AI-made imageAndrew Dall · Astoria, Oregon
I don't sell hardware, licenses, or a monthly contract.
I'm Andrew Dall. I help owners sort out IT, security, and AI, alongside the IT help you already have. I have worked in IT and security since 2005. You buy the licenses and the hardware yourself, so my advice is only about what fits you. I sit down with owners on the questions that are hard to answer alone: What are we paying for, and does it still make sense? What can staff paste into AI? Would our backups actually come back? I sit on your side of the table. If you already have an IT company you rely on, keep them. Local shops bring me in, and I work alongside them. Special projects, yes. You hire me for a job. I write it down. Then I do it. I enjoy solving problems.
- What I help with
- Leadership, strategy, and advice on IT, security, and AI.
- How a job works
- A written scope you approve. Then I do the work, and the job has a finish.
- Who I work with
- You, your staff, and the IT shop you already use.
What is this?
Plain answers on IT, security, and AI. Then the work.
I help with the decisions around your technology: what you are paying for, security, AI, and projects with a finish. Local shops also bring me in, especially when a Pacific Office Automation client needs someone who knows those systems well. You hire me for a job. I write it down. Then I do it.
You talk to me
I answer the email and the phone myself.
When a shop brings me in
I help with the part of the job they bring me in for, and the customer stays theirs. Cybersecurity is the specialty.
Special projects
A beginning, a written scope, and a finish. I work from Astoria, Oregon.
Once a month I hold an open hour on AI or cybersecurity. That lives at emaration.works. Thirty minutes on a topic. Thirty minutes of questions.
The offer
What jobs does Andrew take?
Every job below gets a written scope. Leadership, strategy, advice, and special projects: I advise, test, train your staff on site during a job, and work with your vendors.
Every job gets its price in writing before the work starts: not-to-exceed when we can see the work, time-and-materials when we cannot yet. Call 971-401-8866 or email andrew@emaration.com for a price on your job.
Leadership and strategy
Can you help us think through a big IT decision?
Yes. I advise and consult. We sit down with the decision in front of you, and I help you think it through in plain words.
Independent advice
A second opinion on the IT you have and the IT you are about to buy. Plain words, from the business side.
Brought in by your shop
A shop here can bring me in on the security or strategy part of a job. I have worked inside big managed IT companies, so I know how that work runs.
Pacific Office Automation accounts
I worked at Pacific Office Automation, so I know how those systems are set up. Shops here bring me in on those accounts.
IT spend / vendor look
What you are paying, who is in the stack, and whether that still makes sense.
A seat on the board
A day a month, a day a week, or a seat on your board. We work through advice, vendors, testing, and spending. Training can fit in that day when you want it.
AI in the shop
Where can AI help here?
I sit with the people who do the work. We decide what they may use, and I set it up so they can.
Staff rules
We sit down. We write what staff may use, what they must not paste in, and what gets saved.
Copilot / Microsoft 365
Copilot in Microsoft 365, set up so people can use it without guessing.
Google Gemini
Gemini for a shop that lives in Google. Named, set up, and ready to use.
Custom GPT on your handbook
A GPT that answers from your handbook and the way you work.
Automate one boring job
Pick one repeating chore. I wire it. Then it is done.
Staff half-day
Half a day with the people who will use it. Hands on.
AI security pass
What staff tools can see, what they send out, and what to turn off. Written. Then you decide.
Training on a job
Do you train on site?
Yes, as part of a job, in your room. The open monthly hour is at emaration.works.
Cybersecurity for staff
Phish, MFA, passwords. What to click, what not to, and why that mail looked real.
Cyber for the owner
The calls only an owner can make. Wire transfers, mail rules, and who can reset what.
Phishing drill
A live drill, then the debrief. What got through, who reported it, what to change.
MFA workshop
Everyone enrolls. Everyone leaves with it working.
AI for staff
What they may use at work, and how to get a useful answer.
AI for the owner
Where it saves time, what staff should keep out of it, and what is worth paying for.
Combined half-day
Cyber and AI in one sitting. Staff, owner, or mixed. Half a day in your room.
Full day
A full day on a job. Drill, workshop, owner hour, whatever the scope says. Then it ends.
Special projects
Can you come on site for a project?
Yes. We agree on a written scope. I do the work at your place, and the job is done when the scope is done.
A scoped visit
An office that stopped working. New gear that has to be put in. A new shop getting set up. I write the scope, then we get it done.
Wi-Fi
On-site look. Written notes on what to change, and why.
Firewall
I set up the firewall you choose and cut it in.
Starlink
Rural, backup, or a shop that cannot wait on cable. I look, I recommend, and I cut it in.
Cameras
Cameras that record, and that someone can watch. Placement, storage, who has the feed.
Printing
Printers that print and scan, set up so they keep working.
New shop standup
New location. I plan the stack. A vendor pulls the wire. I cut in the rest.
Media and making
Can you film, print, or make a part on site?
Yes, when the job needs it. I can record video, print, or make a part in the same visit. It is billed at the same consulting rate as the other named jobs. I bring the gear below when it makes the work better.
Video and content capture
On-site recording for the job in front of us: walkthroughs, how-it-works clips, talking-head, process on the floor. The camera is a dedicated Samsung S24 Ultra, with tripod and stick setups. A Shure mic comes along when audio matters.
Print that has to look like the file
I can bring a Canon PRO-100 when the job is color that has to match — signs, comps, photos, client-facing paper. It is the same print work I already do in shops.
Fab when a part belongs in the visit
Bambu P1S combo when a fixture, enclosure, jig, or one-off part is part of getting the shop working. I bring it when it makes sense.
Clear audio for recordings
Shure mic on the same visit as the capture. Ask if the room is loud or the clip has to hold up.
Mail and identity
Do you work with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365?
Yes. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. I harden what you already have.
Google Workspace
Mail, Drive, and identity, the way the shop already works.
Microsoft 365
Tenants, mail, and the controls that keep your mail going where it should.
MFA
Sign-in that needs more than a password. Set up and enrolled.
DMARC
Email authentication so someone else cannot send as you. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, set up and checked.
Time and infrastructure
What about servers and backups?
Yes. Each one is a job with a written scope and a finish.
Backup / restore test
We restore something on purpose. If it does not come back, that is the finding.
One server, or kill the server
One box that has to stay, or the job of turning it off. Scoped. Then done.
Other kinds of help
- Monthly IT support: the IT shops here do that work, and I work alongside them.
- Membership, scans, and websites for being found in AI search: that is emaration.ai.
- The open monthly hour on AI or cybersecurity: that is emaration.works.
The specialty
Which security questions do I help with?
Security comes up in most jobs I take, and the questions are ones owners already ask. Who owns our Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account? Is our mail forwarding set up the way we think it is? Have we ever restored something from our backups? Does everyone who has access still need it?
We go through what I find, in plain words. Then I write the plan and do the part you hire me to do. It is just me: you talk with the person doing the work.
Degrees, certifications, and experience
- Two associate degrees from Portland Community College, part of six years of college the VA paid for.
- B.S. Cybersecurity, Oregon Institute of Technology, cum laude.
- Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (2025).
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals (2025).
- Also completed: CompTIA PenTest+ and AWS coursework.
- Career work across identity, email security, endpoint, cloud, and practical NIST / PCI / HIPAA implementation, from roles I held at companies I worked for.
The job
How does a job with Andrew work?
Here is how a special project goes, from the first call to the finish.
01
You get in touch.
Email andrew@emaration.com or call 971-401-8866. Tell me what the job is, and when you need it done.
02
We talk it through.
Leadership, strategy, and advice, or a special project: we work out which one fits.
03
A written scope.
The price is in it, and I schedule the work. Nothing starts until you approve it.
04
I do the work.
If the job is on site, I come there. If it is a call, we work on the call. If the job needs a specialist I do not have, I tell you who before they start.
05
The job is done.
You get the deliverable, and a project ends when its scope is done. Advice days follow the schedule written into their scope. If you want more help, we write a new scope together.
The person
Who is Andrew Dall?
I am Andrew Dall, Principal of Emaration LLC. I am a disabled veteran in Astoria, Oregon, and I wrote this page.
You hire me for a job. I write it down. Then I do it. That is the job.
U.S. Coast Guard, 2005 to 2008, Houston. Search and rescue. Maritime law. Port security. Humanitarian Service Medal for hurricane relief. National Defense Service Medal.
The VA put me through six years of college. Two associate degrees at Portland Community College, then a B.S. in cybersecurity at Oregon Institute of Technology, cum laude. I started in computer science, switched to IT management for a year while the cybersecurity program opened, then I took it.
I have worked as a direct Microsoft partner.
After the Coast Guard I did the parts of IT that had to ship. Infrastructure. Security programs. Account work. Eight years as IT Director for Oregon’s largest DAV chapter. Upward Technology. Pacific Office Automation, including stopping a $250,000 wire-fraud attempt by catching bad mail-forwarding rules. Internetworks. Then this flag.
I have spent my career on the business side of IT decisions, from small back offices to companies worth billions, and helped them spend millions of dollars on it well. All of those were places I worked, not Emaration clients. The questions were the same at every size: what are we paying for, and does it still make sense? I earned trust there, and I would like to earn yours.
I work from Astoria, Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia.
LinkedIn has the longer résumé. The offer on this page is the work.
Start here
How do I reach Andrew?
Email or call. I answer both. andrew@emaration.com · 971-401-8866. I put the work on the calendar with you. I am based in Astoria, Oregon 97103. I come to you, or we talk by phone or video.
- Tell me what the job is. A sentence or two is plenty.
- Emaration LLC is owned by a disabled U.S. Coast Guard veteran and is positioned for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business work. It holds no SBA certification. If you buy that way, mention it.
- If you need me right away, say so. A rush goes into the written scope before the work starts.
Where to find me
Five sites, each for a different kind of work.
Here on emaration.com I help with leadership, strategy, and advice. I run four of these sites on my own, and emaration.org with Jordan. Pick the one that fits what you need.
This page
emaration.com
Leadership, strategy, and advice on IT, security, and AI. Every job gets a written scope.
emaration.ai
Membership, scans, and websites for being found in AI search. It takes steady work over time. Visit the site.
emaration.site
Custom software, and a gallery of apps, programs, and sites I have made. Visit the site.
emaration.works
An open hour each month on AI or cybersecurity: thirty minutes of talk, thirty of questions. Visit the site.
emaration.org
Jordan and I work on practical technology with people who have vision and hearing loss: a light-up cane and a transcript app, both still in development. Visit the site.