“Great note.”
John Gruber
Writer/Producer
Daring Fireball
“In my mind, your expertise is without question. I really like that you look out for our best interests. As you know, we’ve spent a lot of money with you, and as far as I’m concerned, it was worth it.”
John Baas
CIO
SESLOC Federal Credit Union
“My relationship with Josh Richards started while working together and has evolved into a friendship. Josh is a person that I respect, trust and admire. He has an ability often unseen in the Technology realm to think beyond what’s in front of him, beyond the systems and tasks, and see into the people and relationships around him. Josh is an asset to any organization or project that he chooses to play a role and I look forward to future work together.”
Tim Williams
CEO/Founder
Digital West Networks, Inc.
“I had the pleasure of working with Josh at Livingston Enterprises / Lucent Technologies where Josh was responsible for SQA / Beta testing for leading edge Internet Servers deployed to small to medium enterprise customers. Josh’s drive allowed Lucent to test and release products that were quality in nature and ahead of schedule mainly due Josh’s tenacity. Additionally, Josh was assigned an entire product line to introduce into an ever changing marketplace competing with the likes of Ascend and Cisco. Interestingly enough, our products were considered of the highest quality compared to competitors. An added benefit of employing Josh was his articulate communications style with customers during SQA testing and subsequently providing technical feedback to the development organization ensuring the changes and new requirements were placed into the product. Considering the information provided above, I would recommend Josh in all aspects of his current business venture.”
Paul Harvey
VP of Customer Services
3PAR (now HP 3PAR Utility Storage)
“I have had the pleasure of working with Josh Richards over the past several years. In my opinion, he is one of the brightest, most articulate and driven technologist I have had the opportunity to work with. Without a doubt he is an expert in his chosen arena and I have been able to rely on him countless times to get the job done through the years. In addition to this, he is an excellent communicator and he always makes it a point to keep you up-to-date on the projects at hand. As a result, I would highly recommend Josh Richards as a bright, accountable, reliable, honest and fair person to work with. I hope to continue to have him as an asset in my business toolbox for years to come.”
Justin Couto
President/CEO
Couto Solutions
“Josh is an extremely bright CTO, network engineer and computer scientist, with a deep working knowledge of security issues and solutions. He gets it. He is able to deliver his commitments, on schedule and on budget. The technical solutions that he has architected at Digital West are an excellent example of his expertise. Josh has great customer focus who works well with both technical and non-technical customers. It’s a pleasure to work with Josh.”
Richard Buss
Dir. of IT
TrueCredit, a TransUnion company
“Josh is without question the best consultant I’ve relied on over the years. His mastery of technology is matched with his ability to know what’s important to a business, get things done quickly, and provide as comprehensive explanation of his solutions as the end-user requires. I wouldn’t hesitate to use him again, and am comforted knowing that I have him as a resource should the need arise.”
Kirk Smith
Network Administrator
Dioptics Medical Products, Inc.
“I have work with Josh on a number of large scale web hosting projects, he is extremely knowledgeable in regards to all aspects of internet technologies and infrastructure. Josh is highly accountable and very professional, he provides superior client service and is able to provide creative solutions when required. Please contact me at michael@michaelboyer.net for a detailed recommendation.”
Michael Boyer
VP & CMO
ELEMENTS
“Josh Richards was recommended to us by ‘The Phone Center’. We were lucky to work with him. Josh Richards has provided invaluable services to Cannon. We were struggling with QoS issues on our MPLS WAN between 5 locations. Josh Richards was able to provide everything we required and even provided additional value by recommending changes to our network that we had overlooked. Our network has been greatly streamlined and much of the unnecessary complexity has been removed to minimize issues and downtime. Having Josh on our I.T. team has taken a lot of worry out of our day to day operations.”
Jonathon Fulkerson
Information Systems Administrator
Cannon Associates
“You were highly recommended to me by someone I trust with our computer system and its security. We do not have any IT professionals on our staff so the job we needed done required putting you in contact with our core provider. You always kept me apprised of the job status as you progressed, which I appreciated. Your original bid for the job was very reasonable, and you were right on target. Our debit card program is up and running beautifully and we owe that to you. We could not have accomplished this task on our own. Thank you so much, Josh.”
Sheri Haynes
President
SLO Credit Union
“I just wanted to share how pleased and surprised I am that, now that we’ve been self-hosted for a full day, the sum total of complaints/issues/bugs that have been reported to me is (drum roll…)
ZERO.
We absolutely wouldn’t have gotten there without your talent, creativity, and hard work.”
Marco Walsh
Project Manager
CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company
Just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the work you did last night. Your abilities are without question, but I am also always impressed by your thorough planning and execution
John Baas
SESLOC Federal Credit Union
“Best investment made in my business to date.”
Kurt Sorensen
Inflection Network
“Josh was very helpful in determining technical direction as it related to our business goals and assisting us to keep costs down while still achieving our primary goals.”
Sean Collier
President
Shopatron
“Josh is one of the most talented people I’ve ever had a chance to work with. He was a great boss and teacher. I’ve always been impressed with his technical acumen and level of professionalism. I would not hesitate to work with Josh again given the opportunity.”
Jeff Raffo
Director of IT
EED, a DTI Company
“I am very pleased to recommend Josh Richards. I have known Josh for over ten years, and he is an amazing young man. Josh is bright, energetic, compassionate and highly professional. He has taken care of our server since 1997.
We started out at fix.net where Josh was employed. His grace under pressure became abundantly apparent to me from the start that Josh could solve any problem and was the ‘go to’ guy. Josh then built our first server and maintained it at fix.net for several years before he built Digital West. At a very young age, Josh built a booming up and coming business. This area did not have a data center, and there was definitely a need.
I was very impressed with his planning that turned out to be so exact. He rented an extremely large building even though he used maybe a tenth of the space. He was able to see the future growth needs of the company and the space that would be needed within a couple of years. He was right, within a short amount of time the building filled with employees as well as servers. Josh also went back to school after being out for a awhile. That always take a very dedicated and determined person.
It has been a real honor to witness Josh’s development and growth over the years, and I can’t imagine having a better person to take care of my business.”
Nancy Davis (Parham)
Owner
Omega Math
“I like that you came with a plan on cut-over day which was well thought out and pre-tested. I especially liked that there seemed to be no fallout or unexpected problems (which I always expect), and that things worked basically flawlessly from the get-go. Besides the obvious benefits from the satisfactory completion of the projects, I’d have to say it’s some of your recommendations.”
John Baas
CIO
SESLOC Federal Credit Union
“I worked with Josh on a fairly large project for our company. We converted 40 DSL connections with servers in our storage closet to a private MPLS network with our servers residing in their data center. The transition went smooth, deadlines were met, and we had virtually no down time for our users. He did a great job assisting us with the planning and implementation of the project as well as creating (stupid routing tricks) to enable us to migrate seamlessly from a public network to a private one without impacting our users. His solutions were creative and have laid the foundation for our continual improvement in security and functionality. I would highly recommend Josh to anyone who needed his services.”
Justin Watty
Assoc. Dir. of IT
Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes
“Josh has helped us solve several difficult problems over the years. I first worked with him back in the Fix.net days, then with Digital West and also some independent consulting. He quickly solved some very technical firewall issues that had other consultants baffled. He’s smart, fast, and he possesses a deep understanding of a wide variety of technical subjects.”
John Garrigues
IT Director
Dioptics Medical Products
“In desperate times of need, Josh has stepped in and been able to resolve my issues quickly. His vast knowledge and prompt response has saved my company countless times. I would highly recommend Josh to anyone seeking an IT Consultant.”
Jamison Carnevali
Owner
Calinet
“Josh has a commanding understanding of technology. Specifically, he solved many thorny network problems and intricate DNS issues for our company. Josh was quick to respond to our needs. I give Josh my highest recommendation!”
David Brown
VP, Technical Sciences/Brd Mbr
Delphis Software
“Josh has done excellent work for many years. We hire Josh when no one in our company can figure out complex internetworking issues. Josh is very professional and our staff loves to work with him. We recommend Josh often and people always appreciate his work.”
Jeff Buckingham
President
Blue Rooster Telecom
“Josh was excellent. I would recommend Josh’s services to anyone looking for Cisco expertise.”
Allen Mapalo
Chief Technology Officer
TechXpress
“I first met Josh in 1995 when we were both volunteers at SLONET Regional information access. Later, in my role as General Manager of SLONET, I had the opportunity to work with Josh in a professional capacity. He was trustworthy and easy to work with. Josh understood our needs and always provided excellent service and effective solutions.”
Susan Coward
General Manager
SLONET Regional Information Access, Inc.
“Josh is a true professional and demonstrated excellent customer service skills. During the requirements phase of the project his communication and solution recommendations were right on the mark. I would recommend Josh with complete confidence.”
Scott Frisby
VP of IT
TechXpress
“Josh is very knowledgeable, easy to work with, and provides prompt service.”
Miles Clark
Owner
Tolosa Technologies
“Josh is easy to work with and has a creative mind to come up with solutions to complex issues. He is always willing to help with tasks, the more complex, the better.”
Hank Wethington
Owner
Information Logistics
“Josh was the lead tech guy when MusicBrainz moved to Digital West Networks in San Luis Obispo. Moving to a new data center is a painful process at best, but Josh and his team of people made the move easy for me. The move ended up being relatively easy and we hit no snags in the move that weren’t our own fault. Josh and his team delivered everything that was promised — and on time too!”
Robert Kaye
Founder
MetaBrainz Foundation (Musicbrainz)
“I have had the pleasure to work with Josh while having mutual customer’s for Broadwing/Level 3 and Digital West Networks. He was an asset in getting these customer’s up and active and provided great technical knowledge during this process. Josh always made himself available for any kind of assistance needed.”
Shanel Havely
Manager, Customer Care
Level 3 Communications
“Josh was almost legendary in his expertise. He has an intuitive sense with networking and computer systems. I could always count on professional results in a timely manner when requesting service. He was a true asset to Digital West Networks and formerly The FIX Network.”
Gary Edberg
Co-Owner
Westlinks Online
“Josh was a favorite customer. Every issue he brought to our attention was intelligent and well informed. I hope to work with Josh again in the future.”
Eric Oosting
Dir., Sys. and Net. Operations
Internap Network Services
“Josh was an essential part of my business in years past in the capacity of Network Administrator. I would work with him again in the future if the opportunity arose.”
Cheryl M. Woodard
CEO/Founder
The FIX Network
“Josh was instrumental in providing the technical support required to allow IFD to create the one button end user experience The FIX Network desired. Josh was always professional, willing and able to find solutions to problems.”
Lane Roathe
President/CoFounder/Lead Developer
Ideas From the Deep
“Josh had great solutions to complex problems that were implemented quickly. His positive attitude and large knowledge base made working with him a pleasure.”
Nick Hoover
Information Technology Consultant
“While the dynamics that are involved in the Internet industry can be frustrating and stressful, in his capacity as Network Operations Director for FIX Net, Josh was a constant, reliable source of assistance and professionalism. My confidence in Josh and the work he did was a key reason for my ongoing work with and recommendations to that ISP. His focus and attention to detail would certainly benefit any organization looking to enhance their systems and increase their capabilities.”
Garret Matsuura
Owner
Arclight Media
“Josh is a very good network engineer, while working with him in the BETA group at Lucent Technologies / Livingston Enterprises he tackled difficult network issues during BETA testing of the products. He also is good to work with and very knowledgeable about computer/networking technology.”
Bill Hall
Beta Engineer
Lucent Technologies/Livingston Enterprises
“Josh has helped us in many respects – he oversaw the installation of our network and IP telephone services when we moved into our new offices in October of 2007. Could not have done it w/o him. I should also note that his contacts in the industry were invaluable in getting everything up and running on time and as promised.”
Rye Syfan
Founder/CTO
Taylor & Syfan Consulting Engineers
“Josh has helped us with a security breach and multiple network architecture projects. His work is solid and thorough, and he’s easy to work with. We regularly request Josh’s help when we have network architecture challenges.”
Mark Chester
Senior Network Administrator
Level Studios
“Josh provided our company with excellent network consultation service, which was both flexible and timely in meeting our unique requirements. We will surely continue to utilize his expertise again.”
Darin McGuire
Programming Manager
Auspient, Inc.
“Call America has hired Josh to work on complex projects and have been quite pleased with the results. We plan to use him again when his services are needed. I have also recommended Josh to some of Call America’s more complex customers, and he has consistently done a great job for them. Josh is a very knowledgable Cisco person. I appreciate his expertise and enjoy working with him.”
Janice Petko
Director of Sales
Call America
“Web Associates Inc. and I personally recommend Josh Richards and his business partners for any Cisco/Infrastructure related project you have, big or small. I have worked with Josh many times over the past two years, each time he has been a large asset to the project. His results and knowledge have made him very valuable consultant for Web Associates.”
Denver Coulter
Infrastructure Analyst
Web Associates
“Josh Richards has been a life-saver for me. I still remember sitting in front of a practically dead server at a co-location facility about ready to throw my arms up. I grabbed Josh and he was able to bring it back to life for me, saving me hours of headache. If you are considering working with Josh, just do it. He does great work. He is very reliable, very knowledgeable and does great work.”
Mike Holliday
Vice President
GFL Systems, Inc.
“It was a real pleasure working with Josh. He did an excellent job anticipating and preventing network problems and quickly resolved those that could not have been anticipated. Josh had a very clear grasp of the available network technology and how best to deploy it. I’d be pleased to work with him again.”
Nick Thille
Software Engineer
RedBack Networks, Inc
“Josh Richards is the most competent network administrator I know with regards to Cisco networks, the innerworkings of TCP/IP and advanced Internet Connectivity implementations (IE. BGP) Not only is he highly recommended for his technical abilities, but he communicates well. He was also very helpful and patient during my fledgling days in network administration.”
Joshua Erdman
Owner
Digital Foundation
“I have had the pleasure to work with Josh on numerous occasions over the years. Whether it was a small project or large project Josh was always fully committed to see it through. His natural ability to communicate abstract concepts with the clients was an asset on the projects. In addition, his knowledge and expertise regarding networking and security is nothing short of amazing.”
Geoff Lillich
Owner
Sentinel Network Systems
Josh Richards 