I never intended to become a technical person. I began as a Project Manager and quickly learned that without technical knowledge, getting things done was a real challenge. Working on the Manchester Science Park for an SME with tight budgets (I developed a professional frugal streak that still sticks with me), if something needed to be done at a speed I wanted, I needed to learn to do it myself. It was here that I discovered my first technical loves: VBA and SQL, and my first exposure to sensible project management using PRINCE2 methodology. It was a small team where we built a Virtual ISP solution for UK 0845 dial-up internet. Now that was the technical wild west!After moving from Manchester to Leeds, I stayed in the internet industry before transitioning to retail and later the legal sector. Leveraging my technical skills (and picking up new ones along the way), I designed and built solutions using whatever technology was available, ensuring it was cost-effective and secure. My main goal has always been to devise solutions for clients and internal teams to make things better but more importantly to bridge the gap between IT and Operations. That is to say, I can speak both languages and help avoid the confusion that often occurs when the two meet. In today’s world, the two must work seamlessly together.Now, nearly 20 years later (wait, what?), my daily goal remains to identify problems that can be improved with technology, build strong relationships with clients to understand their needs, and make my co-workers' lives easier through automation—all with reasonable lead times and costs.
