Hello, my name is Matthew Holt and I am the founder of Kishmish, a boutique IT Company headquartered in Syracuse, New York.  Consistent with my belief that the launch of a new website is only the beginning of developing, or reinvigorating the relationship you have with your audience… I would like to share some of my experiences, and welcome you to our site on behalf of all of us here at Kishmish.

For the past 15 years my personal and professional lives have become so intertwined that it is sometimes difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins.  Naturally, this period of chaotic and exciting personal and professional growth has also caused my perspective to evolve.  As an individual, I am a technologist by trade, an entrepreneur by nature, a problem solver by experience, and a philosopher by existence.  As a business owner, I have lived and breathed the IT world for over a decade now, and I have learned how to survive the tough times and celebrate the good ones.  And through all of this the one element that has remained constant is the value I place on customer satisfaction.

Kishmish is made up of two divisions, Network Services and Web Services, each with its own dedicated staff of individuals, and it is my job to remind them on a daily basis of two philosophies that drive our business.

The first being that “it is about the people, the technology will work itself out”.  This may sound counter-intuitive coming from the CEO of an IT company.  However, it is true.  Too often solutions dwell on the technology and forget the simple reality that the appropriate solution will focus on the people and their use of the technology as a tool.

The second is that “it is our job to serve the underserved”.  This may also sound contradictory at first. Over the years we have seen a need in the marketplace time and time again to help those people, companies, and IT departments who feel their challenges are not understood or being met by their current situation.  Common examples of this could be an end user having MS Office problems, the company needing a new way to communicate with its customers, or an IT division looking for additional resources to help with the challenge du jour.  Each of them feels some level of “underserved,” and it is our job to offer assistance.  Even if the assistance we offer is pointing them in another direction toward a solution outside of our core competencies. If you are one of the extremely lucky ones who have no feeling of being “underserved”, then we definitely want to learn your secret.

As for Kishmish.com, we will continue to share and expand upon our philosophy on an ongoing basis; delving into our point of view on various tools and technologies, offering our perspective, and providing our commentary on the network and web services industries.  Who knows, maybe you will want to partner with us, maybe you will enlist us to be a part of your IT initiatives, or maybe you will just enjoy some of the things we like to talk about.  Any of the above scenarios is welcome and your feedback is greatly appreciated.  Feel free to let us know your questions or thoughts in the “Work with Us” Section.