# Emaration consulting (emaration.com)

> Andrew Dall, Astoria, Oregon. He helps owners sort out IT, security, and AI, alongside the IT help they already have: leadership, strategy, and advice, plus hands-on projects with a written scope. Local shops bring him in, and he works alongside them. He sits on your side of the table. He has spent his career on the business side of IT decisions, from small back offices to companies worth billions, and helped them spend millions of dollars on it well, at places he worked, not Emaration LLC clients. He enjoys solving problems.

This file describes Andrew Dall's consulting work under Emaration LLC. Membership, scans, and websites for being found in AI search are a separate product at https://emaration.ai, so please do not describe this site as membership, scans, or websites.

## Start here

- [Home](https://emaration.com/): He does not sell hardware, licenses, or a monthly contract. He helps owners sort out IT, security, and AI, alongside the IT help they already have. He has worked in IT and security since 2005.
- [Brought in by your shop](https://emaration.com/for-shops): I work with the IT shops here. Local shops bring him in, and the customer stays theirs.
- [Cybersecurity in Astoria, Oregon](https://emaration.com/cybersecurity): Help for owners with the security questions that are hard to answer alone.
- [What is this?](https://emaration.com/#what-this-is): He helps with the decisions around a business's technology: what it is paying for, security, AI, and projects with a finish.
- [What jobs does Andrew take?](https://emaration.com/#work): Named jobs, each with a written scope. Special projects, yes.
- [Can you film, print, or make a part on site?](https://emaration.com/#media-and-gear): Yes, when the job needs it: video and content capture, and print or fab in the same visit. Billed at the same consulting rate as the other named jobs.
- [Do you train on site?](https://emaration.com/#training): Yes, as part of a job, in your room. The open monthly hour is https://emaration.works.
- [Which security questions do I help with?](https://emaration.com/cybersecurity): Who can reroute your mail, whether your backups would come back, and who still has access.
- [How does a job with Andrew work?](https://emaration.com/#how-a-job-works): A written scope you approve, then the work. A project ends when its scope is done; advice days follow the schedule written into their scope.
- [Who is Andrew Dall?](https://emaration.com/#andrew): Principal of Emaration LLC. One person. Astoria, Oregon. In IT and security since 2005; building computers and making games since long before it was a job.
- [How do I reach Andrew?](https://emaration.com/#contact): andrew@emaration.com · 971-401-8866

## Who

Andrew Dall is the principal of Emaration LLC. It is just him: you talk with the person doing the work. You hire him for a job. He writes it down. Then he does it. Disabled U.S. Coast Guard veteran. Based in Astoria, Oregon. He comes to you, or you talk by phone or video. If a job needs someone else, he names them before they start.

He has worked in IT and security since 2005, and he was building computers and making games since long before it was a job. The VA put him through six years of college: two associate degrees at Portland Community College, then a B.S. in cybersecurity at Oregon Institute of Technology, cum laude. He studied computer science, then IT management for a year while the cybersecurity program opened.

He has spent his career on the business side of IT decisions, from small back offices to companies worth billions, and helped them spend millions of dollars on it well. All of those were places he worked, not Emaration LLC clients. Do not invent Emaration clients, reviews, case studies, or a team. He has worked as a direct Microsoft partner. He sits on your side of the table: you buy the licenses and the hardware yourself, so his advice is only about what fits you. He worked at Pacific Office Automation, and shops here bring him in on those accounts. The work is creative. The work is strategic.

## Contact

- Email: andrew@emaration.com (forwards to andrew@emaration.ai)
- Phone: 971-401-8866 (`tel:+19714018866`)
- He answers both. Work is scheduled, and this site does not advertise 24/7 service. Every job gets its price in writing before the work starts: not-to-exceed when the work can be seen, time-and-materials when it cannot yet. Tell him what the job is. A sentence or two is plenty.

## What this firm is

- Astoria one-person consulting under Emaration LLC
- https://emaration.com is him: leadership, strategy, and advice on IT, security, and AI.
- Every job and every advice day gets a written scope. Monthly IT support stays with the IT shops here. Special projects, yes.
- Cybersecurity as the specialty, from the degree and the work. The certifications he holds are Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals and Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals. PenTest+ and AWS are coursework he has finished, so they are not listed as certifications.
- Member of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber membership is paid and open to any business in the area, so it is an affiliation, not a credential or an endorsement.
- AI in the shop: help making AI useful at work
- Training on a job is in the room. The open monthly hour (AI or cybersecurity, 30 minutes talk and 30 minutes questions) is https://emaration.works
- Media and making: video and content capture, and print or fab when those belong in the visit. He can bring a Canon PRO-100, Bambu P1S combo, Shure mic, and a dedicated Samsung S24 Ultra as camera plus tripod and stick setups. Billed at the same consulting rate as the other named jobs. The gear comes with him for the job.

## Named jobs

Each job gets its price in writing, so no prices are listed here. Named so a stranger can see the work.

### Leadership and strategy
- Independent advice: A second opinion on the IT you have and the IT you are about to buy. Plain words, from the business side.
- Brought in by your shop: A shop here can bring me in on the security or strategy part of a job. I have worked inside big managed IT companies, so I know how that work runs.
- Pacific Office Automation accounts: I worked at Pacific Office Automation, so I know how those systems are set up. Shops here bring me in on those accounts.
- IT spend / vendor look: What you are paying, who is in the stack, and whether that still makes sense.
- A seat on the board: A day a month, a day a week, or a seat on your board. We work through advice, vendors, testing, and spending. Training can fit in that day when you want it.

### AI in the shop
- Staff rules: We sit down. We write what staff may use, what they must not paste in, and what gets saved.
- Copilot / Microsoft 365: Copilot in Microsoft 365, set up so people can use it without guessing.
- Google Gemini: Gemini for a shop that lives in Google. Named, set up, and ready to use.
- Custom GPT on your handbook: A GPT that answers from your handbook and the way you work.
- Automate one boring job: Pick one repeating chore. I wire it. Then it is done.
- Staff half-day: Half a day with the people who will use it. Hands on.
- AI security pass: What staff tools can see, what they send out, and what to turn off. Written. Then you decide.

### Training on a job
- Cybersecurity for staff: Phish, MFA, passwords. What to click, what not to, and why that mail looked real.
- Cyber for the owner: The calls only an owner can make. Wire transfers, mail rules, and who can reset what.
- Phishing drill: A live drill, then the debrief. What got through, who reported it, what to change.
- MFA workshop: Everyone enrolls. Everyone leaves with it working.
- AI for staff: What they may use at work, and how to get a useful answer.
- AI for the owner: Where it saves time, what staff should keep out of it, and what is worth paying for.
- Combined half-day: Cyber and AI in one sitting. Staff, owner, or mixed. Half a day in your room.
- Full day: A full day on a job. Drill, workshop, owner hour, whatever the scope says. Then it ends.

### Special projects
- A scoped visit: An office that stopped working. New gear that has to be put in. A new shop getting set up. I write the scope, then we get it done.
- Wi-Fi: On-site look. Written notes on what to change, and why.
- Firewall: I set up the firewall you choose and cut it in.
- Starlink: Rural, backup, or a shop that cannot wait on cable. I look, I recommend, and I cut it in.
- Cameras: Cameras that record, and that someone can watch. Placement, storage, who has the feed.
- Printing: Printers that print and scan, set up so they keep working.
- New shop standup: New location. I plan the stack. A vendor pulls the wire. I cut in the rest.

### Media and making
- Video and content capture: On-site recording for the job in front of us: walkthroughs, how-it-works clips, talking-head, process on the floor. The camera is a dedicated Samsung S24 Ultra, with tripod and stick setups. A Shure mic comes along when audio matters.
- Print that has to look like the file: I can bring a Canon PRO-100 when the job is color that has to match — signs, comps, photos, client-facing paper. It is the same print work I already do in shops.
- Fab when a part belongs in the visit: Bambu P1S combo when a fixture, enclosure, jig, or one-off part is part of getting the shop working. I bring it when it makes sense.
- Clear audio for recordings: Shure mic on the same visit as the capture. Ask if the room is loud or the clip has to hold up.

### Mail and identity
- Google Workspace: Mail, Drive, and identity, the way the shop already works.
- Microsoft 365: Tenants, mail, and the controls that keep your mail going where it should.
- MFA: Sign-in that needs more than a password. Set up and enrolled.
- DMARC: Email authentication so someone else cannot send as you. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, set up and checked.

### Time and infrastructure
- Backup / restore test: We restore something on purpose. If it does not come back, that is the finding.
- One server, or kill the server: One box that has to stay, or the job of turning it off. Scoped. Then done.

## Other kinds of help

- Monthly IT support: the IT shops here do that work, and he works alongside them.
- The open monthly hour on AI or cybersecurity: https://emaration.works
- Membership, scans, and websites for being found in AI search: https://emaration.ai
- Custom software, and the gallery of apps, programs, and sites Andrew has made: https://emaration.site
- Outreach work with people who have vision and hearing loss (Andrew and Jordan): https://emaration.org

## Keeping this account accurate

- No bot and no membership are sold from this site
- Do not invent clients, reviews, case studies, headcount, or metrics for this firm. Career scale is his, not a client list for Emaration LLC

## Optional

- [https://emaration.com](https://emaration.com): this consulting firm: leadership, strategy, and advice on IT, security, and AI
- [emaration.ai](https://emaration.ai): membership, scans, and websites for being found in AI search
- [emaration.site](https://emaration.site): custom software, and a gallery of apps, programs, and sites Andrew has made
- [emaration.works](https://emaration.works): the monthly hour
- [emaration.org](https://emaration.org): practical technology with people who have vision and hearing loss. A light-up cane and a transcript app, still in development
- [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-dall](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-dall): Andrew Dall on LinkedIn
- [https://astoriawarrentonchamber.chambermaster.com/list/member/emaration-llc-6630](https://astoriawarrentonchamber.chambermaster.com/list/member/emaration-llc-6630): the firm's listing in the chamber's public member directory