DFW’s William O’Gorman and Kelly Beggs have a lot in common when it comes to thriving.
Both are extremely IT savvy. Both man the Texas support staff and spend a good part of every workday consulting with clients, fixing issues, and garnering organizations' peace of mind through technology expertise.
Chief among this dynamic duo is that rare breed of technology specialist who cares about client relations and rapport just as strongly as they do the hardware they help support. They’re true disciples of Justin Huffaker’s “no geek speak” philosophy.
Kelly and Williamhave embraced the task of keeping Texas clients’ networks running at full speed. In 2025, the team is set to take TechCare and CommCare support to the next level.
Technically, they’re thriving at a spectacular level.
Thriving With a Technology Passion.
Kelly had spent 10 years in retail management when he began to take note of his father-in-law’s computer prowess. He bought his first computer right before Windows 95 landed. Promptly, he returned his and got one with the brand spanking new operating system, and hasn’t really looked back since.
“I remember I bought it, and a coworker of mine who was a computer guy, told me ‘this thing has a 1 gig hard drive and 8 gigs of RAM… you’ll NEVER have to upgrade this,” Kelly recalls.
Before long, his tech-savvy friend was calling HIM for computer advice. Kelly was constantly tinkering, wondering how he could make the system run faster, gain better graphics, and work on two or three computers at various stages of deconstruction.
“That eventually led to me getting out of the retail management field and into this one,” Kelly said.
For William, a natural troubleshooter, he was called upon by his family to help with any technology-related tasks on a regular basis growing up.
“One of those early things was getting the family DVD Player working,” he says, laughing. “It got to the point where when I first went off to college, my mother would call me with all these tech-related issues... it was like, ‘Mom, I cannot enable you anymore.”
One of his earliest memories was doing some basic networking at his childhood home, adding internet access to the upper portion of the house. The Nolan Catholic High School graduate differed this early passion initially to attend Texas A&M University and major in Biology. He also performed as a member of the famed Aggie Marching Band.
“At the time, I was thinking Science or Medicine, although I had a lot of joy and satisfaction working on IT related things…. I just hadn’t given it much thought as a career. I was sort of on autopilot,” William said.
Thriving in the Tech Space.
A friend of William's urged him to take a job with an edge security company installing firewalls. In the meantime, he got into TCP/IP networking and earned his CompTIA Network + Certification.
“After a while, I remember I was telling my wife, ‘This is a little too specialized for me. I want exposure to Microsoft Windows, to things that systems administrators do,” William said.
One day, he hit up his brother Robert (who is an Area Sales Manager in Dallas) about Datamax. The rest is history.
Kelly attended the University of Texas at Arlington and took a network essentials class and eventually earned his Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certification. The company he was working for shut its doors during COVID, and a friend told him about Datamax.
Thriving with Clients.
Building strong client rapport is essential for an IT systems engineer because it establishes trust, fosters collaboration, and ensures that the client feels valued and respected.
Clients often view IT professionals as highly technical, which can create (fairly or unfairly) a perception of condescension or disconnection. Avoiding technical jargon ("geek speak") is crucial, as it ensures clear communication and demonstrates empathy for the client’s perspective.
Kelly credits his background in retail management for understanding such.
“I have a very strong ‘the customer is always right’ mentality; it’s cliché, but I do have that attitude that when I walk out the door, they are as happy as possible. The customer just comes first,” Kelly said.
William describes scenarios where he listens closely to the client’s issue, and interprets accordingly to drill down what the root of the issue is. To him, it’s all about collecting as much relevant information as he can, while educating the client at every opportunity.
“It’s never the time to lord over your technical knowledge. It’s time to help them,” he says.
Thriving in 25.
What’s in store for this duo in the coming year?
William looks forward to exploring the potential (both internally and for clients) with the Azure Cloud solution. Both as a storage and retention tool, he sees “a lot of low-hanging fruits that are achievable.”
Kelly, meanwhile, looks forward to getting back out to client offices in 2025.
“Adding new clients will be a big part of what we’re doing. We’ve got a lot we’re adding in the next couple of weeks, and a few potential ones on the horizon,” Kelly said. “Plus, there’s a lot of old equipment out there that needs to be replaced. We’re going to hit the ground running hard as soon as people get back from Christmas vacation.”
