Ivan Chekaldin, Certified eMarketer
IT Operations Manager

While many college students flounder for a few years deciding upon a major, Web development specialist Ivan Chekaldin knew he would follow his passion for programming and technology from the first day his fifth grade teacher opened his eyes to the world of computers. Ivan said, "From that day forward, I was hooked!"

Ivan was born and raised in the small Russian city of Penza. "It's about the same size as Richmond." Ivan attended three years of Penza State University where he studied Information Technology in Economy. Roughly translated, it was a computer science major with additional focus on management, marketing, accounting, and other business-related topics.

The summer after his third year at University, Ivan traveled to the United States as a summer student. He worked in Ocean City, Maryland in a variety of jobs ranging from restaurants and hotels to a gas station and construction company. Ivan relocated to Virginia and worked for two years at a Chili's where he progressed from waiter to bartender to shift manager.

Speaking fluent English and ready to pursue his passion for IT, Ivan joined NetStrategies in Northern Virginia in March of 2008.

Ivan manages the NetStrategies datacenter, builds open source Web applications for clients, updates website content, trouble shoots, and much more.

Why should someone consider using an open source platform like Joomla for their website?

Platform choice plays a huge role in how easy it is to update and maintain your site now and in the future. An open source platform is generally a good idea for a small- to medium-sized organization that might not know its exact future needs. Open source platforms are flexible and less expensive than custom built content management systems.

When choosing a host for your website, what features should you look for?

The most important feature for hosting is a backup system. Make sure your data is backed up daily on a separate server, ideally at a different location. If they back your data up on the same server that runs your site, forget it and go elsewhere!

What is one simple thing someone can do to improve their website?

Open your homepage in a browser. If it doesn't load fully in 1-2 seconds, it's too slow! Your visitors will find a better website rather than sitting and waiting for yours to open. Move heavy content to subpages. Optimize images and scripts. Trust me, you'll see the difference.