Cloudforce Senior Cloud Solutions Engineer Ryan Wessling, brings a wealth of experience and expertise in IT Consulting and Microsoft solutions, particularly Azure and Microsoft 365. Born and raised in Maryland, Ryan was first exposed to computers in the early 80s, right in his father’s home office which was equipped with an IBM Model 5150 PC (a very rare thing for a kid in those days). This early exposure ignited a lifelong passion for technology.

After graduating from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, MD, Ryan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served four years as an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Specialist. Following his military service, Ryan embarked on a career in technology, starting with a local systems integrator and distributor. Here, he built, serviced, and installed network-attached storage systems, network video recording appliances, and optical storage libraries from manufacturers such as JVC, NSM, and Plasmon; and his work took him to notable locations like New York City’s Rikers Island facility, The Pentagon, NSA, and the National Ground Intelligence Center.

Transitioning to the IT consulting world, Ryan joined a managed service provider (MSP) in the DMV area, where he advanced from tier-2 service and support to Cloud Services Manager. During his tenure, he became proficient in networking, storage, virtualization, the Microsoft 365 suite, and Microsoft Azure. Ryan played a pivotal role in assessing Azure’s viability as a replacement for private cloud services and successfully migrated all their hosted infrastructure to Azure, leading to significant cost savings and capabilities. He joined Cloudforce in fall 2022. 
 
Outside of his professional life, Ryan is a dedicated family man, married to his wife Becky for nearly 25 years and father to three daughters, Madison, Meghan, and Molly. A lifelong resident of the DMV, he is an avid fan of the Washington Commanders, Washington Capitals, and Baltimore Orioles. In his free time, Ryan enjoys spending time with family and friends, attending concerts, cycling and mountain biking, snowboarding, and relaxing at the beach. 

What season would you be?

• Summer, without question. Give me sun, warm weather, flip flops, good music, and I’m a happy camper!

What is your favorite album?

• This is a tough one for me and depends on how my mood strikes me. It could be Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, U2’s Achtung Baby, The Beatles’ White Album, but most often I find myself putting on The Doors’ LA Woman, it’s the ultimate garage band style album, timeless, and brilliant in my opinion. 

Do you have any hidden talents?

• I wouldn’t exactly consider it hidden because I’m very on the sleeve with it, but I’ve been known to do voice impersonations. Ask me to do Shaggy from Scooby-Doo (or Scooby himself), Arnold Schwarzenegger, or “The Movie Guy” voice to name a few. 

If you had a time machine, would you go back or into the future? And why?

• I’ve always thought it would be interesting to travel back in time to see what the area I grew up in was like before the sprawl took hold. I find myself drawn to old pictures of my hometown and surrounding area in the decades before I arrived on the planet and would love to be able to explore beyond what the pictures hold. 

What is your favorite dessert?

• My Grandma June’s pineapple upside down cake. Call me old fashioned 😊