About William Keough
If you are hiring outside help, you should know the short version quickly.
Lantern Harbor is William Keough: a South Shore technology advisor and builder with more than twelve years of enterprise technology experience and a deliberately small local practice.
I do not traffic in hype. What I try to bring is steadier judgment, clear language, and follow-through that actually happens.
Why clients trust this work
The promise is not that every project should get bigger. The promise is that the decision will get clearer.
Complex systems, practical judgment
Large, complex environments taught me how to evaluate tools, surface risks, and keep implementation tied to the real operations underneath.
Plain language without agency theater
I care about clearer decisions, tighter offers, and work that lands, but without layered process, long decks, or inflated language.
Local and in person
I drive to you. The relationship starts on your floor, not on a video call from somewhere far away.
No handoffs
The person you meet on the first call is the same person doing the work. No team to hand you off to, no subcontractors brought in later.
How I got here
Lantern Harbor grew out of a simple observation: small business owners on the South Shore don’t have someone in their corner to help them think clearly about technology. Big firms chase big contracts. The shop on Main Street usually gets what’s left.
Twelve-plus years inside large-scale enterprise technology taught me how to evaluate tools, surface risks, and keep the work tied to what has to happen on the ground. Lantern Harbor is a deliberately small, local practice where I bring that same judgment to the businesses in my own community.
I take on a few engagements at a time so I can actually be present for each one.
Where the name comes from
My son was born very premature. He spent seventy-three days in the NICU at South Shore Hospital.
During that stretch I started writing a children’s book about his time there: the nurses who learned his name, the alarms in the night, the strange warmth of a place built entirely around tiny, new arrivals. I left copies in the NICU for the other families coming through after us. The metaphor that stayed with me was the harbor: the NICU as a safe harbor, the babies as ships coming and going, and the lanterns — the floodlights that burned all night while families waited — as the reason the harbor stayed lit.
When I decided to start this practice, that was the name that stuck. Lantern Harbor is for the small businesses that need a safe place to figure out their technology. A thoughtful person in their corner, lights on, watching out for them.
How I work
A few things that matter to me, and are worth saying up front.
Built for small-business reality
A decade-plus inside complex, high-stakes technology environments means I know how to evaluate tools, surface risk early, and keep the work tied to what actually has to happen on the ground.
A few clients at a time
I take on a small number of engagements so I can actually be present for each one.
In person whenever possible
If you're on the South Shore, I'll drive to you. The work is better when I can walk your floor, talk to your staff, and see the real work.
The honest answer
If a project isn't worth doing, I'll say so. If a tool you already have is good enough, I'll say that too.
Plain English, written down
I write things down in plain language so you can re-read them or share them with a partner. If a family member or business partner wants to be on a call, that is welcome and often a good idea.
Say hello