Meet Bob Guzzo - CEO of Orange Coast Computer

From the beginning, it seems that Bob Guzzo was preordained to found and run a service-oriented company. As a young boy in Ohio he made money mowing grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow, and when he was older his dad let him work for his concrete construction company during the summers.  Every step Bob gained valuable experience, discipline and expertise forming the ideal foundation for such an undertaking.

By 1975, Bob graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University.  IBM wanted to hire him, but since they had a hiring freeze at that time, he went to work at Compu-Serv as a programmer/analyst.  After 9 months as a programmer/analyst, IBM lifted the freeze, and he went on to work at IBM as a System Engineer, focusing on mid-range systems, from the System/34 to the System/38. During that time, he became the industry specialist in Distribution, Manufacturing, Retail, and Construction.  After five fruitful years of learning the detailed technical aspects and associated applications of these IBM systems, he advanced to sales of AS/400 systems. The switch was obviously a success, as Bob achieved IBM's "National Rookie of the Year" award in his new position.

For the next eight years as an IBM salesman Bob continued to combine his strong technical expertise in mid-range systems with an equally strong pursuit of the real needs of his clients, in order to serve his customers as a true business consultant.

In 1989, Bob's entrepreneurial spirit took over and he struck out on his own, founding Orange Coast Computer in Southern California. Relying on his strong technical background and a passion for making sure that the needs of his clients were always met, Bob grew OCC into a leading provider of new and refurbished IBM Power i and Power p Servers.  He quickly grew the company to over $2 million in sales.  In order to ensure high standards of quality for their refurbished products, he established a technical center and a warehouse.

Several years ago, OCC made a strategic change to its offerings.  OCC became an agent to sell a wide variety of software solutions, from High Availability to Document Imaging to Business Intelligence/Analytics, and much more.  OCC also provides the professional services necessary to provide turn-key solutions to its customers.  In addition, OCC established Cloud services for its customers who wanted to outsource their operations as well as to alleviate their responsibility to perform version upgrades and periodic system software maintenance.

Bob continues to run OCC today with the same passion and dedication to provide a quality solution and a superior customer experience.  His expansive customer base is testimonial to this focus.  

All of this cumulative experience is ideal, enabling Bob to serve his customers as an IT consultant in an ever changing, complex and complicated world of technology. 

He does maintain a life outside of work. He slowly surrendered his lifelong love of golf in favor of a new second career:  that of being a "professional father" to his two children. His spare time revolves more around attending snowboarding competitions, sailing regattas and soccer games than working on his putting. Since his son Jackson wants to become a professional goalkeeper, he now has experience as both a soccer coach and referee. Now that his son is older, he can share his love of fishing with him.  He and his wife Lisa actively support the Orange County Philharmonic, Lido Isle Yacht Club, Boy Scouts of America and the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.