September 18, 1997

Re: Aaron Stevens

Aaron worked for M+H Consulting during the Summer and Fall of 1997 as a part time Network Administrator. During this time he took over responsibility for the hardware, operating systems, local networking and Internet connection in our Bloomington office and transformed a loose ad hoc jumble of equipment into a coordinated, smoothly functioning TCP/IP network of Unix and NT servers with NT, 95 and DOS clients. His creation is central to our work developing software products for the health care industry and supporting them under a variety of environments.

We tried Aaron because his résumé stood out from a collection of 35 top Indiana University Computer Information Systems students, and his approach to the work soon proved that he was capable of handling responsibility. He brought a lot of prior knowledge of networking in general and Microsoft products in particular to the job. Further, when he encountered something new – for example IBM’s AIX version of Unix on an RS/6000 – he mobilized considerable intellectual resources to master it, including impressive Internet research abilities, a good broad understanding of computing and networking, skill handling catalog sales and customer support persons, a genuine interest in learning new things, and the quickness and persistence that gets him high grades in his classes.

Aaron is not your stereotypical computer nerd. His background and interests are broad, his pickings from the IU business curriculum diverse, and his ability to appreciate the context of the technical work that he is doing unusual. He is very personable and outgoing. If he doesn’t watch out, some sales department somewhere is going to try to make him theirs. Had the opportunity arisen, I would have, without compunction, sent Aaron to client sites to represent us.

Aaron’s attention to detail, honesty, and sense of rightness are evident in how he operates. He would have been horrified to have left our network unusable for one minute when we needed it. Once he started a project, he didn’t leave it until it had reached a state of order and reliability that satisfied high standards. Of the six interns I had working for me that summer, Aaron was the only one to whom I entrusted keys to the office.

Although he is bound to be productive in any setting, I think Aaron will really take off if he finds himself somewhere with challenging problems to solve, a strong mentoring hand to channel his exuberance, opportunities for new learning, and a freewheeling culture. There is definitely something of the entrepreneur about him.

I have enjoyed working with him and heartily recommend him.

Ron Mills