Independent IT consultancy
Experience for your technical team
I work alongside MSPs and IT teams, helping engineers develop into senior technical roles and providing additional senior-level experience for difficult problems, migrations and projects. I can be a regular technical sounding board or step in when another experienced pair of hands is needed.
How I can help
Experience you can add to your technical team
I work mainly with MSPs, providing experience in two ways: helping engineers develop into more senior technical roles, and providing another experienced pair of hands when a problem, migration or project needs it.
Technical Mentoring
Regular one-to-one mentoring for engineers moving into senior roles, and an external technical sounding board for experienced engineers who may have nobody at a similar technical level within their own business.
Technical mentoring →Advanced Technical Support
Another senior pair of hands for difficult escalations, unfamiliar projects, technical decisions and migrations. Available for a single problem, a project or as an ongoing technical resource.
Advanced technical support →Microsoft 365 & Exchange
Specialist assistance with Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, hybrid and on-premises Exchange, including troubleshooting, migrations, remediation and ongoing specialist support.
Microsoft 365 & Exchange →Email Deliverability
SPF, DKIM and DMARC, delivery problems, third-party senders and ongoing monitoring of email authentication for MSPs and businesses.
Email deliverability →Technical Mentoring
Helping good engineers grow into senior technical roles
Moving into a senior engineering or technical lead role is about more than knowing more technology. Suddenly other engineers bring you their problems, difficult escalations arrive at your desk and you are expected to make decisions about projects, risk and technical direction.
I provide regular one-to-one mentoring based around the work the engineer is actually doing. We can discuss difficult cases, upcoming projects, technical decisions and the wider challenges that come with becoming the person other engineers turn to.
I also work with experienced senior engineers who are already the most technical person in their business and simply want another experienced technical person with whom they can challenge an idea or talk through an important decision.
Working with MSPs
Your senior technical resource, when you need one
Much of my work is carried out alongside MSP technical teams. I add experience and capacity when a particular job benefits from another senior pair of hands.
That might mean helping an engineer work through a difficult problem, providing a second opinion before a significant change, assisting with a migration, or taking on a project while your team continues looking after its clients.
I can work behind the scenes as part of your technical team, allowing you to retain the client relationship and remain in control of the work.
If that additional resource becomes useful regularly, I can remain available through an ongoing arrangement rather than starting again each time something difficult appears.
Ways to work with me
Ad hoc, project or ongoing
Not every requirement fits the same model. You can use me for one difficult problem, bring me into a defined project or keep regular access to my time and experience where that is more useful.
Ad hoc
For a difficult escalation, a second opinion or a specific technical problem where another experienced pair of eyes would help.
Project work
Additional capacity or specialist experience for migrations, infrastructure changes and other defined pieces of technical work.
Ongoing
Regular technical mentoring, an external sounding board or ongoing access to another senior technical resource who gets to know your team and how you work.
Working with businesses
Independent specialist help for your IT team
I also work directly with businesses, alongside internal IT teams or where specialist assistance is required for a particular problem or project. This includes Microsoft 365 and Exchange, migrations, troubleshooting and wider Microsoft infrastructure.
I can investigate a single difficult problem, provide specialist input where required, plan and deliver a complete project, or provide ongoing specialist support alongside your existing IT team or support provider.
Experience
More than 20 years of practical experience
I established Sembee in 2003 and have specialised in Microsoft Exchange since 2006. Over that time I have worked with organisations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises, as well as MSPs that bring me in as an additional technical resource for their own clients.
While Exchange remains a particular specialism, my work extends across Microsoft 365, Windows Server, networking and the surrounding infrastructure. That broader experience is often important because the cause of a difficult problem rarely respects product boundaries.
My approach is deliberately practical: understand the requirement, avoid unnecessary complexity and leave behind something that can be supported and maintained.
Get in touch
A difficult problem, a project or an ongoing requirement?
Tell me what you are working on and where you need additional technical resource. Whether it is a few hours, a defined project or something you would like regular support with, we can work out the most useful way for me to help.