In this position, I function as a technology leader. I oversee the research and design of our services and supervise the selection of enterprise-grade products which we resell on a value-added basis. An important role in this position is ensuring proper client engagement and managing business relationships to meet client needs. As a technical specialist, I also act as the principal analyst and strategy consultant in the analysis, design and delivery of enterprise solutions.

Vivo Energy, previously Shell, aims to be the most respected energy business in Africa. I worked towards this goal by operating at senior strategic levels to deliver business value through the use of technology that supported Vivo’s business objectives. By considering quality as the foundation of my decision-making, I ensured we executed projects with success and with a shared vision. In this role, I developed my skills in IT leadership, strategy, roadmap development and maintenance; people management; IT architecture practice; enterprise modelling; investment proposal development and more.

In this role, I was accountable for IT strategy and design, heading up the corporate IT design board. I was responsible for ensuring that all technology design was holistic and enterprise-grade, that it complied with the Vivo Energy IT Roadmap, and integrated with the existing enterprise technology landscape. I acted as line manager of company IT architects, selected IT project managers and senior business analysts in Africa. I was responsible for IT architecture practice including governance, policy and standards; tactical and strategic enterprise technology roadmap development and maintenance; technology risk management; assessment of technology opportunities; vendor management and more.

At Shell Oil Products Africa, I was responsible for all eCommerce related systems solution design and development, including intranet applications, internet applications, online customer portals and general eCommerce systems – many of which interfaced to the ERP. I also interfaced with business analysts and various business stakeholders to deliver on eCommerce objectives.

Primarily based at Shell South Africa, I was a member of the two-person engineering team responsible for the transition from Netware to Microsoft NT Server. In addition to server infrastructure, I was also responsible for NT workstation installation and configuration of the operating system and productivity tools. Highlight: At the time, web application development emerged, and I was asked to look at the available web technology platforms. I set up the first web servers and supporting SQL server database, eventually publishing Shell South Africa’s first intranet website as well as a significant number of web applications. Engineering and application development consulting work was done at various other clients including the City of Cape Town, a lubricants company, and a medical supply company.

Based at Transnet IT HQ in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, I was responsible for the engineering elements of all (non-mainframe) server and networking components in an integration laboratory where solutions were designed and developed, then packaged for eventual deployment throughout the Spoornet operating environment. Highlight: I designed and developed the first TCP/IP based mainframe terminal emulation for user desktops which hugely simplified deployment and significantly decreased deployment cost.