By Deborah Bostock-Kelley
After 20 years in the Air Force managing data centers, followed up by 18 years working in corporate IT, Michael Varnadore was looking to be self-employed in a career in which he had a passion.
He found the perfect fit with Nerds to Go, a national franchise that specializes in bringing computer and cellphone repair services to a customer’s home or business. Varnadore recently opened the company’s first franchise in Tampa.
Conveniently located on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Nerds To Go offers repair in its shop, but specializes in its mobile service.
“We have a complete work center in the back of our vans,” said Varnadore. “We take a computer to our van, pull it apart and put it back together, right at the customer’s location. We also have the Nerd Lab at our store for customers who would rather bring their electronic device to us.”
In addition to desktop and laptop hardware repair services, Nerds to Go also services cellphones, tablet repair, cracked screens and specialty managed services. Its certified network computer techs can set up a computer network (server or cloud-based, hardwired or wireless), and as a partner of Baracuda Systems, offers 24/7 network monitoring of performance and security.
Varnadore recommends that all computers have protection with an antivirus, antiphishing, ransomware detector, firewall program and a cloud-based backup system.
Most of the problems that happen to PCs are the physical failure of the hard drive, some type of corruption, phishing attack, encrypting ransomware, or a virus that’s gotten on the system, Varnadore explains.
“With a cloud backup solution, you take all of your data to the cloud, and you’re not just backing up to a local disc, which is how people typically do things. When you’re putting your data in the cloud, your files are moved to an off-site, secure location, and if something happens to your computer, all of your data is secure and can be recovered,” said Varnadore.
Though only open since August, Nerds to Go is doing very well and has received positive customer response.
“Owning a Nerds to Go franchise is a great job for me, and very rewarding. Hopefully, I’ll soon be planning my second store. At the end of the day, we’re helping people and having a good time doing it,” said Varnadore.
Varnadore’s success is also attributed to his high level of education in information systems. He has a master’s degree in information systems, and a doctorate in management with a specialization in information systems management. He also teaches college-level classes in cloud computing and computing fundamentals, and offers one-on-one group training on many IT topics, including MS Office products and cyber security education.
813-524-5353 • www.NerdsToGo.com
19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Ste C-6, Tampa • Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm
Published on 12/11/19
