About Don Cook
I help organizations reduce operational friction, simplify systems, and automate repetitive work—using practical IT experience, not buzzwords or hype.
Hands-on IT operations experience — grounded in real environments
I’m Don Cook — an IT operations professional focused on reducing friction, improving reliability, and helping teams stop being reactive. I don’t sell tools for the sake of tools. I help organizations understand what they already have, identify what’s actually causing pain, and make practical improvements that stick.
How I work
Most IT problems aren’t caused by bad tools — they’re caused by overcomplicated processes, manual work, and systems no one has time to step back and rethink. I focus on practical improvements that stick.
Why work with me
I’ve spent years working inside real production IT environments—supporting users, fixing broken processes, and maintaining systems teams depend on daily. I don’t sell tools or push change just to justify it. My focus is on practical improvements that reduce friction, improve reliability, and leave your team with systems they can confidently support.
1) Understand
Learn how your environment actually operates and where the friction lives.
2) Simplify
Remove unnecessary complexity and reduce operational noise.
3) Automate
Automate repetitive work in a way your team can maintain.
4) Document
Leave clear next steps and documentation that actually gets used.
What I focus on
These are the areas I most often see slowing teams down in real environments.
Operational Efficiency
Reduce ticket friction and help IT move from reactive to manageable.
Automation That Sticks
Maintainable automation using scripting and APIs — no brittle “magic.”
Security Hygiene
Reduce identity sprawl, access drift, and configuration debt before they become incidents.
Let’s talk through your environment
If you want a grounded outside perspective or help reducing operational friction, send a message and I’ll reply with a simple next step.