Keating’s clients range from local businesses to companies like Boeing, and his services have diversified from mainly software development and systems support to include general IT support, tech consulting and project management.

Keating and his wife, Doña, moved to Kitsap in 1997 from Chicago.

“It was not quite (like placing) a pin on the map, but it was close,” he said.

After visiting several states, they liked the Puget Sound area. “People (here) complain about the rain, but it’s nothing compared to 20 degrees below and snow in Chicago,” Keating said.

For a few years after the move, Keating continued working for his Chicago clients, until the post-Y2K era brought a shift in the IT market. As companies started cutting their IT expenses, he saw a significant drop in business, and turned his focus to local clients. His projects have ranged from developing an application for tracking service tickets for a heating installation business, to developing software for a daily newspaper that allows the editorial system’s integration with online archives.

Charles and Doña, who has her own business, often work together on projects, and both are very actively involved with the West Sound Technology Professionals Association. Keating keeps the company small — although he’s had employees in the past, he finds that “the larger you get, the more you end up being a manager of people.” Instead, he works with a network of colleagues, which allows him to remain hands-on as well as tap people with specialized skills as projects come along.

The industry has made huge leaps since IBM came out with the first personal computer in the early 1980s, and it still continues in a growth cycle, which means people like Keating have to always be on the leading edge, learning along.

“As a consultant, I find myself always learning new lingo and technology every time I work with a new customer,” he said.

The change in technology has also changed customer needs, bringing a change in the type of services IT firms must deliver.

“The technology has grown far more complicated, and as a result people’s needs are far more complex,” Keating said. “It’s grown more complicated, but at the same time more people in an organization are touched by technology.”

One aspect that has changed within the industry itself, Keating believes, is the kind of skill required to be successful. While in the past computer knowledge may have been the main requirement, now people skills are just as important — which for some technology professionals may entail going above their comfort level.

“Geeks may still be able to hide in a back room at a firm… but you have to bring the technology to customers and implement it,” Keating said. “You need to have a combination of computer and people skills.”

Keating said part of his success is being able to grow over the years in terms of working with people, and being able to manage relationships. He has many long-term customers, and gets a large portion of new business from referrals as well as his networking and community involvement.

He likes the ever-changing nature of his industry and his job, and sees the evolution as a way to create new opportunities.

“I enjoy the fact it changes and has a lot of potential,” he said. “It’s not a static field… You have to be willing to adapt and be friends with change.”.