William Bratz, the owner of TNI Computers, never had a computer until 7th grade, but once he did, he knew what his life’s ambition would be…his own successful computer company. William started making web sites in the 8th grade and taught himself html and JavaScript and repaired computers all through high school. After High School and training as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, he received his A+ and Network+ Certification. Then he became interested in the Internet and computer security.

William started reading all the security books he could, becoming a part of the underground hacker and system administrator culture (it may sound ridiculous to someone who is not familiar with these things but its very much true). He also started setting up "Honeypots" at his home (a Honeypot is a computer that you put out on the internet and tell various hacker groups to try and hack it) and testing various security methods and software. At this point he discovered the Unix operating system and how secure it was, using it for many of his everyday computer operations. William also became interested in software engineering ad computer programming and is currently attending ABTech, majoring in computer science.

William has worked for many different computer firms with his first job as technical support for Bellsouth DSL. After that he serviced computers for businesses under contract with Dell, Apple, and HP, and at only the tender age of 19. It was while working with local computer firms that dealt strictly with residential customers that he felt compelled to help computer illiterates from exploitation. His first true business venture, TNI was started at age 21, when he started IT consulting and outsourcing. He has completed Video Teleconferencing Unit installs for the government, setup and repaired routers and servers for multi-million dollar corporations, and has even set up and installed HDTVs.

His goal in opening TNI is to help local small businesses and residential customers with reliable service that is honest and affordable. TNI Computers offers a complete technology solution for a business or home. We will help setup your high speed internet, and connect multiple computers to it. We will design, maintain, and host your web page, repair and troubleshoot every computer and laptop in your home, no matter if it is a PC or a MAC. We also offer training on every device we repair or install, as well as security audits for your business or home computers.

Also for business customers we have a preferred customer program for businesses whom are heavily reliant on computer systems and cannot afford downtime. This Includes 24/hr seven day a week on-call service, over the phone tech support service, security advice and training for owners and employees, and the ability to call and have someone to fix your problem in a matter of hours, not days. It’s like having a System Administrator for your small business. William may be reached at (828) 545-6461 for an appointment.

By: Lynn Chapin (Fun Things to do in the Mountians)