Third Level IT

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A boutique firm, on purpose.

Third Level IT is one senior engineer with enterprise credentials, a colocation facility, and a deliberately short client list. That's not a limitation of the model. It is the model.

The founder

Nate Howard

Founder & Principal Engineer

I spent fifteen years as an enterprise network engineer at Presidio and Sentinel Technologies, building and securing infrastructure for Fortune 500 companies: multi-site networks, data center builds, security architectures where an outage or a breach made the news.

What I noticed over those years: the organizations that most needed that level of engineering — credit unions facing examiners, defense suppliers facing primes, utilities facing state agencies — couldn't access it. They were too small for the integrators and too regulated for the generalist MSPs. They got junior techs, ticket queues, and infrastructure that fell apart the moment an auditor looked at it.

Third Level IT exists for exactly those organizations. I kept the enterprise discipline and dropped the enterprise overhead. When you engage the firm, you get me: the person who assesses your environment is the person who fixes it, and the person who answers the phone when something breaks at 2 a.m.

Credentials

The parts you can verify.

  • Experience15+ years enterprise network and security engineering; formerly Presidio and Sentinel Technologies
  • FortinetFortinet Engage Partner; NSE certified
  • Dell TechnologiesAuthorized Partner — client infrastructure is built on Dell PowerEdge server platforms
  • FederalSAM.gov registered with CAGE code; set up for government and defense-sector contracting
  • FacilityDedicated hosting environment at the 123NET Tier III colocation facility in Southfield, Michigan
  • LocationBased in Allen Park, Michigan — on-site across Metro Detroit, remote nationally
How I work

Three commitments, kept boring on purpose.

  1. Evidence over assurance

    Every assessment finding traces to device output. Every remediation closes with an artifact. If I can't show it, I don't claim it.

  2. Small client list, deep engagement

    I cap the roster so every client gets the principal, not a bench. If I'm at capacity, I'll say so and refer you well.

  3. Straight answers

    If the cheapest fix is a config change, that's the recommendation. If you don't need me, I'll tell you. Regulated organizations have enough vendors optimizing for the invoice.

The name is the job description: third-level support. The escalation point where problems actually get solved.

Nate HowardFounder & Principal Engineer

Want to know if the fit is right?

One conversation is usually enough to tell. No pitch deck, no discovery workshop — just a direct read on your situation.

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