Cloud365 is a specialist Managed Application Service Provider for business customers moving to Cloud Computing. We are a full-service delivery organisation from design to build, run and operational support across purpose-built and owned infrastructure.In this role I wear 2 key hats - one of CEO and another as Chief Platform Architect.As CEO I am responsible for running our business units including technical and administration staff, working with suppliers and customers whilst… Show more Cloud365 is a specialist Managed Application Service Provider for business customers moving to Cloud Computing. We are a full-service delivery organisation from design to build, run and operational support across purpose-built and owned infrastructure.In this role I wear 2 key hats - one of CEO and another as Chief Platform Architect.As CEO I am responsible for running our business units including technical and administration staff, working with suppliers and customers whilst setting and maintaining our strategy to market for the Asia Pacific region.As Platform Architect I am responsible for the overall design of new projects and systems when customers migrate to our cloud compute platforms in Australia and Asia regions.I lead a team of technical staff and vendor resources who help maintain the network, storage and virtualisation infrastructure across datacentre locations in Australia, Asia and the United States.Our goal is to maximise client system uptime with localised support, whilst evolving the infrastructure and platforms to meet customer requirements, with minimal service interruption.Our team can design, deploy and manage software, systems, applications, websites and databases with tailored expert local support.Cloud365:• owns and operates High Availability infrastructure across multiple locations, • provides Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery services• maintains specialist services for broadcast platforms including terrestrial, streaming and social media content delivery. Show less

Management reporting role as Lead Architect representing the design and operation of cloud compute infrastructure across Asia Pacific datacentre locations. Maintaining skills and experience with hardware, applications and software defined computing is key to this consultative role which allows me to provide input and creativity for infrastructure and service planning activities with the management team.As vendor lead consultant for Cloud365 I am responsible for maintaining a strategic… Show more Management reporting role as Lead Architect representing the design and operation of cloud compute infrastructure across Asia Pacific datacentre locations. Maintaining skills and experience with hardware, applications and software defined computing is key to this consultative role which allows me to provide input and creativity for infrastructure and service planning activities with the management team.As vendor lead consultant for Cloud365 I am responsible for maintaining a strategic view of hardware/software vendors and suppliers who can assist with our platform goals which enable the sales and support teams to deliver customer outcomes. Show less

After successfully integrating multiple companies into a single brand to operate across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, I am fortunate to have a great team of technical resources dedicated to building and supporting our Cloud Platform infrastructure.Cloud365 is a high performance, high availability infrastructure built from scratch, utilising industry leading technologies from HP, IBM, EMC, F5, Cisco, Juniper and Citrix.Deployed in hand-picked datacentres across multiple… Show more After successfully integrating multiple companies into a single brand to operate across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, I am fortunate to have a great team of technical resources dedicated to building and supporting our Cloud Platform infrastructure.Cloud365 is a high performance, high availability infrastructure built from scratch, utilising industry leading technologies from HP, IBM, EMC, F5, Cisco, Juniper and Citrix.Deployed in hand-picked datacentres across multiple countries, this is the largest architecture and design project I have worked on.Cloud365 is the technology behind other public brands and services including whitelabel systems for service providers and clustered applications which operate across multiple locations and countries.The design of our Cloud platform allows for industry based specialisation whilst concentrating on service delivery for the Asia Pacific region.I have built technology support teams from personally selected technical support professionals located in Melbourne and Auckland who provide world-class, round the clock infrastructure and tailored application support for customers.The skills introduced into our teams include architecture, design, build, maintenance, customer service and application coding. This places Cloud365 in a unique position where we can take an idea or existing application, migrate it to our cloud computing environment, then allow customers to take full advantage of elastic computing whilst removing "old school" physical servers wherever we can.Cloud365 designs and builds everything from networks, infrastructure, storage and applications.A great challenge, surrounded by a quality team of people dedicated to our journey and a great brand to deliver on. Show less

Pure Hits Digital is an Online Broadcast and In-Store Entertainment Platform operating in Australia, Asia and the United States.I am responsible for creating, implementing and maintaining an overall technology and infrastructure plan that aligns with business requirements in the Asia Pacific region, from studio/office/remote workers, desktop/server, IP Telephony/PBX/IVR to core network, broadcast infrastructure and playout platforms.Broadcast and playout are a combination of… Show more Pure Hits Digital is an Online Broadcast and In-Store Entertainment Platform operating in Australia, Asia and the United States.I am responsible for creating, implementing and maintaining an overall technology and infrastructure plan that aligns with business requirements in the Asia Pacific region, from studio/office/remote workers, desktop/server, IP Telephony/PBX/IVR to core network, broadcast infrastructure and playout platforms.Broadcast and playout are a combination of physical (studio/rack) and virtualised (on-site/alternate site and cloud) functions to run 2 broadcast centres which are redundant for each other as required.I have designed, scripted and implemented automated functions including:• playout scheduling• log processing and automated conflict correction• fault tolerant playout nodes• remote VPN access• remote Voice Tracking and production• physical and virtual audio processing• smart speaker audio• platform backups• off-site replication for Disaster RecoveryI have also created BOTs tailored to manage/monitor all stations and in-store music systems, whilst assisting with station announcements via messaging/email and automated social media posting.Pure Hits Digital operates a Rivendell automation environment, built from the ground-up with both physical studio infrastructure and near real-time off-site backup, fully functional and available for DR at any time. During CV-19 all staff are working from home via remote VPN to perform administration, on-air and production functions.Every day I look to improve on existing systems and find new ways to deliver on business outcomes utilising technology, leveraging a purpose-built robust infrastructure environment with redundancy. Show less

Expanding on my content and music role with Pure Hits Digital, I am responsible for music research, station format, clocks, playout and social media integration with back-end systems.Pure Hits RETRO is an Online Radio Station built on a modern playout platform in a hybrid in-studio and cloud environment. I have developed scripting and automation tools to perform many regular tasks and functions including monitoring, alarms, music and traffic scheduling and content… Show more Expanding on my content and music role with Pure Hits Digital, I am responsible for music research, station format, clocks, playout and social media integration with back-end systems.Pure Hits RETRO is an Online Radio Station built on a modern playout platform in a hybrid in-studio and cloud environment. I have developed scripting and automation tools to perform many regular tasks and functions including monitoring, alarms, music and traffic scheduling and content ingest.Both studio and virtualised infrastructure feature multiple paths to upstream encoders feeding our ad insertion capability and broadcast streaming partner.Listen to Pure Hits RETRO on any device at http://listen10.as.amplifystreaming.com/public/pure_hits_retro Show less

Australian Made Music is your go-to place for great Pop and Rock music, both new and classic from Down Under!Broadcasting on the Pure Hits Platform, streaming via HD audio over HLS with adaptive bandwidth and fully integrated with AdsWizz content insertion/replacement for localised breaks relevant to the listener in their local market.Australian Made Music is heard in over 80 countries and delivers on the best home grown music Australia has to offer.As Content Director I… Show more Australian Made Music is your go-to place for great Pop and Rock music, both new and classic from Down Under!Broadcasting on the Pure Hits Platform, streaming via HD audio over HLS with adaptive bandwidth and fully integrated with AdsWizz content insertion/replacement for localised breaks relevant to the listener in their local market.Australian Made Music is heard in over 80 countries and delivers on the best home grown music Australia has to offer.As Content Director I am responsible for the overall Broadcast Platform, Music research, Content, Features and Social Media integration.Listen to Australian Made Music on any device at http://www.ausmademusic.com Show less

Pure Hits is an online entertainment (podcast audio/video) startup in The United States with a small team of broadcast and content specialists.My role is interim Technology Lead, responsible for working with staff, partners and vendors to design, build and deploy broadcast infrastructure for localised content delivery in the Asia Pacific (Asia and Australia) region.This is a short term opportunity where I'm able to combine my passion for technology and infrastructure along with… Show more Pure Hits is an online entertainment (podcast audio/video) startup in The United States with a small team of broadcast and content specialists.My role is interim Technology Lead, responsible for working with staff, partners and vendors to design, build and deploy broadcast infrastructure for localised content delivery in the Asia Pacific (Asia and Australia) region.This is a short term opportunity where I'm able to combine my passion for technology and infrastructure along with deep knowledge around broadcast and dynamic, local content delivery.Pure Hits has partnered with Telos Alliance for studio infrastructure, Orban for audio processing and AdsWizz for content localisation to create a best of breed, High Definition audio experience tailored for every consumer on any device in any location.This was a fantastic opportunity to design and build infrastructure with some elements already preset, which integrated with external content insertion/replacement systems for monetisation of shows, streams and podcasts.In May 2018 we completed platform construction and I created the operational documentation which was handed over to support staff. Show less

NZME is a leading media and entertainment business that reaches more than 3.2 million people across the country. Whether reading, listening or watching, NZME’s audience gets the content they want - where and when they want across online/digital, print, radio and on-demand video platforms.Prime among these are iconic brands such as The New Zealand Herald, radio stations Newstalk ZB, The Hits, ZM, Mix, Coast, Flava, the legendary Radio Hauraki, RadioSport, on-demand video platform… Show more NZME is a leading media and entertainment business that reaches more than 3.2 million people across the country. Whether reading, listening or watching, NZME’s audience gets the content they want - where and when they want across online/digital, print, radio and on-demand video platforms.Prime among these are iconic brands such as The New Zealand Herald, radio stations Newstalk ZB, The Hits, ZM, Mix, Coast, Flava, the legendary Radio Hauraki, RadioSport, on-demand video platform WatchMe, and e-commerce platform GrabOne. In all, NZME has a network of over 80 media brands that reach audiences the length and breadth of the country. My area of specialisation at NZME is around radio infrastructure for delivery of content across terrestrial FM/AM, satellite, online and on-demand platforms – creating, building and maintaining technology infrastructure from studio to transmit site and online/digital.Working with NZME is a sensational opportunity to further grow my skills with the best programming, strategy and technology people in the business – all at the top of their game. Since Auckland is a short hop from Sydney, we’re fortunate to have access to the best of both worlds – great talent who’ve worked in leading Australian markets alongside New Zealand’s most experienced tech, programming and on-air talent.In my role with the Broadcast Technology Group, I’m incredibly privileged to be working alongside the best Nexgen guy in the business for both Australia and New Zealand – what’s more he’s happy to share almost 50 years of broadcast experience!Every day is different - Designing new platforms, maintaining equipment, helping project teams, running broadcast systems and supporting on-air talent colleagues.Skills: Technology, Music, Content, Promotional, Social Media, Online/Digital, Community EventsSpecialisation:Broadcast EngineeringInfrastructure Design/Build/MaintainPlayout and AutomationAudio ProcessingMetadata DistributionNetwork Program Delivery Show less

Radio and media trained, I’ve worked on-air, in network music/content, production, marketing and events roles for stations and networks in Australia and New Zealand.In this role, I managed the integration and transition from SEA FM to The Hits, across studio and playout, linking and transmission sites -- all whilst performing a local show with region targeted content on-air Monday - Friday 9am - 12pm.Over summer I planned and executed all holiday activations on-air, online and… Show more Radio and media trained, I’ve worked on-air, in network music/content, production, marketing and events roles for stations and networks in Australia and New Zealand.In this role, I managed the integration and transition from SEA FM to The Hits, across studio and playout, linking and transmission sites -- all whilst performing a local show with region targeted content on-air Monday - Friday 9am - 12pm.Over summer I planned and executed all holiday activations on-air, online and onsite including hosting the region's Food and Wine Festival, standing up at 17 events and engaging with local tourism promotion organisations. Our online and social attracted more than 30,000 views each week over the Christmas / Holiday period. Show less

SEA FM is a Hot Adult Contemporary radio station, operating in the Coromandel Peninsula region of New Zealand with a terrestrial coverage area from Mercury Bay to The Bay of Plenty, across to Waikato.From concept to planning, licence acquisition, infrastructure design/deployment/management, I've owned and managed the entire process from idea to on-air across 4 transmit sites and online streaming services.As the spectrum licence owner I've worked with engineers and government… Show more SEA FM is a Hot Adult Contemporary radio station, operating in the Coromandel Peninsula region of New Zealand with a terrestrial coverage area from Mercury Bay to The Bay of Plenty, across to Waikato.From concept to planning, licence acquisition, infrastructure design/deployment/management, I've owned and managed the entire process from idea to on-air across 4 transmit sites and online streaming services.As the spectrum licence owner I've worked with engineers and government authorities to create new service applications, engineer site linking and stand-up new services across multiple locations from studio to transmission sites across rugged coastal and inland terrain.Working with leading hardware and software vendors, a custom hybrid cloud/physical broadcast platform was created with in-built redundancy and real-time replication across infrastructure to maximise uptime and availability for studio facilities, transmission equipment and online streaming services.SEA FM Coromandel officially launched on 1st December 2015 and became the fastest growing radio station in the region, acquiring more listeners every month.As Content Director I assumed overall responsibility for content, music programming and events which aired both via terrestrial and online services. Being a start-up, my CD role expanded to production, audio editing and presentation across multiple platforms for advertisements, promos, best of shows and podcasts.Performing a (10a-3p) daily air-shift each weekday, On-Air with Darren became a vehicle to create local content opportunities which in turn allowed SEA FM to engage with the community, expanding into event and festival hosting roles with live entertainment and performers visiting the region.SEA FM is a listener focused brand, with tailored and localised content delivery across both terrestrial and online broadcast platforms with the goal of maximising audience engagement and relevance to listeners where they live, work and play. Show less

My Hosted Exchange provides enterprise messaging and email capabilities to business organisations without the cost of infrastructure and support staff.This role started with identifying an opportunity in the marketplace to provide a fully managed email and messaging service, originally for Australian small business operators, extending to New Zealand where I personally integrated one of the largest real estate industry clients - designing a turn-key solution allowing for complete… Show more My Hosted Exchange provides enterprise messaging and email capabilities to business organisations without the cost of infrastructure and support staff.This role started with identifying an opportunity in the marketplace to provide a fully managed email and messaging service, originally for Australian small business operators, extending to New Zealand where I personally integrated one of the largest real estate industry clients - designing a turn-key solution allowing for complete outsourcing of desktop and mobile communications for all sales agents and management staff, including administration and security for full time/external contractor and transient staff.I headed up the Australian and New Zealand operations as General Manager, whilst also overseeing technical teams and core datacentre infrastructure deployed in Singapore, Melbourne and Auckland.A keen traveler with family in New Zealand, I split my time between home in Melbourne and home #2 in Auckland working with our Kiwi staff to build a leading Hosted Exchange service for small business customers.In Australia I was assisted by an Operations Manager to help run the day to day activities of the support business, enabling focus on changing trends such as telephony and PBX integration. Show less

In this role I combine my passion for technology architecture and team management skills to integrate 2 teams and a cloud computing platform.Cloud365 provides Cloud Compute farm technology and process which was integrated across two separate organisations to become Cloud365 - a tailored cloud compute solutions provider.Infrastructure is spread across geographic locations with replication and failover feature sets.Systems include IBM System X and HP Proliant application… Show more In this role I combine my passion for technology architecture and team management skills to integrate 2 teams and a cloud computing platform.Cloud365 provides Cloud Compute farm technology and process which was integrated across two separate organisations to become Cloud365 - a tailored cloud compute solutions provider.Infrastructure is spread across geographic locations with replication and failover feature sets.Systems include IBM System X and HP Proliant application servers, Citrix and VMWare virtualisation platforms, EMC Storage and Cisco network equipment.From acquisition to re-design, integration of systems and the management of marketing resources, this is a great challenging experience with a fantastic team of technology professionals. Show less

New Zealand's Webhosting Network provides tailored website and application software hosting solutions for New Zealand businesses.Based in Auckland, a dedicated team of professionals design infrastructure, servers and equipment which are deployed in our datacentres throughout New Zealand.I was asked to oversee this small hosting business, providing knowledge with expertise across infrastructure, applications, process and local staff in the Parnell office.I later purchased… Show more New Zealand's Webhosting Network provides tailored website and application software hosting solutions for New Zealand businesses.Based in Auckland, a dedicated team of professionals design infrastructure, servers and equipment which are deployed in our datacentres throughout New Zealand.I was asked to oversee this small hosting business, providing knowledge with expertise across infrastructure, applications, process and local staff in the Parnell office.I later purchased this company and integrated with Cloud365, another business where I serve as director and architecture lead. Show less

This is the first infrastructure and technology business I built, from idea to operational business through to sale.The business started as a means to engage with corporate clients in the Australian banking and telecommunications industry.The function we provided included building service and support process offerings to meet the needs of technology teams in our client businesses - all tailored to meet specific contract requirements across customer organisations (ie: tailored… Show more This is the first infrastructure and technology business I built, from idea to operational business through to sale.The business started as a means to engage with corporate clients in the Australian banking and telecommunications industry.The function we provided included building service and support process offerings to meet the needs of technology teams in our client businesses - all tailored to meet specific contract requirements across customer organisations (ie: tailored support and SLA conditions).Coaching technical staff and engaging with our client's customer stakeholders, I worked with technical and commercial personnel to negotiate technology support and outsourcing agreements with some of Australia's best known brands including Telstra, Qantas, Woolworths and National Australia Bank.I was able to leverage my technology architecture and operational support skills, working alongside some of the best technical resources in managed service providers from sales and bid teams to architects and designers, then integration and operational support teams.This role included a reasonable amount of travel between Melbourne and Sydney to assist technical teams and customers, Skills and Exposure: • Solution Architecture • Design • Build • Operational Technology Support (WAR room and Emergency Issue Resolution)• Diverse Managed Services environments • Asset and Configuration Management • SLA negotiation • Product and Vendor Selection Over time I had built a combination of on-site technical support resources and datacentre based service offerings. In 2011 I separated and sold the on-site support business, choosing to focus on our datacentre and cloud service offering which became a significant workload, leading to integration with Cloud365 where I became General Manager and lead technology architect, overseeing the technology support teams and infrastructure across the Asia Pacific region (Singapore, Australia, New Zealand). Show less

Darren serves on the board of directors for Australian business website hosting company WebDirect.Established in 2007, WebDirect provides fast, easy access to website and email hosting for small businesses across Australia.In this role I provided strategic guidance, infrastructure architecture advice and technology management advice to the team at WebDirect's Melbourne head office.

In this role I was a consultant to Government clients, assisting with technology challenges such as new system integration or shutdown/sunset of legacy applications.Clients included Queensland Health, Tourism Sport and Racing, MIM Holdings (mining).Tasks and activities involved joining project teams to create migration/integration plans, then follow through with technology support resources to ensure technical aspects of each project were being delivered on time to meet business… Show more In this role I was a consultant to Government clients, assisting with technology challenges such as new system integration or shutdown/sunset of legacy applications.Clients included Queensland Health, Tourism Sport and Racing, MIM Holdings (mining).Tasks and activities involved joining project teams to create migration/integration plans, then follow through with technology support resources to ensure technical aspects of each project were being delivered on time to meet business requirements.A very challenging role, specifically where we were retiring application platforms as many systems were sunset for several years and were no longer supported. This required quickly building skills around specific applications, usually operating on legacy software and hardware infrastructure, to determine the best approach for migration or porting to new supported environments.In some cases the vendor no longer existed, which then involved finding and recruiting specialist application and database staff to assist with data extraction and transfer between old and new systems. Show less

On-Air Talent for breakfast in regional market.Assistant Music and Program Director in addition to technical lead for RCS Master Control platform - AM and FM brands production and broadcast. Paused radio career here to start a family.

This was my very first full-time commercial radio role, working with some of the best broadcast and technology talent in the business. Initially on-air (Breakfast on 6KG in the regional market of Goldfields, WA - pop 48,000), quickly expanding into technology support (RCS Selector and Wizard) and local Music Director / Assistant PD.Program between 6pm and 6am was delivered via satellite from the network hub - we were required to schedule local programming, shows and music at all… Show more This was my very first full-time commercial radio role, working with some of the best broadcast and technology talent in the business. Initially on-air (Breakfast on 6KG in the regional market of Goldfields, WA - pop 48,000), quickly expanding into technology support (RCS Selector and Wizard) and local Music Director / Assistant PD.Program between 6pm and 6am was delivered via satellite from the network hub - we were required to schedule local programming, shows and music at all other times including weekends and OB/special events.In this role I created a technical solution to address the challenge for advertising audio not reaching our regional market stations in time for broadcast. This involved scripting and automation to dial-up (yes dial-up modems!) each station from the network hub and transmit WAV file audio to each Wizard audio production system which would then be converted into a commercial spot for broadcast in the local station's playout system.I was promoted to Network Music Director, relocating to the network hub in Bunbury, where we operated 11 radio stations across the state.On-air and programming roles including leading Breakfast Radio, afternoons, drive and late night love songs (syndicated network program).Creation of night-time enterainment and syndicated, networked music program content.Interaction with on-air talent, air-checks, guidance and production of content.Music Direction and content management for local and networked broadcasting stations.Clocks and programming for networked content delivered via Satellite and landline for FM and AM broadcasting stations.Broadcast playout platform (Wizard) administration, maintenance and upgrades at network hub and remote sites. Show less