Oaker Leads Growing Machado IT Solutions Firm

WORCESTER, MA — Quality IT solutions aren’t just a Fortune 500 concern, a principle Machado IT, led by 1988 Oaker and veteran Helder Machado, has followed as the successful firm expands into his home state.

Helder, born in Portugal, immigrated to the U.S. with his family, growing up on a farm in Coventry. They didn’t have much, moving to the states with only their suitcases, and the family remained of modest means through his childhood. Many who remember him from school probably remember him as Adam, the name he chose while in school. Fearing his given name might make it harder to fit in, he began asking teachers to refer to him as Adam. He wouldn’t accept his given name till shortly after high school.

Machado wanted to go to college, and the only way to do that was through the Montgomery GI Bill, providing up to 36 months of education benefits for college. Machado enlisted in the U.S. Army at 17, at the start of his senior year, in part to take advantage of the education benefits.

After graduation, Helder found himself training for the Army Infantry School in the Georgia heat at Fort Benning. He asked his Drill Sergeant to call him Adam, and his Drill Sergeant responded, ‘OK, Helder!” as he recalls in a tribute to his late uncle, also named Helder.

The Drill Sergeant pulled Helder aside after a few weeks and told him to re-assess his given name.

“He told me that it was unique and different and that there was a reason for that, so I better start liking it; and I did. From that day on, I was known as Helder,” he wrote.

Helder served in Iraq under the leadership of Secretary Colin Powell during the Gulf War in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, with the 3rd Infantry Division, retiring after 32 years as a Lt. Colonel and later spent six years with the Massachusetts Army National Guard as the Chief Information Officer CIO.

After leaving the Army, he earned his MBA from Fitchburg State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In 2001, he founded Machado Consulting, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

Cyber Security: Businesses Should Prep, Not React

Helder said his company aims to be a resource for small businesses that can fend off  online attacks, including malware, viruses and ransomware, before they happen, which isn’t the way most small businesses approach the problem.

“People don’t care about cyber security until it hits them,” Helder said, and then the issue is more difficult to address. A lot of business owners aren’t concerned, he said. “They don’t understand until they’ve been bitten and they’ve been bitten hard,” Helder said.

Often, he said, owners don’t realize that they’re not the only people in their organization that are being targeted. Their employees are at risk, too, and one wrong link clicked from a phishing email is sometimes all it takes to cause a lot of damage to a business.

Machado IT offers services including Enhanced Internet Security, Security Information and Event Management, Advanced Threat Protection, Endpoint Detection and Response, Training and Testing. One of the first things the company does with new clients is a full security risk assessment showing the holes in a company’s security and how to resolve them.

The longtime Massachusetts based IT security firm has begun expanding into the Ocean State, with a Providence Office at 225 Dyer St., and seeks to help local small businesses. They’ve also got service areas in Springfield, MA, Portland, ME, Hartford, CT and Manchester, NH.

John “J. R.” Pagliarini, Machado IT Solutions business development executive, was just elected to  the Central RI Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Pagliarini’s name may be familiar within political and business circles. He was communications director for  Warwick Mayor Lincoln Chafee, chief staff for the RI Commerce Corporation and Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. Don Carcieri, among other posts during the last 40 years.

The company isn’t all business. It’s first core value, Helder said, is service. Machado serves and supports many nonprofits through local giving and encouraging volunteerism. Some nonprofits they’ve supported include Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Clubs and The American Cancer Society.

“It’s mostly about serving our community and giving back,” he said.