Ray Novick
Company captain and PC prodigy. If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk the sign of?
IT Solutions traces back to Ray’s grade school days in the 1970s, teaching himself to program computers. By high school, the teachers and students at Iowa City’s West High were looking to Ray for instruction.
While the world was learning about the IBM PC, first released in August of 1981, Ray was leading a five-person team at the University of Iowa that was translating computer programs to run on multiple different computer systems. Just three years later, Ray started his first technology business helping businesses with their technology needs. Over 37 years later his team is still helping businesses with their technology needs.
Decades of tackling new challenges and staying one step ahead of the leading edge, are at the core of this company. Ray and his team at IT Solutions continue to build a business founded in technology and flourishing because of great customer care.
Todd
Todd’s nickname is “MacGyver” after the TV character. If you need something done and there is no off the shelf solution for it, he can probably MacGyver a solution for it. Before joining IT Solutions full time Todd was working with Audio/Video equipment at the public library, and owned and completely remodeled a movie theater housed in and old live theater building built in 1910. Todd’s theater had the first digital projection system in Eastern Iowa.
Todd wears a lot of hats for us including leading our installation team, maintaining our facilities, building computers, delivering equipment to customers and more. When Covid hit in 2020 Todd MacGyvered the furnace in our office so it would use a Merv 13 filter for better filtering for viruses, and got us a slower fan speed to allow us to run the furnace fan from an hour before anyone got to the office in the morning to an hour after the last person left to keep our office air clean and healthy.
John
John is our CFO (Chief Fun Officer). John left a frustrating part time help desk position while going to IT school and joined IT Solutions. He went full time after he graduated and never looked back. John says, “Of all the jobs I have ever had, this is the one I would miss if I ever lost it.” John has nothing to worry about. So why is John our CFO? One never knows what might show up in an email or Teams message from John. While it is always funny, figuring it out might take some effort.
John is relentless in working on keeping customers’ networks and our networks running smoothly. On the rare occasions a customer has a problem we have not fixed before they find it, John will be there to take care of it with a smile everyone can see through their phone.
Jake
Jake is like the Energizer Bunny with a solar panel on its head. He just keeps going and going and going. Jake left a part time retail job while still in IT school and joined IT Solutions. He went full time after he graduated and added two boys to his family while working relentlessly on technology.
In addition to maintaining computer networks, Jake also takes care of phone systems, helps with computer builds, installs, and more. He is always available to help where our customers (or we) need him. He has also tops John in the funny department, on occasion.
Director of IT Operations
This position is open. Please contact us if you are interested.
We are looking for an experienced professional to manage our business operations. One does not need to be a computer network genius for this position, but they do need the following skills:
- Project Management Skills
- Time Management Skills
- Excellent Customer Service Skills
- Experience with Process Improvement
- Excellent Communication Skills
- Excellent Documentation Skills
- Attention to Detail
- Ability to learn and master new computer applications quickly.
- Change Management Experience
- Service Delivery Experience
Chuckarooooooski (Charlie)
Charlie took over as Customer Service Manager in June of 2022. Odie spent almost 3 years training Charlie before he retired, but because of Covid Charlie did not get much field training. After completing both a complex vendor visit, and a complex customer visit, and doing extremely well at both, he was offered the position. He gladly accepted it and was pleasantly surprised when he found out the large quantity of treats that come with the position.
Charlie is a lot higher energy than Odie, but he has many of the same traits that made Odie so good at his job. He gets along with everyone, both two and four legged, and he is always available when needed. As his picture shows, Charlie is right beside anyone when they need him.
Odie - Retired
Odie was our Customer Service Manager. Odie retired on April 19, 2022 at the age of 15 years 5 months. Odie joined IT Solutions as our Customer Service Manager in October of 2007, three months after Ray rescued him from the Iowa City Animal Shelter. Most have heard the saying, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it is probably a duck.” Odie was the exception to that rule. While he may look like a Goldendoodle, hundreds told us he is better behaved than their kids are (and he was), and that he is the smartest dog they have ever met. He was fluent in Pig Latin, and not only knew the spelling of most of the words he knew, he also could tell when the word was misspelled.
A natural "people person", Odie fell right into the role of Customer Service Manager. He always led by example: always calm, never upset, and never distressed, even if someone is having a bad day.
His demeanor was a daily reminder to the IT Solutions team to work with an identical approach: Regardless of the circumstances, always be calm, never upset and never distressed. Odie and the IT Solutions team are ready to help whenever needed, no matter what. If your technology is making this a bad day for you, contact IT Solutions and we will make it a better day for you.
