Nils Desmet
President / CEO

E-mail: ndesmet@makios.com

Nils Desmet has been known to wear his wooden shoes from the Netherlands to work on casual Fridays. "The shoes are a symbol of my Dutch heritage and besides, they are sooo comfortable," says the CEO/President of Makios IT Services. Not really, Nils does indeed hail from the Netherlands, but we're a little disappointed because we've never seen him wear the wooden shoes.

Nils continued his IT career in the U.S. as a consultant for the Holland Group, which later merged with Stanton Street Technology Group. In 2006, with six years of managing the Network Services division under his belt, Nils decided it was time to strike out on his own. He made a deal with Stanton Street and was able to take the Network Services clients with him.

As President/CEO if Makios IT Services, Nils provides the Makios team and clients with drive, knowledge, experience, and smart solutions.

Arleene Desmet-Valles
Finance Manager

E-mail: adesmet@makios.com

Makios co-founder, Arleene Desmet-Valles, is an El Paso native, accounting expert, and all around amazing woman. Arleene started her career at the Petro Stopping Centers corporate office after earning a BBA in Accounting. Later, Arleene worked her way up the ladder at the University of Texas at El Paso and became Payroll Manager. As our finance manager, Arleene handles all things financial for Makios, including billing and leasing for our clients.

Arleene is a huge Luis Miguel fan and has convinced her husband Nils to build keep Miguel’s music on repeat at Makios headquarters. When Arleene is not busy working the numbers and rocking the Luis Miguel tunes, she spends all of her time with her handsome baby boy, Liam, the youngest member of the Makios family.

Doede Zijlstra
Chief Operations Officer

E-mail: dzijlstra@makios.com

In January of 2010, Makios welcomed Doede Zijlstra to the team. Doede (you can call him “Dude”, he doesn't mind) keeps Makios running full - steam ahead with his amazing leadership skills. The "Dude" sees to it that we implement the very best practices for our internal and external operations.

Doede brings over 15 years of management experience to Makios. Before moving to El Paso with his wife and children, Doede worked in both Mexico and the Netherlands where he served as a managing director and managed a production team.

Makios is proud to have the "Dude" on our team, he guides us in all the right directions.

John Hoover
Certified Technician

E-mail: jhoover@makios.com

It may be a bit of a reach to ask you to picture an IT Specialist that actually smiles when he’s helping someone in need of technical advice, but here at Makios, we witness it every day as our Desktop Support Technician, John Hoover, helps our clients find IT solutions.

John attended both UTEP and the University of Phoenix and has been a part of the Makios team for almost three years. Contrary to popular myths about the helpdesk guy, John’s the outdoorsy type. He spends his free time out on hikes, mountain biking or 4 wheeling out in the desert. We know he has a soft side mostly because he’s a nice and helpful guy but did you know that he’s taken in two rescue mutts? One of them is a “tripod” named Bobby (not his first three-legged dog) and the other one is a cutie named Roxy.

John is a smart, cool part to our team and we’re glad he’s here to help you out in your time of tech need.

Ivan R Flores
Certified Technician

E-mail: iflores@makios.com

Ivan Flores, one of our Network Technicians, is a hero.

While Ivan doesn’t arrive at Makios headquarters in a Bat-Mobile and we’re pretty sure he doesn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, we are excited about his vast knowledge of all things IT. With over 8 years of experience in network systems and solutions, Ivan is a pro with communication devices, an expert with point of sale systems, and an absolute wizard in the troubleshooting of networks.

Mr. Flores is happily married to a woman who understands his love of technology and together they are the proud parents of 3 dogs. A little known fact about Ivan...he is a huge fan of Adam Sandler and sometimes, just for fun, he'll treat us to an impersonation of the Waterboy hero Bobby Boucher.

Makios is proud to have Ivan on our team, he definitely makes us shine!

Ricardo Chavez
Network Technician I

E-mail: rchavez@makios.com

El Paso native Ricardo Chavez has joined the Makios team and we couldn’t be more excited. Ricardo will be putting the Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems he earned at UTEP, along with over seven years of IT experience to use in providing remote IT support to Makios clients.


Mr. Chavez is an outdoor enthusiast and a huge sports fan. He enjoys frequent trips to Elephant Butte, where he can be found biking and camping with family and friends. We are so happy to have Ricardo at Makios that we recently set up a tent and a Coleman grill for him to enjoy on his lunch break. Maybe, if we’re lucky, he’ll make us some s’mores.

Diamond R Gomez
Customer Liaison

E-mail: dgomez@makios.com

You don’t have to be a Stevie B fan to know that our very own Diamond Gomez is a gem of a gal. As our Office Manager, she holds down the fort at Makios, keeps us in good order, and we can always count on her to greet our clients with a sweet disposition-- be it on the phone or in person. If it weren’t for Diamond, we’d probably still have our Christmas decorations up.

Diamond is a graduate of Bel Air High School and is currently enrolled at both UTEP and EPCC where she is a pursuing a Nursing degree. UTEP fans out there might also be happy to learn that she used to be a part of the UTEP dance team known as the UTEP Golddiggers. Her father is one of her heroes, not only because he’s rock and roll and plays bass in an Alice in Chains tribute band called “Alive in Chains” but because he’s a stand up guy that instilled in her a love of music and dance that’s in her heart. It’s so much in her heart that her dream is to become a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, a dream that she hopes to chase after she attains her Nursing degree. For now, Makios is lucky to have this treasure on our team.