Rob Thornton, Business Practice Manager for Cisco & Microsoft Practices, knows computers from the inside out. Back in 1992 he went to work for a used-computer retailer, where he learned how to part out and refurbish mainframes and dumb terminals.

In time, the retailer gathered a large stock of PCs and opened up a storefront, where Thornton sold PCs, components and services.

When a computer consultant took over the company, he kept Thornton on board. The focus expanded to managed services for messaging and financial systems, as well as server and desktop support. That introduced Thornton to the consulting and networking side of the business, and the whole area of teaching business applications.

“I started learning the applications pretty quick,” Thornton says. In time he became the go-to guy on applications, surprising his boss and himself.

Studying on his own, Thornton prepared himself for Microsoft certification and began doing business technology consulting for the managed services clients.

He might have remained in that niche had a couple of major clients not gone through some reorganization. The owner lost the clients, and Thornton lost his job. It was at that point that someone suggested he apply at SOS.

Luck was on his side. He handed in his resume just as the SOS service manager was walking in the door, and a brief conversation convinced the manager that Thornton was worth an interview.

That was at the start of 1999. In time Thornton took over the service manager job himself, and then moved up to his present post. As one of the SOS business practice managers, he is responsible for all the Cisco and Microsoft products and how the SOS teams implement them.

He learns each new Microsoft and Cisco products, assigns others to get up to speed on them, figures out the standards that SOS will use in implementing them, and makes sure the rest of the crew follows those standards.

“I’m pretty much responsible as well for all the projects implementing any Cisco or Microsoft technology,” Thornton says. If they have a problem or need help, he’s the one who gets the call.

“Rob is an amazing person. He never says die,” says SOS co-founder and CEO Gia McNutt. “He can not stand by if a client is having a severe issue, even while on vacation.” That dedication has earned him the respect and admiration of his team and the entire company. Thornton says he’s grateful for the opportunity to be part of the team.

“Along with providing me opportunity to work on the latest in converged technology, SOS has provided an incredible opportunity for me to advance my consulting and management skills,” he says. “I've never worked with a better group of people. Lawrence and Gia are not just incredible employers, they are incredible, down-to-earth people.”

One gauge of how well Thornton likes his work is the hours he spends on the job. It has been four or five years since he was paid by the hour, but he still likes to work “overtime.”

“There are always things I feel responsible for,” says Thornton. “I have a team of guys who are busy implementing projects and who need help. I try to get in early, I try to stay late. I go with them if they request it. I’m always thinking there is something I need to do better.”

McNutt notes that on top of his duties at SOS, he his wife, Michelle, are bringing up three children -- to become four in February -- and holds a leadership position in his church. “We are fortunate and grateful to have Rob on staff, and the engineering team has a fantastic mentor in Rob,” she says.

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