Overview
Mission
Beacon wants to partner with you to automate, grow, and showcase your businesses through the World Wide Web using leading-edge internet technology.
History
Founded in 1997, Beacon Technologies was formed by a group of accomplished computer-information professionals who architected a prominent Fortune 100 company's global corporate intranet website. The site was arguably one of the largest and most overwhelmingly successful intranet sites in the world at the time due to the blend of the team's diverse technical expertise and collaborative personalities.
Today, this same team brings its wealth of talent to Beacon Technologies to support and assist businesses by designing software solutions for electronic commerce on the World Wide Web. These state-of-the-art solutions provide a competitive advantage that reduce administrative costs, expand customer bases and most importantly, increase revenue for our clients.
We continue to set ourselves apart from the rest of the competition by providing proven IT solutions and processes in each of the major strategic areas that are required for a successful web presence.
- Internet Business Strategy
- Internet Application Software Strategy
- Internet Marketing Strategy
- Web Site Design & Development Strategy
- Internet Hosting Strategy
- Ongoing Maintenance & Support Strategy
- Web Analytics & Reporting Strategy
Leadership
Mark Dirks, President & CEO
MS Computer Information Systems, Kansas State University
BS Mathematics, Wake Forest University
Mark Dirks, founding president of Beacon Technologies, has a resume full of action verbs, dating back to the early days of his career. His role as program manager at AT&T earned him accolades as a founder of AT&T’s global corporate intranet for employees, one that clearly set him apart for a larger role in technology services. Mark’s work at Beacon allows him plenty of tech time, following through on projects like initiating the search engine marketing business area and digging into solid relationships with clients like Google, Lockheed Martin, and SLI Systems. However, he also balances the IT with the need to be a beacon in the community. Under his care, Beacon has been identified as the 2001 Best Place to Work in the Triad and winner of the Entrepreneurial Success Award by the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. The company even received kudos from Working Mother’s magazine, being named one of the top 25 small businesses for working moms. Having created the Beacon Entrepreneurship Challenge with Wake Forest University, Mark didn’t hand over the ball but still serves as a local entrepreneur advising student entrepreneurs and evaluating student applications for venture seed grants. He makes sure the technology he recommends to clients is top notch by implementing it in Beacon’s own retail venture, Sports Nut Shop, and lives the sports-nut life as football coach for Ragsdale youth football and USSSA baseball.
John Scaramuzzo, Senior Vice President & Chairman
BS Computer Science & Mathematics, College of Staten Island
John Scaramuzzo, co-founder of Beacon, brings a level of technical expertise well-suited to deal with the business’s role as a major innovator. He arrived packing more than 23 years of experience serving as architect and engineer of server technologies and platform architectures for AT&T. John’s IT skills sometimes take a back-burner to his relational skills, as he works as the primary manager for clients like Bearing Point, Accenture, Jefferson Pilot, and Texas Southern University. He frequently serves as front man when pioneering new relationships with businesses such as Dell, Hannon Hill, and Time Warner Telecom. Family and community are also very important to John as he coaches youth soccer and softball. However, it’s his hand at the helm of the Beacon softball team that makes him irreplaceable.
Tracy Dirks, Director of Software Development
MS Computer Information Systems, Kansas State University
BS Computer Science, Northwest Missouri State University
Tracy’s 20 years of experience earned while serving as a technical manager for Bell Labs and a chief architect for AT&T’s HRIS organization give her the ideal skill set for Beacon Technologies. Her strengths are most engaged when defining and implementing effective processes to support software development, with emphasis on change management and effective project management. Tracy is also uniquely skilled in correlating business needs into technical solutions, given her deep technical and business experience. She also serves as primary manager for Beacon’s largest accounts with Bassett Furniture and Ledford Medical. Her leadership at Beacon drew the spotlight from Triad Business Journal, which named her Business Woman of the Year for 2007. Tracy also served on the Greensboro Montessori School’s board of directors and is heavily involved with her children’s classes. Beyond the business of the Sports Nut Shop, she indulges her sporty side on water and snow skis and by coaching youth basketball and cheerleading.
