Hi, I'm Nelson Ford

My Story

I got into technology when the web was born - and I was hooked. In the late 90s, I started building the first websites for people and companies, managing web hosting and email servers as the internet exploded. As applications became more complex, I transitioned into full-stack development, then specialized in front-end development and web production. I rode the mobile revolution with responsive design and CSS, and was there for the birth of Agile and DevOps methodologies.

That path took me to DevOps consulting for a major bank, then deeper into cloud architecture, cybersecurity, and technical leadership. Nearly 30 years later, I've worn many hats - developer, sysadmin, architect, security lead, CTO - and that breadth lets me see problems from angles that specialists often miss.

Today I'm increasingly focused on private cloud, local AI, IT security compliance, and data sovereignty. As organizations grapple with where their data lives and who controls it, I help teams build infrastructure that keeps sensitive workloads in-house while still leveraging modern tooling.

After nearly 30 years of watching technologies rise and fall, I've learned that the fundamentals don't change: understand the problem before reaching for tools, build for the team you have, and never sacrifice security for speed. The hats I've worn mean I can speak fluently with developers, ops, security, and executives - and translate between them when that's what's needed most.