About Us

Loren Aquino

CXO and Head of Operations

Loren’s Why

Being born and raised in Hawaii, the Islands have always been home to me. Many of my friends left the Islands after graduation; some by choice and others because it was a financial necessity. I’ve been VERY blessed to have been able to grow my career and raise my family in the Islands. I haven’t done this on my own. My journey has been influenced by my managers, mentors, coaches and co-workers. My “why” is to pay it forward by providing an environment where technology professionals can grow whether they be our employees, clients or the local IT community.

About Loren

Loren has been working in Information Technology since 1995 when he started his IT career in as a Network Technician. Since then, he has designed, installed and supported Hawaii businesses from various industries including healthcare, finance, insurance, construction and legal, just to name a few. Throughout his career, he has continuously developed both his technical and management experience earning him the reputation as the “go-to” resource for technical, operational and managerial IT consulting. As a former executive of one of Hawaii’s largest IT consulting firms, Loren brings his first-hand experience of managing the growth of a successful IT support consulting firm to the HI Tech Hui ohana.

Anne-Marie Lerch

CXO and Head of Finance

Anne-Marie’s Why

Before starting HI Tech Hui and moving to Hawaii, I had my dream job! I woke up every morning excited to go to work, my colleagues became my close friends so it was like spending every day working with your friends and getting a LOT done. In my younger years I had feelings of sadness and depression and worked really hard at creating an amazing life for myself. That’s why it was so important for me to create a company culture founded in the philosophy of happiness. I believe that life is about happiness because we only live once. I wanted to create an organization where our employees are happy and deliver the best customer experience. We want to help provide happiness to our clients and everyone that we interact with. We believe that happy employees deliver great service! I envision a group of like-minded individuals that enjoy going the extra mile to bring happiness to others. Whatever we’re doing, no matter the project or the time crunch, whether it is a gift, an extra phone call, an email to brighten someone’s day.

About Anne-Marie

As a female entrepreneur paving the way in the cyber security services industry, Anne-Marie Lerch is a founding partner of both HI Tech Hui, a Hawaii based IT and cybersecurity company, and Cyberuptive, Hawaii’s only locally owned 24×7 Security Operations Center. Her passion for business strategy and technology has led her company to become one of the leading, fastest-growing IT support and cyber security companies in Hawaii.

With more than 20 years of experience in the field, Lerch has become an industry leader. She specializes in project management for software development projects, and has managed multiple large-scale enterprise software development and Big Data projects. Lerch has previously worked for companies such as Accenture, Microsoft and Zappos (a subsidiary of Amazon) as well as various start-ups.

Chuck Lerch

CXO and Head of Cybersecurity

Chuck’s Why

I LOVE fixing things. I found my passion for cybersecurity when I was in high school working for a defense contractor and learning about industrial espionage and how other countries were trying to steal our country’s intellectual property that my family has been defending since the revolutionary war. My whole career has been focused around cybersecurity before most people even knew what it was. We are under constant attack, so my goal for creating HI Tech Hui is to have a team to protect as many companies as we can because of my love for this country, the companies and the people in it.

About Chuck

Chuck Lerch is an expert in IT Architecture and Infrastructure. His diverse experience with multiple industries and startups has helped him solve the most technical and complex IT problems. He’s been the CIO and CTO at numerous companies with great emphasis on security. His passion for secure networks is what lead him to his love and vision to bring cybersecurity solutions to the Hawaiian islands.

Joe

Solutions Architect

Joe has been working in the Information Technology space since he started his IT Career in 1994 as a Co-Op at Northern Telecom (Nortel) in Richardson, Texas. For the next 16 years, Joe has expanded his Network Expertise in a variety of industries including Consumer Goods, Network Consulting Services, Aviation, and Insurance, working alongside companies such as Procter and Gamble, International Network Services, and Aviall. In 2010, Joe further augmented his IT expertise as a Sales Engineer with Radware and then as a Systems Architect with Optiv. This vast array of experience as an End User, Reseller, Consultant, and Vendor in both Networking and Cyber Security is what now allows him to provide unique perspectives and vast knowledge to assist the IT needs in Hawaii.

Joel

Systems Engineer

Joel is a certified systems engineer with an extensive record of accomplishments in architecting, deploying and supporting infrastructure and applications in enterprise-scale environments. His specialties include Active Directory, architecture, virtualization, and networking.

Al H.

Vice President

“Ransomware is real. About 6 months before finding HI Tech Hui, our company was hit twice with cyber attacks. HI Tech Hui’s team did an unbelievable job restoring our system after being hit by ransomware. Their customer service has been consistently superior; quickly addressing our cybersecurity issues and implementing effective security protocols that safeguards us from further attacks. Their positive and courteous attitudes, financially conscientious practices, along with being well versed in all aspects of IT are just a few of the standout areas within HI Tech Hui’s IT service offerings.

The greatest benefit we’ve received by selecting Hi Tech Hui has been the PEACE OF MIND we now have knowing that we are being ACTIVELY protected by experts who truly care for their client’s wellbeing and is able to provide the expertise that we need. If we couldn’t effectively begin protecting ourselves from ransomware, we’d probably be out of business by now. For some, recovering from such attacks may not be financially possible. We have dealt with many vendors over the past 15 years and consider Hi Tech Hui to be head and shoulders above the rest. What I’m sharing is not a sales pitch. It’s a cry out to those who are either unprotected or are in a relationship with a marginally qualified service provider. I really wouldn’t wish what we went through (ransomware attacks) on anyone. Be akamai and proactive rather than reactive and connect with the experts at HI Tech Hui.”

David T.

IT Director

“So far we are really happy with the Cylance implementation. I am so glad that we signed up for the threat zero services. I actually think that the services are essential to get Cylance properly setup and configured the first time. I would highly recommend that your clients get this consulting service if they are going to get Cylance.”

Anthony S.

Business Development and Marketing

“At day one, HI Tech Hui was able to target our IT challenges and apply solutions with impressive urgency. Due to their amazing responsiveness and IT expertise, we have been able to save time and focus our attention on our day-to-day operations of our business. Through them, we gained a whole portfolio of new talent and access to reliable technological skills which has helped immensely in creating timely solutions and better results for our IT needs.”

Henry D.

CEO

“Cylance just works! It does it’s job quietly (silently), reliably and quickly. I have a couple of customers who like to surf the web in very dangerous places. They were getting viruses almost daily, each had ransomware several times, no other AV program had prevented it. After installing CylanceProtect, neither of them has a virus in over a 18 months now. It has freed up a lot of my time to do more important tasks. I am not wasting my time on annoying cleanup tasks. I also sleep better knowing I won’t wake up and have to deal with hijacked or ransomed data files.”

Jared G.

President

“When our customers ask us to refer them to an IT Security company, we always recommend Hi Tech Hui, they are Hawaii’s cybersecurity experts. When it comes to protecting our customers network and systems there is no other company we trust more.”

Minnette J.

Guyo Business-Office Manager

“I used to be so paranoid that my computers are going to crash and we’ll lose all our important files. It happened twice in the past so file recovery has been terrible experience for us. At that time I thought backing it up locally was good enough. Now, I feel better because I know it’s backed up with HI Tech Hui, a company founded in Hawaii. And what I love the most is that I can peacefully be out of the office now without having my staff bother me for any computer and technical issues. Now all we have to do is call HI Tech Hui. Working with HI Tech Hui, based in Honolulu has been great, the IT support team has been amazing and I haven’t had any complaints yet.”

Donna D.

President

“The most significant benefit to our company since moving to HI Tech Hui is achieving a higher level of security in our network and data infrastructure through their recommendations and implementations. HI Tech Hui has genuinely been honest and upfront with every IT recommendation for our consideration. The knowledge, experience, and integrity of HI Tech Hui’s professional staff, allows us to entrust these Cybersecurity and IT experts with our business IT infrastructure. Being locally owned and operated eliminates any time zone differences and most importantly, personifies the spirit of “Aloha”. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be connected to such a reputable organization. They are Ohana. We highly recommend HI Tech Hui for your peace of mind!”

Ellen C.

Office Manager

HI Tech Hui helped us move our data to the cloud for easy and secure access while in the office and especially while we’re working away from the office. I really like working with HI Tech Hui’s help desk, as I don’t have to wait for a specific person to get back to me. Everyone we’ve worked with at HTH is friendly and knowledgeable. They’re able to “dumb it down” to help me understand technical issues.

Erina Y.

Law Firm Senior Partner

In our industry, the phrase “time is money” takes on its literal meaning. Every minute that is spent where an employee is googling how to fix a tech issue is wasted, when that time could have been used to help our clients with their legal matters. HI Tech Hui helps us to reclaim that lost time by taking care of any issues we may run into. Not only do they fix IT issues on a day-to-day basis, HI Tech Hui is working with us to optimize our network structure to improve our overall efficiency.

When we first contacted Hi Tech Hui to inquire about their services, we were told that customer service was at the core of their business. Each interaction has proven this, but what really set them apart was when we had our first tech-related emergency during the onboarding process. It was during an afternoon on the day before the start of a three-day weekend, and it seemed like none of the techs would be available on such short notice. Imagine our surprise when the co-owner himself showed up at our office within the hour! That’s when we knew we made the right decision.

We rely on tech too much to not have it be taken care of by experts. Most of us aren’t experts, so why not place that responsibility in good hands?