Derek Loseke is a Senior Systems Engineer with Eakes Managed IT Services. Before joining Eakes, he spent just under a decade with Kidwell Technologies, which was acquired by Eakes Office Solutions in 2026. Through Tech Notes and Dad Jokes, Derek writes about the ever-changing world of information technology, with a particular interest in data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, infrastructure, cloud services, and the real-world operational lessons that come from supporting technology environments. The site is also an outlet for the occasional dad joke—because even serious IT work benefits from not taking itself too seriously.
Derek brings more than two decades of experience supporting small and mid-sized organizations across infrastructure, virtualization, cloud services, cybersecurity, data protection, and business continuity. His work has included presales engineering, project scoping and implementation, technical escalation, internal infrastructure support, product evaluation and vendor relationships, and mentoring fellow engineers. His primary technical interests include Backup and Disaster Recovery, virtualization technologies, cloud services, information security and practical IT operations that help organizations recover quickly and operate reliably.
Before Kidwell, Derek spent five years with FNTS (formerly First National Technology Solutions), where he worked as a Windows Systems Engineer supporting VMware clusters hosted on Cisco UCS infrastructure and large-scale Windows Server virtual-machine environments. He also spent seven years with NP Dodge Company providing internal IT support to the entire NP Dodge Real Estate division. Across those roles, he has worked with—and continues to follow—the evolving ecosystems around VMware and alternative virtualization platforms, Microsoft 365 Cloud, Dell Technologies, and Veeam.
Derek has used Veeam products for approximately a decade and has been a member of the Veeam 100 community since 2022. He first participated as a Veeam Legend from 2022-2024 and has held the title of Veeam Vanguard since 2025. His activities within the Veeam 100 has twice taken him to Prague, Czech Republic to attend the Veeam 100 Summit, as well as Miami and San Diego to represent the Veeam 100 community at the VeeamON conferences. He is looking forward to attending another Veeam 100 Summit this fall, this time in Lisbon, Portugal. Derek has also represented Object First as an Object First Ace since 2024. Derek has participated in the Dell Technologies Heroes program for nine years and is also a member of Dell’s Trusted Tester and Beta Tester Plus programs. He has earned professional credentials including CCNA and VCP-DCV certifications.
Derek resides in Omaha, Nebraska, where he has lived for the past 26 years. He was raised on the family farm north of Columbus, Nebraska. He and his wife, Barb, have been married for over 20 years and have three children: Caitlin, Addison and Easton. Derek and his family spent several years volunteering in dog rescue, especially with Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. Along the way, they fostered more than 30 dogs and experienced a few “foster failures” of their own. Today, the household includes Lulu, an all-white Husky/Shepherd mix, and Ranger, a red-and-white Siberian Husky.
Outside of IT, Derek is a General-class Amateur Radio operator, callsign KD0INN. For over 18 years, he has volunteered with Heartland READY (formerly Heartland REACT), supporting Douglas County Emergency Management Agency and National Weather Service through SKYWARN severe-weather spotting and emergency-communications activities.
You can find Derek on Reddit, LinkedIn and most other social platforms as @dloseke.