First experience with Zintro was a big success
I responded to an inquiry in which the critical problem was a server that was infiltrated by spammers. The initial phone consultation enabled us to define the terms of a consulting engagement.
The client was actually another consultant, looking for additional technical firepower to address the issue of spammer hijacking. The situation was such that the consultant's customer was about to have their server disconnected by their ISP because of the spam flowing through it.
I worked with my client (the consultant), and together we traced the problem to its source. I drafted an 18-page report of findings, describing all of the vulnerabilities I discovered in the process of investigating the spam attack. Log file analysis revealed the attacker's IP address and infected files, some of which were used to create other infected files. Some people get stressed out by the tedious process of digging for clues, but this is the type of firefight I really enjoy.
Not only did the initial consultation lead to the creation of a project, it led to a follow-up project to ensure that the original problem was truly solved. Beyond that, it led to an ongoing, monthly schedule to revisit the server and respond vigorously to any security anomalies that crop up. In this situation, my job is to enable another consultant to offer broader services to his clients than he could provide on his own.
The next challenge is to figure out how to make Zintro a larger part of my consulting practice. It is certainly a great source of high-quality contacts.