What should I.T. security mean to you, the owner of a small business? Your computer network bears some similarities to the building that houses your business.
The two Directors, John Boggon and Scott Meagher, met at University in the nineties whilst studying IT as mature age students in their early thirties. In their own words, they reveal the way their relationship came about and how it works for them and the business.
Scott
Unlike John, I had virtually no computing skills when I went to University. Commencing in business studies, I soon developed a keen interest in computing and within 18 months I switched from business to IT.
Very early in our acquaintanceship, John became not only my friend, but also my mentor. For a techo, John is an extremely good talker, being able to communicate his knowledge and passion for IT and IT systems in a way that sweeps others along with him. We soon became aware that we shared a common history; we both come from aspirational working class families and we each had experience of small business. In my case, I was exposed to the trials, tribulations and challenges of small business from an early age. As long as I could remember, my father had been in business as an Agent at Brisbane markets. This involved very early starts and long hours in an extremely demanding, time-critical environment.
Although Dad clearly thrived in this type of work, the early morning starts were not all that appealing to me as a young lad who joined the business full-time straight out of school. As in the case of a lot of young people, overseas travel beckoned to me. Before too long I had saved enough money to set out on a backpacking trip that would take me to America, Asia, Europe and Africa over an 18-month period.
Having satisfied my desire to experience something beyond the narrow confines of Brisbane, I returned having formed the intention to pursue a career and not just employment. It was at this stage in my life that John and I met and formed what became a long-term friendship and, ultimately, business partnership.
John credits me with being the catalyst for the creation of our business and this is true to some extent. A friend of mine was starting up a business and, aware that I was studying IT, asked me if I would install and implement a network. I floated the idea with John and his response was basically “let’s do it”. This friend was our first client, and he is still a client. His business has since expanded considerably, and John and I have continued to play a small part in the ongoing success of his business. It was this experience that set us thinking about creating a future for ourselves in business.
We have now been working together for ten years and despite the dire predictions concerning going into business with a friend, the ebb and flow of our business life has strengthened rather than weakened our friendship. It would be fair to say that what appeals to both of us is the idea that we can really make a difference to small business by providing cost-effective systems and solutions that solve the immediate IT needs (and times dilemmas) of a business whilst providing capacity for growth. From the beginning we saw that we could become a valued part of a business through the supply of add-on expertise, allowing that business to concentrate on what it does best whilst allowing us to maximise its IT capability. This is what gets me out of bed each morning.