My role at Waterstons is...
Is about unlocking business value from technology. I'm part of our Technology Solutions team, and whilst I have specialist knowledge in several areas including messaging, authentication & Office 365, I enjoy keeping my skills broad and applying them to a variety of challenges. These days I'm most likely to be involved in larger-scale or more complex projects involving Office 365 or messaging, such as helping merge or divest companies and their systems.
My proudest Waterstons moment is...
Making a complex problem simple. I'd already designed and implemented a solution to allow (initially) four merging companies to update their email brand to align with a new group company, without waiting for a lengthy migration away from their original environments. The next step was for staff to be transitioned to the new group environment, through a necessarily complex & fiddly process that would be prone to human error. The solution was an interactive script that wrapped around the migration tools. This reduced the process of feeding in the staff to migrate, and either requesting confirmation to proceed if all was well or offering advice on what problems or mistakes needed fixing to proceed. Whilst it might not sound like much, this put the power back in the hands of the clients' IT team to manage their migrations at their own pace, without needing to up-skill on the technologies involved.
My life away from work is...
Is about make-believe or enjoying the outdoors. My excuses to be outside include walking and helping out with a Scout group in Durham. If I find myself indoors, I’ll either be reading or watching some vein of fantasy or sci-fi, or playing a card or board game with some like-minded geeks.
I’ll be with you when...
You need to embark on a technology change but you don't know where to start.