Occasional consulting services for online community development, social marketing, product strategy, and on effective use of new technologies in SMEs. Projects have included: • Writing on product strategy and technology-led innovation in non-technology businesses• Advising on IT strategy, social marketing, product strategy, and reputation management • Preparing the business plan and marketing strategy for two start-ups – a web-based community/knowledge-management service, and a mobile & online privacy application

Mentoring scheme backed by EY, Google, BT, and Natwest, providing 1:1 mentoring & advice to entrepreneurs and small business owners on all things digital.

Temporary contract lecturer supporting the Strategy & Business Planning and Project Management courses & exams for Masters students in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Pre-sales and product consultancy at a small mobile/digital software firm, providing a B2B SaaS platform for interactive multi-channel messaging, plus consultancy to clients from tiny startups to international banks.• Pre-sales, product consultancy, solution design, and running proofs of concept• Technical lead for the Brainstorm Innovation lab, working with partners in a co-innovation environment to explore novel ideas and rapidly develop prototype solutions• Advising internally and externally on new technologies and opportunities• Defining requirements and future features for web and mobile products, demoing new capabilities, ensuring successful delivery; and working closely with all stakeholders to define product solutions• Mainly working with interactive and location-based mobile solutions, the CRM side of the product holding up to tens of millions of customer profiles with up to around 300 fields per profile

AP Benson is a management consultancy working across the UK and provides strategy, IT transformation, business management, and research services to clients who are primarily large and rapidly-growing SMEs. In conjunction with our accountancy practice, Gore & Company, we also provide investment advice, interim management, and turnaround support.Most work focused on analysing existing systems, processes & requirements, and advising on the efficient & effective implementation of solutions.• Advised directors of a wide range of SMEs – from a 2-person professional services firm, to a 200-person manufacturing firm• Analysed existing processes, designed and advised on new processes, including for a network of organisations needing to co-ordinate GIS and knowledge management• Ran tendering & selection processes for implementing integrated business IT systems, including for a manufacturing firm needing to keep up with 40%p.a. growth• Analysed sector developments & trends to advise organisations on strategy, including in events management, waste & recycling, and environmental biodiversity • Developed comprehensive technology strategies, policies and procedures• Advised on online marketing, social media, and reputation management strategies• Worked with fast growing companies needing to accommodate rapid change, stagnating companies needing revitalisation, and struggling companies needing to turn around

Consultant for telecoms consultancy and software development business specialising in telecoms revenue assurance. I worked on a range of projects for many of the UK’s major mobile and broadband operators. I worked closely with client companies and development teams to ensure clear communications between all stakeholders.• Worked with key stakeholders to capture and analyse business requirements for a multi-national billing system migration from multiple legacy systems to a single semi-bespoke solution; wrote requirements specification and design documents; designed end-user training courses• Audited call data to determine compliance with regulatory requirements; developed profiles and models using Perl, Javascript, and SQL to detect anomalous activity• Prepared technical & process documentation for software developed in-house; conducted regression & acceptance testing for bespoke and semi-bespoke software• Analysed business requirements and wrote specifications for provisioning and billing systems migrations; audited billing, rating, interconnect and number portability data• DevOps work supporting software development, testing, documentation, and release

As IS Service Delivery Manager for Nortel’s largest R&D project in the UK I was responsible for relations between IS and R&D, ensuring that business and technical requirements were met.• Analysed infrastructure requirements to reduce costs by over $500,000 in one year through delivering more efficient load-sharing servers in place of legacy infrastructure• Led technical work to create new R&D design environments (for Windows, Solaris, and Red Hat), liaised with R&D and other IS groups on technical issues, and with Corporate Security on legal and security matters• Represented IS on the site working group

Systems and network administration for Nortel’s largest R&D project in the UK.• Led technical work on Unix/Windows inter-working projects• Unix, configuration management, security, and network administration, including performance monitoring & optimisation• Improved software build success rate from ~90% to >99% through processes redesign• Reduced software build time by ~30% to provide regular nightly builds to the development, testing, and release teams• Liaised with suppliers and other departments on compliance, support and purchasing