Who Is Gary Tonniges Jr, CPA And Why Do Fort Worth CFOs Trust Him
To Provide Their Businesses With Reliable IT Solutions?
Gary Tonniges Jr, CPA, founded the company in 1997 and serves as its CEO. He graduated with an accounting degree from Texas A&M, earned his Certified Public Accounting license, attained an Executive MBA from TCU, and maintains numerous technical certifications. His wife, Cyndy Tonniges, graduated from Texas A&M with a Business Analysis degree. She maintains her Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR), Myers-Briggs (MBTI) and Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO) certifications. She leads the company’s Marketing and Membership departments.
Gary’s goal from the beginning was to deliver service that’s consistently greater than the sum of its parts. Also known as “The TriQuest Way,” this focus provides every customer with the competitive advantage of having reliable, responsible, right-sized IT that can grow, change, and adapt as their business evolves.
Gary Tonniges Jr, CPA's book- Easy Mark:
How A Tech-Savvy CPA Launched One Of Fort Worth’s Most Successful
IT Solutions Firms By Focusing On Teamwork, Learning, And Planning.
Gary hadn’t planned on going into IT. In fact, after graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in accounting, he joined a Fort Worth firm with the dream of a career as a CPA. But because he had some computer expertise already, he jumped at this chance to go after these “gremlins” – he felt there was something deeply wrong with this kind of answer.
“I had read about computers while trying to get my new home PC to play a game called Wing Commander and I discovered how much I loved learning about technology. I decided to become an expert in systems and networks. Before long, the partners replaced Frick and Frack, telling me to get rid of the gremlins once and for all.”
With that, Gary left accounting behind. He’d reached his goal of becoming a CPA, but now discovered a dream to integrate the business acumen and integrity of the CPA profession with technology management. He was reassigned to oversee his firm’s computers and network. Realizing their clients needed help too, the partners put him in charge of their technology services group, with full P&L responsibilities.
After five years, Gary left to form TriQuest Technologies with the goal of creating a professional services firm that would consistently deliver reliable IT and high-quality technical services within an environment of trust and support –so, even if it came time to separate, both employees and clients would be better off than before TriQuest.
Author John Maxwell with Gary Tonniges Jr & Cyndy Tonniges
Who is TriQuest?
Gary’s Top Areas Of Expertise
- Strategic Alignment of technology to meet business goals
- Network Design redundancies for high availability environments
- IT Budget designed to align with technology plans
- Compliance guidance to meet 3rd party mandates and audits
- Developing Custom Processes to support key line-of-business applications
- Disaster Recovery plan of action for business continuity
Known as the “Top Nerd” in the Fort Worth chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, Gary’s IT expertise is in high demand, and he willingly shares his knowledge with fellow members –as a speaker and leader.
Gary is the current treasurer for the TXCPA–Fort Worth chapter and former committee chair of the Business & Industry Committee. He is on the Board of Directors for the state Texas Society of CPAs and is former state committee chair for the B&I committee.
Is Reliable IT At The Top Of Your Customers’ Risk Management? It Should Be!
Four times a year on average, business executives, including but not limited to CFOs, CEOs, and department heads, sit down around a rectangular table facing a whiteboard or projector screen. At the top of the whiteboard, written in red marker, it reads “Key Business Risks.” They have a detailed report in front of them with worst-case-scenario line items like compliance failure, building risks like fire, and human risks like injury, then somewhere down on that list is “cybersecurity.” On that item, the conversation is brief. It’s not the executive’s problem; after all, that’s why they have an IT team. “Let’s make sure data is protected and our systems are secure,” they say, and everyone at the table agrees. They assign their IT tech to the task and check the box. Done and dusted, right? Not quite.
Before the digital age, it was routine for businesses to leave tech conversations within the IT department — outside of larger dialogues around operations. IT was tucked away in a back office, taking care of abstruse coding and software installations, and the business plugged along.
Today, we’re in the mid-digital age, the dual- sided coin of digital transformation where, on the one side, nearly every business uses some level of technology, like apps, scanners, or mobile devices, to connect processes and execute business strategy across the entire enterprise.