My focus is to understand what the client wants to achieve so I can draw out a path for them to get there. Most of the time when a client tells me what they "want" or "need" in technical terms, there's a more elegant and cheaper way to get there. Other times, their own expectations of what systems can do are not reasonable. I strive to understand the requirements of the system so that I can propose a solution to best meet the client's actual needs. I also strive to speak at the level of the person I am speaking with. I understand that there are those who are not as technically savvy and require things in terms they can relate to.
My skills in this regard run the gamut. Anything a small to medium sized business needs to operate is fair game and if I don't know it, I expect myself to learn it thoroughly to provide them the best service I can.
An understanding of the seven layers of the network. Everything needed for traffic to go from point a to point b.
Understanding how traffic routes, resolves, translates, bottlenecks, and preventing unwanted traffic.
If I can get my hands on it, I can take it over and migrate your entire network as desired.
Providing highly effective systems that do what they're supposed to with minimal downtime.
Reinstalling the operating system should be the LAST option.
This is where I am formally trained. My training allows me to pick up a new language in an inconsequential amount of time, gives me the ability to use good practices, and produces clean code that is well commented and understandable to others. I use Hungarian notation throughout the code I write regardless of language.
These are protocols I have written code for from scratch. I can speak them via telnet where applicable.
These are file formats I have written code to interact with, create and modify.