Meet David Hall: New Applications2U Team Member

David Hall: Applications2U Senior Technical Architect

Applications2U is excited to welcome David Hall to the team, assuming the role of Senior Technical Architect. A native of Marshall County, West Virginia and a graduate of Sage College of Albany, Hall has 12 years of work in the IT field, including 10 years of that time spent working within healthcare IT. Along with his experience, Hall brings commitment and dedication to excellence in his work. We recently had an opportunity to chat with David about his previous work experience, educational background and interests:

Q:Talk a little bit about and your work experience in technology-related fields.

A: My first “job” in IT was as a student employee at the University of Albany, within the State University of New York system. This experience showed me that I had a skill set that might lead to a career in IT and thus I began focusing my educational efforts in that direction. After my first “real” job in IT – working for the New York Giants of the NFL as an IT Intern., I moved on to ATEC Group in Albany as an entry level consultant, doing primarily desktop and helpdesk support. Not long thereafter, I was contracted on a steady basis to work with Prime Care Physicians, where I was eventually hired full-time and I was eventually promoted into a Support Manager position in charge of the Help Desk staff, system administrators, and rotating interns. On the technical side I was responsible for Citrix Metaframe/Presentation Server, Server 2003 infrastructure, Desktop and Thin Client infrastructure, MS Active Directory, MS Systems Center (then SMS), CA’s Service Desk, and various other software suites. I also coordinated contractors for various projects and occasionally did contract negotiations. I worked closely with the CIO and the physician owners of the company (all 87 of them). I then relocated to Pittsburgh where I spent 5.5 years working under (eventual Applications2U CEO) Dan Dillman at UPMC as an Operating Systems Engineer (Intermediate and Senior) performing rolls packaging applications, designing deployment solutions, implementing application virtualization solutions, training staff, and a plethora of other duties. Last year I moved on to working at Federated Investors as a Senior Windows Administrator. Three weeks ago Dan contacted me and was wondering if I would be interested in coming to work for him again – and thus here I sit.

Q: Tell us a little bit about where you grew up and about your educational background.

A: I grew up in Marshall County, West Virginia. I would tell you the actual town name but you won’t find it on too many maps. I attended the Linsly School in Wheeling, WV. After high school I attended to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY to study materials science & engineering. While there I was an active member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and the club crew team. After three years I decided that MS&E was not the career path for me. I left RPI and while working a few various jobs I took a variety of classes at the State University of New York at Albany ranging from psychology to history to women’s’ studies and information science. It was there that I discovered my talent for IT, and I gained experience working on the campus network and maintaining workstations in a multimedia lab. This opportunity even allowed me to gain some teaching experience around various applications. I then enrolled at Hudson Valley Community College in Rensselaer, NY taking evening classes while working as an entry-level consultant for the ATEC Group in and around Albany, NY. I graduated from there with an AAS in Computer Information Systems in 2005. I then continued my education in the evening at Sage College of Albany where I would go on to receive a BS in Computer Systems and Network Administration in 2007, all while working an IT job during the day at Prime Care Physician’s in Albany, NY.

Q: What drew you to Applications2U?

A: I was drawn in by the opportunity to learn more technologies and get greater insight into different organizations in the region as I pursue my goal to eventually be one of those decision makers that decides to hire a company like Applications2U. That is, of course, unless Dan convinces me to stay forever!

Q: Applications2U helps a variety of companies in a very wide range of industry sectors. Is there a specific industry sector of these clients that you are particularly interested in?

A: I have over 10 years of experience in Healthcare, so most of my knowledge lies there. However, I don’t have a particular draw to one industry or another.

Q: What do you think is your biggest asset to the Applications2U team?

A: Experience and a commitment to excellence in the work I produce.

Q: Outside of work, how do you like to spend your time?

A: Well, my wife is due in 3 weeks with our first child, so I believe “what time?” would be the appropriate answer. I like gardening, woodworking, biking, BBQ, and discussing political and economic theory. I am also still looking to continue my education. Currently I am looking into a number of different masters programs, including programs at Penn State University, Robert Morris University, and other Pittsburgh-area colleges and universities.