Advisory
Independent advice on network and security decisions.
Thirty years inside the vendors, distributors and integrators that serve enterprise networks — spent arguing the customer's case from that side of the table. Offered here as judgement on decisions that have not been made yet: you get a decision you can defend, the reasoning behind it, and the evidence to take to whoever has to approve it.
Your advisor
Rodolfo Nützmann
I have spent thirty years employed by vendors, distributors and integrators — implementing, supporting, deploying and teaching what they sell rather than selling it. That is the whole basis of the advice: my job was to make the thing work for the customer afterwards, so I have had to live with the answer. The credentials, the career record and what past clients and students say are a click away.
Before you read further
I work full time for Red Education. The advisory work described on this page is delivered personally by me and contracted through Red Education. The one thing I cannot tell you about is pricing: that comes only after a detailed scoping and expectations call, and is provided exclusively by Red Education. What I can tell you is that I will be the main advocate for the best possible outcome for you. Since 1996 I have consistently argued for what serves the end customer, not necessarily for what served the company I was working for at the time. Right is right, and fair is fair. If you need training, that goes through Red Education too.
Available, not packaged
This is not a product catalogue. The work below describes the kinds of question I am useful on; the shape of any particular engagement is agreed before it starts. If what you need is close to one of these but not the same, that is usually fine and worth a conversation.
What this is, and what it is not
Judgement on a decision: reviewing a design before the budget is committed, writing the specification, assessing somebody else's proposal, choosing between options, or explaining after the fact why something failed and what should change.
Not offered here
- Implementation and configurationI will review what is planned and audit what was built, but I am not the pair of hands that builds it.
- On-call, standby, and operational dutyI do not sell hours, and I am not a name on a rota or an escalation path. Where real-time involvement is genuinely warranted, it happens by specific arrangement as a senior advisory engagement — judgement at the point of decision, not standby capacity.
- Staff augmentationIf what is needed is another person on the team, that is a hiring decision rather than an advisory one.
- Training and enablement, in any formEvery course, workshop and certification path I deliver is delivered through Red Education. Custom and tailored training is welcome — ask Red Education and it reaches me.
Where I bring the most value
Design and architecture review
An independent read of a proposed design before it is built and paid for. What it assumes, where it will strain, what it will cost to operate, and which parts are decisions rather than defaults.
Specification and RFP authoring
Writing what to ask for. A request for proposal (RFP) that describes the outcome precisely enough to be scored, rather than one assembled from a vendor's own datasheet.
Independent assessment of a proposal
You have a quotation and a diagram from a supplier and no neutral way to judge either. A second reading, in writing, with the questions worth putting back to them.
Technology and vendor selection
Stay or move, consolidate or keep two, on-premises or as a service. A defined question, the trade-offs stated in both directions, and a recommendation that says which way and why.
Post-incident review
Not incident response. The review afterwards, when the fire is out and somebody has to give an honest account of what happened and what should change. Scheduled work, weeks after the event, written for an audience that includes people who were not in the room.
By special arrangement
Senior-level real time presence, on site or remotely, during an operation that cannot be repeated: a migration window, a cutover, a planned failover.
Speaking engagements
Conference talks, keynotes, and internal sessions on where this industry came from, what it was like to be in it, and how that compares with now — plus a little futurology about where the professional roles and the work itself are heading. Prepared talks, and custom subjects by arrangement.
Why independent matters here
I hold current instructor authorizations across four vendors' platforms and sell none of them. There is no product on this side of the table, no quota, and no partner margin behind the recommendation.
How an engagement runs
- A conversation about the decision you are facing, at no charge, to establish whether I am the right person for it.
- A written scope: the question, the deliverable, the dates and the fee. Fixed price per engagement rather than by the hour.
- The work, with access to whoever holds the technical detail.
- A written answer you can circulate internally, and a call to walk through it.
If there is a decision on your desk
The useful first message says what the decision is and when it has to be made.