Michael P. Goodman
Professional biography & career history

About Michael P. Goodman

Technology executive. IT infrastructure specialist. Systems architect. Entrepreneur. AI strategist.

Nearly 30 years of hands-on work with servers, Windows networks, virtualization, systems administration, managed IT, the web, and now AI.

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Michael P. Goodman, Rochester, NY technology architect, in a light blue shirt and purple tie
01 / Biography

Broad by design, deep by necessity.

A career built across the full technology stack rather than inside a single layer of it.

Michael P. Goodman is a technology executive, systems builder, and business owner with nearly 30 years of hands-on IT work. He has worked across servers, Windows networks, virtualization, systems administration, and computer hardware. He has also run managed IT services, built websites, handled digital marketing, and now builds private AI systems.

His career pairs deep hands-on skill with years of running his own businesses. He did not stick to one layer of technology. He has worked across the whole stack: server hardware, operating systems, networks, apps, websites, cloud services, security, automation, and day-to-day business operations.

Over his career he has designed, built, fixed, and run technology for people, small businesses, and organizations that cannot work without reliable computers.

For the complete career history, companies, projects, research work, and certifications, read the full biography of Michael P. Goodman. For the origin story, see how Michael P. Goodman started in business, or read about my first businesses.

Technology should solve problems, remove friction, add capability, protect data, and create real business value.

That philosophy is fundamentally practical, and it is the reason his work has consistently moved between engineering detail and business consequence. Understanding hardware, operating systems, networking, storage, and applications at a working level makes it possible to diagnose problems across multiple layers of an infrastructure rather than treating every failure as an isolated software issue.

~28 yrsServer & Windows infrastructure
20+ yrsTechnology business ownership
10+ yrsWeb, SEO & digital marketing
MCSE+IPlus A+, Network+, ITIL
02 / Career timeline

Michael P. Goodman’s career, role by role.

Dated roles in IT operations, systems administration, and technology business leadership, from 1998 to the present.

  1. 1997

    First entrepreneurial venture selling Unix shell accounts

    A teenage hosting venture that never won a paying customer and taught an early lesson in marketing. Read Michael P. Goodman’s early entrepreneurial lessons.

  2. 1998–1999

    Jr. Systems Administrator, MMI Technologies

    First professional systems-administration role, built on a hardware and operating-system foundation.

  3. 2000–2002

    Founded Infco Systems, Inc. — President & CEO

    First time running a technology company end to end: operations, technical delivery, and the business side. Read the story of Infco Systems.

  4. 2002–2003

    Onsite IT Specialist, Computer Outlet Company

    Hands-on onsite IT support in Cicero, NY.

  5. 2004–2005

    IT Manager, Michelson Realty Company

    Ran IT for a St. Louis commercial real estate firm and worked in commercial real estate acquisitions, the work behind the CCIM designation.

  6. 2008–2012

    President, Computer Service Specialists of Missouri

    Led a Missouri IT services company covering business support, servers, and networks.

  7. 2014–2024

    President, Computer Service Specialists of New York (CSSNY)

    Led a Rochester Managed IT Services company: server and network installation, business IT support, data recovery, and technology advisory.

  8. 2024 – present

    Sovereign AI, automation, and open research

    Private on-prem AI architecture, Secure Local LLM Deployment, Private Enterprise RAG, IT infrastructure automation, Fractional CTO advisory, and Project S.P.H.E.R.E.

Also part of the career record, without dates on this site: John Henry Foster Company (Systems Administrator), Technology Service Solutions (VP of Operations), BizBackup Worldwide Services (Principal Owner), CSS Technologies, and M & J Goodman Enterprises.

Technology eras

The tools changed constantly. The underlying discipline did not: understand technology deeply enough to make it useful.

  1. Early career

    Computer hardware and systems fundamentals

    Building, setting up, fixing, and upgrading computers, from the hardware to the operating system. This is the base everything later was built on.

  2. Systems administration

    Windows Server, infrastructure, virtualization

    Server hardware, storage and RAID, Active Directory, Group Policy, domains, server roles, migrations, and virtual servers.

  3. Missouri technology businesses

    IT services, operations, consulting

    Technical Support Specialists Missouri, Computer Service Specialists of Missouri, CSS Technologies, and M & J Goodman Enterprises — each role added more responsibility for tech services, operations, and running the business.

  4. BizBackup Worldwide Services

    Backup, continuity, managed services

    Backup and business-continuity work done before managed services became popular, covering many of the same tasks.

  5. Computer Service Specialists Of New York

    Entrepreneurship and Rochester IT services

    Founded to deliver business IT support, server and network installation, managed services, repair, data recovery, and long-term technology relationships in the Rochester market.

  6. Rochester expansion

    Business IT, networking, web and SEO

    Services grew to include websites, domains and DNS, email systems, SEO, and digital marketing for small businesses.

  7. Advanced technology

    Automation, virtualization, high-performance computing

    Deeper work in automation, containers, GPU computing, high-memory workstations, and fast 10 GbE and 25 GbE networks.

  8. AI transition

    Local AI, LLMs, GPU infrastructure

    Running AI models locally, private AI servers, private document search (RAG), AI in containers, and AI-assisted business automation.

  9. Current & forward

    AI agents, private AI, BCI and neurotechnology

    Private AI for sensitive data, AI agents that automate work, MLOps, and brain-computer interface experiments using EEG.

03 / Employers

Where the hands-on experience was built.

Organizations Michael worked for as an employee or manager, alongside the companies he ran himself (next section).

MMI TechnologiesJr. Systems Administrator · 1998–1999
Computer Outlet CompanyOnsite IT Specialist · Cicero, NY · 2002–2003
Michelson Realty CompanyIT Manager; Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions · St. Louis, MO · 2004–2005
John Henry Foster CompanySystems Administrator · St. Louis, MO
Technology Service Solutions (TSS Missouri)VP of Operations · Creve Coeur, MO

Career history

Roles in IT operations, systems administration, executive leadership, and commercial real estate.

  1. Jr. Systems Administrator

    MMI Technologies

    1998–1999

  2. President & CEO

    Infco Systems, Inc.

    2000–2002

  3. Onsite IT Specialist

    Computer Outlet Company · Cicero, NY

    2002–2003

  4. IT Manager

    Michelson Realty Company · St. Louis, MO

    2004–2005

  5. President

    Computer Service Specialists of Missouri · Missouri

    2008–2012

  6. President

    Computer Service Specialists Of New York · Rochester, NY

    2014–2024

Additional positions

04 / Companies founded & led

Technology is a business tool, not just an engineering task.

More than 20 years of technology business ownership and leadership, from Missouri to Rochester.

Computer Service Specialists Of New York logo
PRESIDENT · 2014–2024 · ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Computer Service Specialists Of New York

A Rochester-area technology services company established to provide practical technical support and long-term technology relationships to businesses and individuals. Public listings identify its specialties as IT services, computer services and repair, networking, web development, and SEO marketing (LinkedIn company profile), and New York business records show Computer Service Specialists Of New York, LLC organized as a New York limited liability company in January 2017 with Michael P. Goodman named in the company's state filing information (New York filing information). Independent business listings document work across business IT, networking, server management, computer repair, data recovery, and web development (Angi listing).

Business IT supportManaged servicesServer installationNetwork installationRemote supportData recoverySecurity troubleshootingWorkstation deploymentWeb developmentSEOTechnology consulting
Michael P. Goodman pointing at the Computer Service Specialists sign on a brick building in snow
Michael P. Goodman pointing to the Computer Service Specialists company sign. He served as president of Computer Service Specialists Of New York from 2014 to 2024.

Other companies led

Leadership and ownership roles before and alongside Computer Service Specialists of New York.

Infco Systems, Inc.President & CEO · 2000–2002Technology company led end to end.
Computer Service Specialists of MissouriPresident · 2008–2012Missouri IT services company.
BizBackup Worldwide ServicesPrincipal Owner · St. Louis, MOBackup and business-continuity services.
CSS TechnologiesOwnership / leadershipInfrastructure and consulting work.
M & J Goodman EnterprisesOwnership / leadershipBusiness operations and management.
Technology Service Solutions (TSS Missouri)VP of Operations · Creve Coeur, MOOperations leadership at a Missouri IT services firm.

Companies and initiatives founded by Michael P. Goodman

Project S.P.H.E.R.E. (SPHERE Research, LLC)

Founder & Principal Architect. Open-research DeSci metrology initiative and browser-based virtual lab simulator. spheredesci.org

Fields Of Green

Owner & Founder. Lawn care and property services in Rochester, NY, including a custom Property Quote Engine. fieldsofgreenrochester.com

05 / Certifications

Certified, then continuously self-directed.

In IT, tools often go out of date faster than formal courses can keep up.

Microsoft and industry certifications form the formal base. Everything current comes from reading about new tools as they ship and then building real systems to learn how they behave.

Infrastructure & support

  • CompTIA A+
  • CompTIA Network+
  • ITIL Foundation (legacy)
  • MCSE+I, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet (legacy)

Commercial real estate

  • CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member

MCSE+I and ITIL reflect foundational training from earlier technology eras, not claims about current Microsoft or ITIL versions.

06 / Project S.P.H.E.R.E.

Open, reproducible research, built in public.

Michael P. Goodman is Founder & Principal Architect of Project S.P.H.E.R.E. (SPHERE Research, LLC).

Project S.P.H.E.R.E. is an open-research DeSci metrology initiative with a browser-based virtual lab simulator. It is exploratory work with documented protocols and budgets. It is not institutionally endorsed, and it is presented as research in progress.

The virtual lab’s source lives in a public repository, and its page on this site pulls version, release notes, and recent commits from that repository automatically, so updates never depend on manual posting. The architecture and research approach are written up as a reference case study.

Read the case study SPHERE Virtual Lab spheredesci.org
07 / Major accomplishments

What has been built, run, and shipped.

Stated plainly, without client names or invented metrics.

01

Led CSSNY for a decade

President of Computer Service Specialists of New York from 2014 to 2024, delivering Managed IT Services, server and network installation, data recovery, and technology advisory in Rochester.

02

Ran technology companies in two states

Led Infco Systems, Computer Service Specialists of Missouri, and BizBackup Worldwide Services, with additional operations leadership at Technology Service Solutions.

03

Founded Project S.P.H.E.R.E.

Built an open-research initiative and a browser-based virtual lab simulator whose public page updates itself from the source repository.

04

Built a sovereign AI practice

Private on-prem AI where no client data, prompts, or logs touch public AI APIs: local LLM deployment, Private Enterprise RAG, and the runbooks to operate them.

05

Shipped custom business software

Designed and built the Property Quote Engine for Fields Of Green, a custom quoting application for property services.

08 / Technologies worked with

The working toolkit.

Technologies Michael P. Goodman has used hands-on across infrastructure, local AI, and automation.

Microsoft & identity

Windows ServerActive DirectoryGroup PolicyDNSDHCPPowerShell

Linux & virtualization

Ubuntu ServerHyper-VProxmoxVirtualBoxDockerRAID & storage

Networking & diagnostics

TCP/IPRouting & switching10 GbE / 25 GbEWiresharkNmapPoE camera systems

Local AI

OllamaLlamaIndexQdrantFastAPICUDA / GPU computingLocal embedding & inference models

Automation & web

PythonREST APIsHTML / CSS / JavaScriptWordPressGitHub ActionsCloudflare Pages

Hardware & emerging

Jetson NanoRaspberry PiArduinoOpenBCI / EEGAI workstations
09 / Areas of experience

Where the hands-on work has actually happened.

Servers, networks, virtualization, and the web are treated as one connected system, not separate fields.

Server infrastructure

  • Server hardware selection and configuration
  • Storage architecture, RAID and disk systems
  • Operating-system deployment and maintenance
  • Performance optimization and diagnostics
  • Server replacement and migration
  • Backup, recovery, and virtualized environments

Microsoft infrastructure

  • Windows Server and domain environments
  • Active Directory and Group Policy
  • Server roles, services, and authentication
  • User and workstation administration
  • Windows networking
  • Microsoft-based business infrastructure

Networking

  • TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, routing and switching
  • DNS, DHCP, and network addressing
  • Wireless and remote connectivity
  • Network security considerations
  • Business network architecture
  • High-performance 10 GbE and 25 GbE

Virtualization

  • Server virtualization and VM architecture
  • Resource allocation and sizing
  • Storage considerations for virtual estates
  • OS deployment and lifecycle
  • Maintaining virtualized environments
  • Bridge into containerized AI infrastructure

Hardware & workstations

  • Desktops, workstations, and servers
  • CPUs, memory, motherboards, power, cooling
  • GPUs and high-memory configurations
  • Hardware diagnostics and upgrades
  • Custom system configurations
  • AI workstations and local inference systems

Web, SEO & digital

  • Website development and administration
  • HTML, WordPress, and static site delivery
  • Domain, DNS, hosting, and email infrastructure
  • Technical and on-page SEO
  • Organic and paid search
  • Website performance and optimization
10 / In the field

The work, in practice.

Behind the résumé language is a lot of ordinary, hands-on work — the kind that happens on ladders and behind wiring closets.

Michael P. Goodman mounting a network rack with a managed switch during an on-site IT install
On-site network rack installation — mounting a wall-mount rack with a managed switch and structured Ethernet cabling.
Michael P. Goodman on a ladder above a drop ceiling during an on-site IT cabling job
Hands-on service work above the ceiling in a commercial kitchen — diagnosing and repairing infrastructure wherever it lives.
11 / AI & emerging technology

Private AI as the next generation of server architecture.

Private computing infrastructure + modern AI models + automation + enterprise data.

The newest phase of his career is AI. The focus is private AI that runs on hardware you control, not AI that only lives in a cloud subscription.

The reason is simple. More and more firms want to use AI on private data without sending it all to outside vendors. Legal files, medical records, financial records, company wikis, internal docs, and private research all fit that need.

It is a natural continuation of the earlier work. The underlying problem is unchanged — how can computing technology be engineered to solve real problems more effectively? The difference is that modern AI supplies far more computational capability and entirely new interfaces through which systems interact with people.

AI infrastructure

  • Local large language models and private AI servers
  • GPU computing and AI workstations
  • Retrieval-augmented generation and vector storage
  • AI agents and workflow automation
  • Containerized AI infrastructure and MLOps
  • Open-source AI systems and private data processing

Human-computer interaction

  • EEG and biosignal processing
  • Brain-computer interfaces and neurotechnology
  • AI-assisted neural signal interpretation
  • Cognitive-state analysis
  • Experimental interface platforms such as OpenBCI
  • Robotics, drones, VR/AR, and autonomous systems

The common question behind all of it: what happens when the computer interface moves beyond keyboards, mice, touchscreens, and voice?

12 / Technical philosophy

Six principles that have held up for three decades.

01

Understand the system

Do not treat technology as a black box. Understand the hardware, operating system, network, software, dependencies, failure modes, and business requirements.

02

Solve the actual problem

A technically elegant solution is worthless if it does not solve the customer's real problem.

03

Build for the future

Design systems that can grow, are easy to maintain, and stay secure.

04

Use the right tool

The newest technology is not automatically the best. A mature, inexpensive, reliable solution often beats a complicated modern alternative.

05

Automate repetition

If a task is performed repeatedly and predictably, it eventually becomes a candidate for automation.

06

Keep learning

A technology professional who stops learning eventually becomes a professional who knows how technology used to work.

13 / Professional identity

Ultimately a technologist.

Not simply a computer technician. Not simply a systems administrator. Not simply a business owner. Not simply an IT manager. This career has combined all of those disciplines — decades of learning how technology works at the component level, how systems interact at the infrastructure level, how businesses depend on those systems operationally, and how emerging technologies change what computers are capable of doing.

Build it. Understand it. Fix it. Improve it. Automate it. Then figure out what comes next.

View my ORCID profile

14 / Quick answers

Frequently asked questions about Michael P. Goodman.

Who is Michael P. Goodman?

Michael P. Goodman is a Rochester, New York–based technology architect, AI infrastructure consultant, and managed IT services strategist. He has 28+ years of experience in IT, server, and Windows and Linux infrastructure, and 20+ years of technology business ownership, including leading Computer Service Specialists of New York. He is also the founder of Project S.P.H.E.R.E.

What does Michael P. Goodman do?

Michael P. Goodman designs and builds sovereign IT and AI systems: private, on-premises AI where no client data, prompts, or logs touch public AI APIs. That includes secure local LLM deployment and private enterprise RAG for law firms, healthcare organizations, and financial institutions. He also provides IT infrastructure automation, managed services advisory including Fractional CTO engagements, and infrastructure diagnosis, virtualization, and bare-metal recovery. Clients work directly with Michael.

Where is Michael P. Goodman located?

Michael P. Goodman is based in Rochester, New York, and works remote-first. He serves clients nationwide remotely, as well as local and regional organizations in New York.

Want the short version?

Download a one-page summary of capabilities, selected work, and credentials as a PDF.

Download résumé (PDF) ↓
15 / Contact

Have a difficult system, an ambitious prototype, or a role that needs judgment?

Tell me what you are trying to accomplish, what is failing, or what you need built.

info@michaelpgoodman.com 585-748-0966