I want to thank Mary Beth Ray at Cisco Press for seeing enough in my articles to track me down and for patiently listening to all the tangential stories during our phone calls. She had to learn a lot about my past, my family, and many other crazy ideas to get to this book.

Kurt Underwood, thank you for the validation. Your response to pre-edited chapters helped me keep the faith and maintain a belief that there is important information in the toolkit.

Special thanks go out to Barbara Lynch at Wellpoint/Blue Cross, for putting up with my eccentricities and allowing me to create solutions for you for five years. I learned as much during those years as any time in my life.

To everyone at Cisco Press—in particular Chris Cleveland for saying I was a “good writer.” All my bravado and pseudoconfidence stripped away, that is something every writer yearns to hear from an editor.

Lastly to all my past employers, clients, mentors, and peers—you have been my best professors. I hope to continue to learn from you for many years to come.