Rockaway Technology’s Story

MacGregor, the parent company, has been in the information business since 1986. A major investment was made in computer technology in 1993. Since that investment, Mac Gregor has had a technology department which grew the company from the initial X-Nix server using dumb terminals into a multi-server, multi platform, multi million dollar company. 
Mac Gregor was heavily involved in the housing industry, and with the downturn of that market, many cost cutting measures were put in place. One such measure that was seriously considered was replacing the IT dept with an outside service. We looked in the Yellow pages, searched the major search engines and asked for referrals looking for a company to outsource this work.
We found many “Mom and Pop” type shops were willing to help. We were not comfortable with that solution. Too many things could happen to the owner that might leave this company without computers. Even for a short time, that risk was not acceptable.
We found many “real” companies, all of which looked down their noses at us because we only had 50 desktops. We were simply too small for them to consider.  
After many frustrating weeks and months, we asked the question, “Who is there supporting the small and medium sized businesses?” We made the decision to not only keep our IT dept, but agreed to market these very services to the local business community. If we couldn’t find a favorable solution, there were probably others out there with the same issues.
So there is the birth of Rockaway Technology Group, started by business people for business people.

Rockaway Technology Group

Biography

Thomas J Casill

Thomas J. Casill got his start in business at the age of 12 when he started his paper route. He graduated to a landscape business at the age of 14 and went door to door soliciting his neighbors as client for his newly formed business. The charge was $5 to cut their grass and sweep the sidewalks.  Many satisfied customers were established.

With a growing interest in business, he eventually worked at several major restaurant chains, where he received formal education on hiring, firing and training a staff, inventory and cost control,.. everything up to and including weekly profit and loss statements.

In 1986 he founded Mac Gregor, a company supplying real estate information and services to attorneys, developers, bankers and other real estate professionals. As the company grew, so did the amount of information that was being handled. A major investment in 1993 automated the entire office, taking it into the technology age. The newly established IT Dept managed the X-Nix server and the Wise 50 dumb terminals. The IT Dept, closely overseen by Mr. Casill, took the technology through U-Nix and Linix servers, running along side of NT, Windows 2000 and XP servers. By the time 2003 came around, the company was running a bone fide IT operation running 5 robust file servers, internet connections, web site, e-mail service and 50+ desktop operations making Mac Gregor one of the most technologically advanced companies in the industry.

Controlling costs was always a passion. It an effort to control IT costs, there was an extensive search for a company to support Mac Gregor’s information. After many frustrating weeks and months of searching without finding a suitable solution. Mr Casill recognized a major lack in the service industry: supplying IT services to small and medium sized companies. It was in an effort to meet this growing need in the business community that Rockaway Technology was formed, by business people, for business people.