CloudDesks Founders’ Philosophy
Paul Kerness and David Zacharisen founded CloudDesks in 2004 (then known as Genii Research LLC), with the belief that small- and medium-sized companies and nonprofit organizations should have access to enterprise-class technology at a price they can afford.
At that time, the computer industry was locked in an equipment sales/consulting model with high initial capital costs and steep ongoing maintenance fees. This meant that the newest and best technologies were out of reach for organizations that didn’t have large IT budgets.
Paul had been working with a cross-disciplinary team of professionals on a project to bring enterprise technology solutions to the nonprofit world. Although the project was never finished, Paul persevered, bringing in David, a business startup expert, to form CloudDesks.
Affordable, private cloud services – and so much more
Today, CloudDesks offers the latest cloud-based computer services for a flat monthly fee – so that you don’t have to settle for yesterday’s technology or pay steep hardware or consulting fees. We do this by providing all your hardware, software, and IT staffing and by hosting our servers in an enterprise facility with multiple layers of access control and security plus redundant power, Internet and cooling.
The CloudDesks philosophy means that, unlike a traditional “break-fix” IT model, we have the same goals and incentives as our customers. We don’t make money when your IT breaks—we make money by keeping it from breaking!
With CloudDesks, not only do you get the most up-to-date IT technologies and applications at an affordable monthly rate, your workers can access email and other organization resources from almost anywhere by connection to your IT infrastructure which is kept in a secure, unified environment.
Meet the CloudDesks executive team
“We build and support the public, private and hybrid cloud network infrastructures that keep our clients happy and productive.”
Paul Kerness, MSW, LSW, MCP
Paul started his career in social work and became involved in implementing technology solutions for non-profit organizations in the early 2000s. He has pioneered matching non-profit organizations with distributed technologies for over ten years. He believes that technology is the key component that allows SMBs and nonprofits to deliver high quality services at an affordable cost.
Contact Paul at pkerness@cdesks.com or at 908-230-0727.
David Zacharisen
David started his career in the information technology department at Mountain Bell (one of the Bell operating companies prior to the Bell System divestiture), where he focused on database administration and design.
After earning his undergraduate degree in accounting, he spent several years auditing business and financial processes for Mountain Bell. Leaving IT and auditing, he moved east to attend New York University School of Law. After receiving his degree, he counseled high tech and other companies in a variety of fields, including finance, corporate formation and transactions, and taxation. An entrepreneur and self-professed “garage tinkerer,” since co-founding CloudDesks David has gotten increasingly involved with the firm’s technology platform as well as its business development.
Contact David at dzacharisen@cdesks.com or at 908-400-3920.