Independent IT consulting · Parker, CO
You don't need an IT department.
You need someone who's done this before.
18 years of IT leadership, available for the project in front of you — cloud migrations, security reviews, vendor negotiations and the rollouts that keep slipping. Billed by the hour. No retainer, no reseller commissions, no jargon.
- Years in IT leadership
- 18+Years in IT leadership
- Industries delivered in
- 4Industries delivered in
- Vendor commissions taken
- 0Vendor commissions taken
- Free consult, no pitch
- 15 minFree consult, no pitch
The situation
Technology decisions keep landing on someone who never signed up for them.
Most growing businesses reach a point where the technology outgrows whoever has been quietly holding it together — usually an office manager, an operations lead, or the owner at eleven at night.
Hiring an IT director is premature. A managed service provider keeps the lights on but will not tell you their own contract is overpriced. Meanwhile the migration stalls, the security questionnaire sits unanswered, and the renewal quote arrives with a number nobody can evaluate.
What is missing is not support. It is someone senior, on your side of the table, for as long as the problem takes and no longer.
What I do
Four ways I'm usually brought in
IT Project Management
Someone senior owning the plan, the vendors and the deadline — so the project actually lands.
Learn moreCloud & Microsoft 365 Migration
Move email, files and servers to the cloud without losing data, access or a week of productivity.
Learn moreSecurity & Compliance Readiness
Close the gaps that actually get small businesses breached — and answer the security questionnaire holding up your deal.
Learn moreTechnology Assessment
An independent read on what you are running, what you are paying, and what to do about it.
Learn moreWhy independent matters
The incentives are the whole point.
Most IT advice is free because something is being sold at the end of it. Mine is billed by the hour, which is exactly why I can tell you to spend less.
- No commissions, ever
- I hold no reseller agreements and take no vendor kickbacks. When I tell you a cheaper option is enough, there is nothing in it for me.
- Hourly, not retained
- You pay for hours worked against a written estimate, with weekly reporting. No minimum term and nothing to cancel when the project ends.
- You keep the documentation
- Every engagement ends with artifacts your team or your next provider can use. Nothing about the way I work is designed to make me hard to replace.
- You work with me directly
- The person you talk to on the consult is the person doing the work. No account manager, no handoff to a junior after the contract is signed.
How it works
Four steps, and you can stop after any of them.
- 01
Free 15-minute call
You describe the situation. I tell you honestly whether I can help — and sometimes that answer is no.
- 02
Written estimate
Scope, approach and an hour range before anything starts. You approve it before I begin.
- 03
Work and weekly updates
What moved, what is blocked, hours logged against estimate. No surprises at invoice time.
- 04
Documented handoff
You get the runbooks, inventories and policies. Then I get out of the way.
Who you'd be working with
Ryan Merkl
18 years leading IT teams and projects across construction, logistics, healthcare and education — cloud migrations, cybersecurity assessments, IT budgeting and vendor negotiations, under SOX, HIPAA, CCPA and CMMC. I started RMITCS because the businesses that most need that experience are the least able to hire it full time.
Common questions
Are you a managed service provider?
No, and that is deliberate. MSPs are built around a recurring monthly contract. I am brought in for a defined piece of work, and I often work alongside a client's existing MSP rather than replacing them.
How small is too small?
I regularly work with businesses of five to fifty people. Below that a full project engagement is often more than you need — but the free consult still applies, and I will point you somewhere sensible.
Do you work remotely or on site?
Both. Most work is remote, and I am on site where it genuinely matters — cutovers, office moves, hardware. On-site visits cover Parker, Castle Rock, Lone Tree, Centennial, Highlands Ranch and the wider Denver metro.
What does an engagement cost?
Hourly, with a written estimate before work begins. Rates and a worked example are on the pricing page, so you can judge fit before booking a call.
Have a project you need to get right?
Book a free 15-minute call. No pitch, no jargon — just a straight read on whether I can help and what it would take.
Or email ryan@rmitcs.com