone else.
That sets a limit, and it is fair to say so: there is a maximum number of clients I can look after properly at the same time. When it is full, it is full, and I would rather tell you than take the work and do it badly.
How I work, concretely
I answer the phone myself
The number on this site is my mobile. If I do not answer I am working somewhere, and I call back the same working day. There is no tier to be passed along to.
I explain things plainly
Before any piece of work I tell you what I am about to do, why, and what happens if we skip it. If an explanation does not land, the explanation is the problem, so I do it again.
You know the price up front
Every job starts from a written quote with the estimated hours and what they cover. If something emerges that makes it grow, you hear about it before the bill does, not on the invoice.
I will also tell you no
If the problem can be solved without buying anything I say so, even when that means not selling. If you need a bigger organisation than mine I will point you to one, and stay on to check they do it properly if that helps.