meet the alpha team

president

Alan

Having degrees in both Computer Science and in Business Information Systems, Alan comes with over 25 years of experience working in the technology industry. He is the lead person who brings an easy going personality and a sense of calm to a solutions driven industry. Having managed people on multiple levels but still staying involved in the sales side, there is nobody better at committing to the solutions that his team provides, and to explaining things to you in a manner that you understand. He has worked with small companies in the restaurant industry on money saving solutions, as well as providing large scale enterprise level products to data centers, helping them save millions. With connections to people in both manufacturing and distribution, there is nobody better at making sure that your solution is implemented properly, and on time.

Having spent his career in the industry, he has experience that is missing from a lot of similar firms. With a firm belief that service has to always exceed expectations, he has surrounded himself with staff that is at the top of their field.
Operations Manager

Rich (Duke)

Rich exudes Winnipeg. Bleeds the same colour as the teams. He was born and raised here, and has a family of his own. He got his technology start over fifteen years ago in post secondary, and attended Red River to further his education. After working in government for a while, Rich broke into the sales side of the industry with an established technology distributor.

As happens with all of us, we start to find our calling once we get into the right opportunities. Over the years Rich proved that his attention to detail was a strength that was a necessity in business. He was a natural when it came to managing larger projects and coordinating all aspects. He joins alpha after over a decade of experience in the technology sector, and takes on the role of operations manager.

Think of Rich as the glue that binds the other aspects of alpha. His role is integral to alpha continuing to deliver the level of excellence that we have established throughout our history. Communication forms the core of any successful business, and the person in charge of keeping everyone aware needs to be detail oriented. We are lucky to have him on board.
network solutions architect

Justin (Radio)

Justin has always been a geek at heart. In what seems to be a common theme among technology savvy people, Justin also was one that took things apart at a young age. Tech-Voc High School was a perfect fit for Justin where he took the necessary academics but spent a lot of time on computer courses ranging from networking to graphic and web design.

He started his career in 2008 working with a few companies as an IT consultant. Some of these jobs included some of the bigger car dealerships and that gave Justin experience on the software used. This also gave him his first experiences with PBX based phone systems.

Finding that his talents were not being utilized, Justin moved to a work with a small team at one of the cities larger hardware stores that took care of over 250 users. It was here that he became experienced with enterprise level hardware and software. Due to his talents, Justin has been adaptive to many different roles. He has worked supporting customers from a helpdesk standpoint, walking people through difficult tasks to help solve their problems. He does a majority of his work onsite which takes advantage of his very strong personal skills and his love of dealing with people.

Mixing great personal skills with an analytic mind gives alpha another strong cornerstone. Given his need to be challenged, and to be accountable to both coworkers and staff has brought Justin to alpha where he has become indispensable as one of the team.
SIP Specialist/Full Stack Developer

Dan (Dub)

From an early age Dan was introduced to computers/tech. Anything with a circuit board or a screen would attract his attention. Recognizing his interests early, Dan enrolled in computer/tech related classes and hobbies at a young age. His early exposure to computers led him on a path of tech related academics and interests.

With the increased popularity of the internet, Dan found his niche in web programming/design. He’s talented with software, with an eye for design and layout.

He creates web applications(websites) for both businesses and internal projects/ideas. The web apps can simplify or automate a variety of problems and require minimal maintenance.

When we started, Dan had the opportunity to learn some PBX programming when he was invited to an alpha training session. Learning on an archaic proprietary PBX, he acquired the base understanding and quickly worked his way up to mastering IP based phone systems. With his background in tech, he quickly became lead tech on all IP PBX installations.

With 150+ installations under his belt, he has acquired a great understanding of network setup and troubleshooting, and is a permanent member of the alpha team.
network & security administrator

Daniel (DR)

Daniel grew up out of the city, spending time camping, fishing, cross country skiing, and enjoying all that our country has to offer. He was active in team sports when in school and took an interest in auto mechanics, and became good enough that he had the privilege of working on the towns 1938 Ford Firetruck for the towns Centennial celebration.

Daniels life took at turn at that point and brought him to Winnipeg where he tried his hand at a variety of jobs and decided that it was time to go back to school and take something that he was interested in, Information Technology. It was during this time that he met his fiancé, and a few years later, his son Caleb was born. This only reinforced the need for Daniel to start his career and while he was going to school, he had the chance to do his practicum at alpha.

What started as a 6 week tryout turned into a full time position and he became another member of the growing alpha family.

web developer / graphic designer

Raynald (Razor)

Ray got his start like the rest of us. Fascinated by computers and technology. Even as a child from a small town, he was drawn to computers to the point of creating his first video game by the time he got to high school.

His career has always been in I.T, starting in 2003 where he specialized in web design. He built a secure and user friendly content management system, creating database management modules used by thousands of members, and developing a payment system module that helps clients reduce time overhead significantly.

Unlike most programmers, Ray was blessed with having an artistic side that compliments his skill set by giving him the ability to work on logo and design elements that usually require another person.

In his personal life, Ray is a huge Star Wars fan, attending conventions on several continents. When he isn’t planted in front of a screen, or travelling, he spends time with his wife and daughter. Being fully bilingual, Ray is a very active member of his French community volunteering many hours at festivals and the local youth centre.
creative solutions

jan (the collector)

Jan stems from the east coast and moved to Winnipeg when he was ten years old. After graduating, he started his career path taking Business Admin from Red River College when he was looking into the hospitality industry. He started down that path and due to his love of board games, ended up working for alpha's tenant on the main floor.

That relationship led to him spending time with us after hours playing games and joining us on some of our events. Over the next year, a respect for his abilities told us he would be a natural fit at alpha.

Jan's experience in retail gives him the tools he needs to help us grow as we move into our downstairs retail space in spring.

Last year Jan's life changed significantly when he added to his family with the birth of his daughter.

He will be helping us structure our future and focus on areas of social media, information gathering, and applying his blunt force logic to all things alpha.

technician / support specialist

Lyle

Lyle came to us first as a customer.  He was purchasing something to feed his need to create (3D printer) and we presume fell in love with the place.  Within a week his resume was in, and shortly afterwards he was accepted into the ranks.

Lyle brings a “do it yourself” mentality to the things he does whether it is gaming, cooking, woodworking, and soon to be tested cooking and wine making.  He brings a polished post secondary education mixed with a lot of life experience to alpha and alpha play.

Born and raised in Winnipeg and being a tech fanatic from an early age helped prepare Lyle for a career at alpha.

Keep your head up when around him as his soft demeanor hides a quick wit an a willingness to laugh at himself as well as others.

He wanted to make sure that we included this point in his bio.

As much as he loves tech……he loves plants….especially trees.

Especially trees.

hr director

GeeK (death on 4 paws)

GeeK was originally hired to bring a certain culture to alpha.

He came from the country, born outside of Carman Manitoba. He spent his early life there before joining us at an age of eight weeks.

He matured quickly, taking on the roles of “Complaints Manager” and “Entertainment Director” within weeks of arriving.

Before long there was a noticeable discipline in the staff that was not there before. Being a results based company, we just let things go as GeeK was getting results.

“Executive Director of Things that Don’t Really Matter” and “Arranger of Naps” joined his other titles and soon there was no doubt of the hierarchy in the office.

A visit to the clinic took care of some of the issues, but we still live in a respectful fear of that high speed take down that can come at any time.

He truly is an active member of the group, and he is always willing to absorb the comments thrown his way on a regular basis about his hygiene.

The little matted clusters of hair, that are oddly moist, have become almost unnoticed. Until we catch him “making” one, we can’t really lay blame.

Nothing can replace the joy you get when you see a fifteen pound male cat lying on his back, legs spread, looking at you like you are invading his space.

We don’t know what we would do without him.