Owner Of Alcala Consulting - Marco Alcala - Cyber Security Expert

My Dad provides great insight of the importance of protecting your business. I had so much fun making this content with him as he is insanely busy and had to cancel on me multiple times due to the fact he is always traveling and working on the go. My Father and Mother are the reason this podcast exists today. The Cyber Security Expert can help your business and take the time to educate you whether you choose his service or not. Take the time to protect your data and clients data or else you can be sure that eventually you will experience a cyber attack.

Just listen if you have some extra time. Thank you Dad for your time and I love you.

Instagram: @alcalatech , @tigreduro

Web: www.alcalaconsultinginc.com

Email: marco@alcalaconsulting.com

Office Number 626-449-5549

Contact us for a complimentary security report.

Extra Resources of Knowledge

Book By Marco Alcala

https://www.alcalaconsulting.com/cyberchump/

Book By Marco Alcala and Fellow IT Experts

https://www.amazon.com/Compliance-Formula-Leading-Cybersecurity-Experts/dp/B0BV21DLYJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ALTU68SZPYYN&keywords=the+compliance+formula&qid=1680219167&sprefix=the+compliance+formula%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1#detailBullets_feature_div

Audio Engineer: 1DayWillSee@gmail.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, you guys, thank you so much for tuning in to Office of the Day with Mark Anthony. Today we do have a very special guest. His name is Marco Alcala, and he is a well-known, respected expert in IT and cybersecurity for small to mid-sized companies. He is the president of Alcala Consulting based in Pasadena, California, and has been serving small to mid-sized businesses for over 23 years. Marco, as well, is the author of the book The IT Factor, a revealing and educational guide to help business owners and executives choose an honest and competent computer consultant and avoiding hiring someone who will just overcharge you and possibly make things worse. He is on my show today because he's a computer genius and I trust him implicitly. Cybercrime is at an all-time high, and every business owner needs to find a competent IT team to protect their business. I wanted to bring someone to my audience who can advise us on how you find that trusted IT advisor, a truly reliable and credible person who can not only protect you from the damages of cybercrime, but also help you to be far more strategic about IT, to reap benefits of increased productivity, better communication, lowered cost, and of course, greater peace of mind. Marco, thank you very much and welcome to Office of the Day.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Thank you, Mark Anthony. It is a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Okay, Marco, can you please give us a quick overview of who you are and what you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

As you mentioned, my company is Alcala Consulting. We are the outsourced IT department to small and mid-to-mid-sized companies in the Los Angeles area. And we've been in business for 23 years and we've worked with over 300 companies. We have two types of clients that we excel in working with. The first is a small business owner whose company has reached a maturity level where they need a professional, dedicated IT function in their business. But they aren't large enough to need a full-time IT staff. Therefore, we become their IT department. The second type of client that we work with is the IT director or CIO of a larger organization that has specific project needs that they need assistance with, such as cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery, or hybrid cloud.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Okay, so tell me how you got into this business exactly.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

After graduating from college in 1997 with a degree in computer science, I decided to go into business for myself, doing what I love to do. So I hit the streets of Pasadena knocking on doors looking for business. This went on for a couple of months until I got a call from a company that needed help implementing an accounting application that I had deployed for my previous employer while attending college. That's how my business got started.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Wow, that's also very inspiring. Is it safe to say that you were knocking all day?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

You know what? I was knocking on doors at 8 o'clock in the morning, you know, running, you know, walking up and down Colorado Boulevard. And I would do this all day until about 5, 5:30 p.m. when you know the doors were closed already. And this went on for months. I mean, I did this, you know, I started doing this in July.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

And I did this for a couple of months, and it just got hotter and hotter every day. I remember I was wearing a suit. Oh my God, I was sweating, walking up and down Colorado Boulevard all day, knocking on doors. It's just, you know, uh amazing that one day I got a call from this company that needed help with that uh accounting system, and that's how I got my first client.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

That's amazing. And for all you listeners that who have tuned in today, thank you very much. And this is the kind of resilience and perseverance that you need to show if you're looking to expand. Okay, so Marco, what type of clients do you work best with currently?

SPEAKER_00 4:39

That is a good question because we're not a right fit for everyone. So the best clients are the ones that have at least 30 computers, are cybersecurity conscious, in one proactive technology management. There are actually two types of clients we work best with. The first type of client that we work best with, and that makes up the majority of our client base, is a successful established business that has been around for several years. Has somewhere between 30 to 150 employees, has one or more locations, and is continuing to grow every year. Okay. IT is essential to their business and serving their clients, and they cannot tolerate email or phone outages, and they need their systems up and running, working like clockwork, so that can they can focus on running the business without interruptions. They also feel that data privacy and protection is critical because they don't want the embarrassment or liability and revenue loss that comes with a ransomware attack or even a rogue employee. And they don't want to lose any data. Further, they are smart enough to see technology as a productivity tool, not an expense. And that is a key point, Mark Anthony. There are some companies out there that are just that just want cheap IT support that cling to outdated systems and software way too long. Because they aren't successful and they are pinching every penny because they are not profitable. We simply don't work with those people because we cannot help them. Our clients have reached a majority in their business where they need a professional level IT services, and they aren't big enough as a company to warrant hiring a full-time IT staff. These clients are looking, aren't looking for the cheapest IT service, but the most competent provider they can they can trust. And that's where we shine and deliver our best work. The second type of client is the IT manager of a larger enterprise company that needs help with cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery, or their hybrid cloud. We become an extension of their IT department for this type of client.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

I just have to know what makes you so special, Marco, so unique, so valuable that business owners continue to use your service service over and over again and also refer their friends and colleagues, and on top of that, remain clients for years to come.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

It is because of what my clients tell me. For example, clients say that they can sleep better at night because we manage their systems. They say that our technicians are very helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. The one reason clients like doing business with us is something that I believe shouldn't be unique or rare, but unfortunately it is. And that is because we actually deliver on our promises. In my opinion, every company should do that. However, there are a lot of IT guys out there that they say that they are proactive and will charge you for quote unquote responsive IT services. But try to get them on the phone or ask them to validate that they're actually backing up your systems or monitoring your network proactively. They can't. In some cases, you never see them. That's because a lot of IT companies are small shops that are outsourcing their IT support of their clients' networks to a third-party company. And there aren't, and if they aren't doing that, they may be so short-staffed that they aren't truly conducting all the checks they should, or doing all the maintenance that they say they are doing, and you're paying for. And they can't get away with this poor service because clients aren't technical enough and have no way of knowing for sure until something bad happens, like a massive ransomware attack or data loss, or extended downtime. Since we serve successful growth-oriented businesses, we know they cannot be down with email, internet, or without their systems for any period of time, even an hour, of downtime can be highly disruptive. It's frustrating to the owner, the employees, their clients, because often a down IT system prevents the businesses from serving their clients, processing orders, fulfilling services, etc. So our average response time to a ticket or problem is only 35 minutes. Okay. And on average, our clients' downtime is reduced to less than 1% when they become a client of ours.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Okay, sidebar before I go into my next topic. You say that you are able to deliver on your promises and you actually deliver for some specific of the promises that you deliver. Is that in writing?

SPEAKER_00 10:41

It is.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

What is that? That's the standard, uh, a standard operating procedure. Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

So what makes our process and approach unique and allows us to really deliver the quality of support our clients, our our quality of support for our clients are three things. We deliver on our promises, we coach our employees to succeed, okay, and we use standard operating procedures. And again, it is not revolutionary, as I said before. But most IT firms simply don't do these things for the clients. And even though they say they are, as I said earlier, the reason clients stay clients for years and refer others to us is that we make all this pain, aggravation, and costs go away for broken IT. We actually deliver what we say we are going to deliver. And while this sounds very simple, like a very simple concept, the reality is that dozens of so-called IT pros who will sell you a managed services agreement and say that they're backing you up, protecting your network, maintaining it. But they really aren't. And some of them are even outsourcing all of the support to a third-party company, which is a high or a huge security risk. So, really, this is why we have over a hundred client companies like Fiedler Group, Guru Wireless, and Gabba Grini Law Corporation. And why we grow every year.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

And uh Gabba Guerini Law Corporation, um, it looks like you might be looking to penetrate more of the collections agencies. Is that safe to say? From the research I've done on you, Marco. Thank you for your time today, too.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

It is. Um, we are uh we work very well with collections agencies. Um we understand their business well, we understand their compliance requirements, their cybersecurity requirements. And um we really enjoy working with that type of client.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

And and for all of the listeners that don't know why I asked, and to you, Marco, if you don't know why I asked, I asked specifically too, because specifically for collections agencies, they have a lot more data per se in a retrospect that you need to make sure is protected, correct?

SPEAKER_00 14:46

They they do have a love of protected uh or personal identifiable information that needs to be protected. Um they deal with financial services clients that are very sensitive about cybersecurity. And we have to set up their systems in such a way that their information is protected at all times because it is a huge liability for them if there is a data breach.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Excellent. Thank you, Marco. Thank you so much. It would seem to me, Marco, that most business owners largely don't know what to look for when outsourcing their IT support. I know I certainly don't. I think computer guys are the modern day auto mechanics. There's a lot of opportunity for them to rip you off, overcharge you for shoddy work simply because the business owner doesn't know how to determine if someone is doing a good job or not.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

That's exactly right, Mark Anthony, and it is one of our biggest sources of pain. Because once a business owner has been burnt by a less than competent IT firm, they're hugely skeptical of everyone else. And I can't say that I blame them.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

That makes everyone in our industry look bad. In fact, it is so common that I finally got fed up with business owners getting ripped off by less than ethical and incompetent IT guys, that I created a free report on what every business owner must know about choosing an honest, competent, responsive, and fairly priced IT consultant. In that report, we give business executives 21 questions they should ask any IT consultant before giving them access to the network, much less signing a contract.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Okay, and just to mention, not only are you able to provide a premium service, but you're as well able to educate your potential clients, even if they're not clients, on how to go look for the next guy, even if it's not alcohol consulting, correct? That is correct. For sure. Thank you so much for that uh excellent knowledge. I completely agree with you, by the way. Can you give us three topics on what they should be looking for or asking before letting someone into their uh network?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

There are several things, and again, I would encourage everyone to get the report I just mentioned. But let me cover three really important things. Every business owner should ask an IT services firm before they sign a contract and turn the keys the keys over to the kingdom. The first one is do they give you a monthly report, executive summary report? Do they give you a monthly executive summary report showing what they did for you the previous month? The second one is have it demonstrated to you that they can restore your data. And finally, the third is do they consistently and proactively find things to improve the performance of your network?

SPEAKER_01 18:07

Thank you, Marco. That's great information. I know we're running out of time, so briefly, what should those listening do now to get more information about you or on the topic, on this topic specifically?

SPEAKER_00 18:20

If someone is dealing with issues right now and needs our help, they can call our office at 626-449-5549. Again, it is 626-449-5549. But they if if they just want more information, the easiest thing to do is go to our website, which is www.alcalaconsulting.com. That is www.alcalaconsulting.com. When you're on there, you can request a copy of my book, The IT Factor, and learn several other tips and strategies for eliminating IT problems, lowering costs, and hiring the right IT company. Read our testimonials and find out more about the services we offer.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Absolutely fantastic. And this has been a great interview. Thank you so much for tuning in with Office of the Day, Mark Anthony. Thank you for donating your time, Marco. Office of the Day with Marco Alcala. And uh, is there any final words that you would like to leave us off with? Mark Anthony, you're welcome. It was my pleasure. All right, and be sure to tune in, you guys. And this is not only our first episode, we will have more episodes to come uh to continue to educate on IT cybersecurity specifically, and why it is so significant for you to have it. You have tuned in with Office of the Day with Marco Alcalá, the big fish.