By Nathan Whittacre
Founder & CEO, Stimulus Technologies
Veteran IT strategist with 30+ years’ experience helping 800+ businesses—from SMBs to government—leverage technology for growth. MIT-certified in AI for Business Strategy, cybersecurity expert, and author of The CEO’s Digital Survival Guide.
On a warm afternoon in Nice, I crossed the Ironman World Championship finish line in 13 hours and 47 minutes.
The hardest work came on the run. I had to hold a pace I had never held before in an Ironman. My goal was a personal best for the marathon, and I finished the run in 4 hours and 28 minutes.
The body always wants a bargain in those final miles. Slow down. Walk a little. Try again next time. But I stayed steady. I focused on each step. I kept the pace I had trained for. That choice to keep moving—not too fast and not too slow—is what resilience looks like in real time.
The Hawaiian word Hoʻoikaika means “to make strong through effort” and was the theme of this year’s Ironman World Championship. I appreciated the theme deeply—it’s how I try to live and how we’ve led Stimulus Technologies for nearly 30 years.
Show up. Do the work. Improve what you can control. Be ready when the day gets hard.
What the Race Taught Me About IT Resilience
Racing in Nice demands constant decisions. Push too hard on the bike and you’ll pay for it on the run. Take it too easy, and you miss your best performance. You can’t control the heat, the wind, or the course. But you can control your response.
That maps directly to how we operate our business and support our clients.
IT Resilience Lessons from the Course
- Prepare for imperfect conditions
Perfect weather rarely shows up. In IT environments, perfect conditions are just as rare. Treat change and stress as defaults. - Build a plan you can stick to
I followed the plan I trained for—paces, nutrition, cadence. In IT, you need a proactive support plan that works when stress spikes, not just when things are calm. - Stay steady under pressure
When your body wants to slow down, you keep your form. In IT, your systems should do the same—maintain performance during incidents.
Resilience in Business: A Practical Framework
Resilience is not a buzzword. It’s a measurable set of disciplines and a mindset your team can practice.
1. Assess Honestly
Athletes measure fitness. I tested mine every few months to plan the next phase. Businesses need the same clarity around their cybersecurity posture.
Ask yourself: Where are we vulnerable? What happens if something fails?
Start with a real baseline.
2. Strengthen the Fundamentals
Easy long runs. Brutal speed work. Both matter. In IT, the fundamentals are your foundation:
- Patch management
- Identity protection
- MFA
- Microsoft 365 security tuning
- Endpoint hardening
They aren’t glamorous—but they keep you moving when others stop.
3. Detect Early, Respond Fast
Catching a problem at mile 5 is easier than at mile 20. IT is no different.
Use tools like:
- Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
- 24x7 monitoring
- Automated patching
- Clear escalation procedures
4. Back Up and Rehearse Recovery
You carry spares on the bike for a reason. In IT, that means:
- Direct-to-cloud imaging
- Verified backups
- Clear RTOs (Recovery Time Objectives)
- Actual restore tests
If your backup hasn’t been tested, it’s a wish—not a plan.
5. Coach the Team
People decide outcomes. Train them to be part of your IT defense layer, not a liability.
- Security awareness training
- Phishing simulations
- Password hygiene
- Daily action guides
From Break-Fix to Proactive IT Wellness
Seventeen years ago, Stimulus Technologies left break-fix support behind. We built a proactive IT model because prevention is faster and cheaper than rescue.
What we’ve added since:
- Modern monitoring
- Advanced endpoint protection
- Microsoft 365 cybersecurity layers
- Smarter, closer-to-user backups
- User training with measurable results
The result? Less IT drama. Less downtime. More time for you to serve your clients.
Values That Hold Under Pressure
Our five core values shape how we respond when things break:
- Driven to Grow
- See a Need, Fill a Need
- Elevate Others
- Extreme Ownership
- Celebrate Success
They guide our hiring, coaching, and how we communicate—calm, prepared, and accountable.
Right-Sizing IT Resilience for Your Business
Every organization starts from a different place. You don’t need everything, but you do need the right balance of protection, operations, and recovery.
Our 2025 Managed IT Solutions Offer:
Remote Labor Included
- Core IT Solutions: Reliable remote support + standard cybersecurity
- Premier IT Solutions: Advanced cybersecurity + support for growing firms
Remote + Onsite Labor Included
- Complete IT Solutions: Onsite help + compliance support
- Pinnacle IT Solutions: Full-spectrum management + tight recovery SLAs
Common Features Across All Tiers
- Endpoint protection with EDR & MDR
- Microsoft 365 protection & backup
- MFA and identity hygiene
- Security awareness training
- Dark web monitoring
- Imaging backups
- Optional 24/7 SOC
- Policy documentation & assessments
- Firewall + Wi-Fi management
- Employee lifecycle data protection
Why IT Resilience Matters More Than Ever
1. Threat Speed
AI-powered attackers automate reconnaissance, phishing, and lateral movement. Your cybersecurity must match that pace—fast visibility, faster containment, and trained teams.
2. Operational Interdependence
You depend on cloud apps, partners, VoIP, and remote teams. Small failures now cascade into compliance issues, lost revenue, or broken client trust.
Resilience helps you keep promises under pressure.
A Real Example: Resilience in Action
One of our professional services clients flagged unusual mailbox activity. Our tools identified it as a critical anomaly.
Because controls were already in place and the team was trained:
- We contained the threat within minutes
- All credentials were reset securely
- No data loss. No downtime. No network breach
That’s what steady looks like.
What Our Initial Resilience Assessment Delivers
If you’re a CEO, CFO, or COO, you don’t need fear—you need a clear, actionable plan.
Your Assessment Includes:
- A plain-English risk snapshot
- Top 5 exposures ranked by likelihood and business impact
- A 90-day roadmap with quick wins
- A recovery timeline reality check
- Policy and training gap map aligned with your industry
The process is light. The output is clear. No binder full of buzzwords—just a plan you can act on.
Finishing Strong—The Lesson of Nice and Kona
Nice taught me this: the fastest athlete is not always the one who wins.
The steady one, who solves problems mile by mile, crosses the line with pride.
At the Ironman World Championship in Kona, three leaders didn’t finish. One collapsed at mile 24. The winners? They paced. They fueled. They finished strong.
You can’t control the heat. But you can control your response.
Your IT should behave the same—steady under stress, protected from threats, and ready to recover.
At Stimulus Technologies, we’ve designed our services to reflect those same values: Accountable. Proactive. Calm under pressure.
Ready to Assess Your IT Resilience?
Start with clarity.
Schedule your Initial Resilience Assessment. We’ll bring the plan. You bring the willingness to show up.
You don’t win races on race day. You win them in training. Your business finish line is no different.
Hoʻoikaika isn’t about perfection—it’s about effort that makes you stronger.
It’s about finishing what you start.
