About Jon

Where I come from#

I started my career as the entire IT department for a five-person benefits agency. For six years I handled everything: the network, the servers, the backups, the move to Microsoft 365, and getting the business ready for healthcare privacy audits. That’s where I learned what small businesses actually need from technology: practical answers, honest advice, and someone who picks up the phone.

From there I supported state government and healthcare clients at IBM, then joined a managed IT and security provider. There I looked after more than 40 client businesses and was promoted to lead a team of eight technicians.

Most recently I spent nearly six years at an insurance company regulated under New York’s cybersecurity rules (NY DFS Part 500). I grew from security and infrastructure engineer to Principal Security Architect, and I was the only senior security person in the company, reporting directly to leadership.

Solving hard problems#

The work I’m proudest of happened under pressure.

• A migration that couldn’t be late. I helped lead the company’s move from aging in-house servers to Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, so it could launch a new business platform. The deadline couldn’t move. We launched on schedule, the platform paid for itself within 60 days, and the project helped the company win the Digital Transformation Champion award at the 2025 Excellence in Insurance Conference.
• Compliance from a standing start. When I arrived, the company had no auditable security records. I built the program from the ground up and took the company to full compliance with NY DFS Part 500, confirmed by an outside audit. That protected about $10 million in revenue, half the company’s business, which depended on staying licensed in New York.
• Stepping in when people left. When two key team members left in the middle of that migration, I took over the company’s databases myself, secured them, and kept testing on schedule so the project didn’t slip.
• Seeing threats before they cause damage. I built the company’s first system for spotting and responding to security threats, giving it round-the-clock visibility it had never had before.
• Changing habits, not just settings. I rolled out multi-factor sign-in to every employee and contractor and ran a security awareness program that cut successful phishing attempts by 90%.

Building trust with IT teams#

I’ve never been the consultant who parachutes in, points out problems, and leaves. Internal IT teams know the business better than anyone, and my job is to make them more effective. That starts with earning their trust.

At my last company I worked across internal IT, software developers, database staff, offshore contractors, an outside IT provider, and a long list of third-party vendors. None of them reported to me. They adopted the standards I set because I listened, explained my reasoning, rolled up my sleeves to help, and made their jobs easier. I was also the person they called when a problem was too hard to solve alone.

I’ve trained IT staff on the systems they run and mentored team members. One colleague I worked with closely turned their performance around and earned a promotion. Seeing people grow is one of the best parts of the job.

Outside of client work#

I give back to the security community. I serve on the Board of Directors of the ISC2 Philadelphia Chapter as Membership Chair, after many years as the chapter’s webmaster. I’m a member of FBI InfraGard and ISACA Philadelphia, and I volunteer with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, which restores communications for communities and first responders after disasters.

I’m based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and work with businesses across the Philadelphia region and remotely.