IT-Security consulting and training. Sustainable, ethical, secure.

The story behind Van Gestel IT

People often ask me what IT services I actually stand for and why certain principles are important to me. And because the same questions are asked again and again, I have summarised the answers in a short IT story on this page.

You do do IT, don't you?

Yes and no. I started with the support of Windows server systems and networks, first with NT4 and then also Active Directory. Later on, I also did application development. In software development, it is common to record operating processes and procedures in order to map them in software models and database hierarchies. And it regularly happened that my critical questions led the customer to start thinking about his processes. So I ended up quite early on with the topics of process optimisation, continuous improvement and finally management systems.

All of this no longer has much to do with "IT". But if you deal with international standards for management systems like ISO9001 or ISO27001, you will inevitably end up with the topics of compliance and data protection. All this has many points of contact with IT and IT security, but the "field work" goes very far beyond the classic topics of an IT consultant.

Nevertheless, in the function as an information security officer, you work close to the technology again. The possibilities are manifold: starting with the classic IT security topics, such as network and server security, to more demanding requirements, such as scripting vulnerability analyses or developing databases for monitoring key figures of management systems. And last but not least, quite often, in the context of audits, risk analyses or security checks, advanced spreadsheets are needed for evaluation and reporting.

From time to time, I also like to pass on the expertise from IT security consulting in my IT training courses or e-learning courses.

Why are accessibility and training so important to you?

In the nineties I was employed by a manufacturer of aids for the blind. Originally I was a service technician responsible for the installation and maintenance of Braille devices and PCs with software for the blind. Very soon I became well acquainted with the working methods of visually impaired users and found myself working as an IT trainer for this very target group with demanding didactic tasks.

Since then, the topics of accessibility and IT training have accompanied me, and I have occasionally gotten involved in quite unusual IT training for the blind and visually impaired, such as programming training in the area of C#.NET or database development with SQL.

Regardless of whether I am working with the visually impaired or not, my aim in every training course is to pick up my students where they are at the moment and to transfer exactly the knowledge that is needed at that moment. Listening and dialogue are important for this. Sometimes I also have to explore or develop new things, and that's exactly what I enjoy doing.

And that's where the slogan comes from: Respectful, mutual, sustainable knowledge transfer

Why do you call your IT security consulting sustainable and ethical?

I am convinced that we as a society cannot and must not continue as before. And that we have to rethink fundamental economic principles. Especially now, during the pandemic, I feel confirmed in this. "The market" will not fix the Corona problem. Just as "the market" will not fix the climate crisis. Not to mention the unequal distribution of the world's resources. But "the market" or "society", that is many individuals and everyone can decide for themselves, every day anew, things that lead to more sustainability and to ethically compatible action.

As an entrepreneur, I can be ethically responsible by promoting fair products and not promoting senseless or polluting consumption. I can programme this website to load in less than a second, saving a whole lot of computing power and electricity. I can keep my money account at the Ethical Bank and I can also stand by as a consultant to visit clients by bicycle, wear second-hand clothes or use an outdated business laptop and paper calendars instead of always buying the latest, fanciest laptop and smart phone. As a CEO, I refuse to give in to the fairy tale of eternal growth because there are physical limits to growth and acceleration and because they certainly do not contribute to an ethical, sustainable and just world.