Back in 1986, I created a first-if-its-kind room scheduling system and formed a company to sell, install, and support it.

Cleverly named, Dean Evans & Associates, Inc., the company grew steadily thanks to our focus on delivering feature-rich event management solutions backed by exceptional service. In time, DEA became an industry leader in the event management software space, serving the needs of schedulers in a variety of settings including higher education, corporate, religious, and government organizations.

In 2014, I sold the company and started traveling, thinking my days as a software developer and CEO were behind me. I visited incredible places like London, Budapest, Paris, Venice, Amsterdam, Santorini, and Barcelona. In the colder months, I would head to warm climates in destinations like Costa Rica, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, and St. Lucia. But while I felt fortunate to have time to relax in some truly spectacular settings after decades of long weeks and late nights, it seemed like something was missing.

Specifically, after more than five years away from software development, I realized I truly enjoy finding unique ways to leverage advanced technology to meet scheduling challenges. Now, I’m rested and ready to return to my scheduling roots. And, it feels like the perfect time since new cloud platforms and new tools for accessing them are enabling incredible innovation.

With today’s technology, it shouldn’t require weeks and weeks of installation and training to get a system operational. In fact, we’ve proved that it doesn’t. The new mobile-first, cloud-focused solution my team and I have designed can get an organization ready to start taking reservations in a matter of hours. Plus, we’re backing it with exceptional service and support – the kind that big companies these days seem to be unable or unwilling to provide.

A question we often got back in the day was, “Is there really a ‘Dean Evans’ behind the company?” The answer then as now is an enthusiastic, “Yes!” It’s good to be back.