I entered the computer industry in 1975, spending 5 years with Kent Process Control Ltd, initially as a software engineer involved in the development of process control and telemetry systems, eventually as a software designer involved in operating system and compiler design for process control systems.
After four years developing terminal emulation and communications software for a small software house called Cortex Computer Systems Ltd, I became involved in local area network (LAN) product development in 1984, with BICC Data Networks Ltd (now a division of 3Com Corporation). While at BICC, my activities included involvement in LAN standardisation activities in IEEE 802, in particular with respect to the development of standards for LAN Management. During this period I was appointed as Chairman of the IEEE 802.1 Network Management Task Group.
I joined Sema Group (then CAP), a large European systems house/consultancy, in 1987. During my time with Sema, I was involved in a variety of consultancy assignments related to data communications. I also became heavily invlved in OSI standards development and working group activities at both UK and international level, including BSI IST21, UK GOSIP, IEEE 802, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC21, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6, RARE and COSINE. During this period I held the Editorship of ISO/IEC 10165-4 (CCITT Recommendation X.722), Guidelines for the Definition of Managed Objects, published in May 1991. I was also appointed as Chairman of the RARE Working Group tasked with the coordination of Directory services developments in the European academic and research networking community.
In May 1992, I was appointed as Head of Sema Group Consulting's Technology Consulting Service, with responsibility for defining, developing and managing the company's offerings in information technology-based consulting, in addition to working on consultancy assignments.
I joined the National Computing Centre (NCC) in April 1994, as Head of Business Technology consultancy. In this role, I was responsible for the management and development of NCC's consultancy offerings in data communications and IT security. In 1995, my management responsibilities in NCC were extended to cover the line management of NCC's Multimedia Training development team.
I was also responsible for the development and delivery of NCC's internal training programme for its consultants, aimed at developing the core consultancy competencies of its staff. As part of this development programme, I gained a qualification in the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a psychometric instrument aimed at developing an individual's insight into personality differences and their relevance to interpersonal interactions.
I left NCC in January 1996 to pursue a career as an independent consultant, focusing on data communications consultancy, team building, and training in interpersonal skills. Since that time, my involvement in LAN standardisation has continued, particularly in the area of MAC Bridging and related technologies such as VLANs, LAN access control, and Link Aggregation. In March 2000, I was appointed as Chair of the IEEE 802.1 Working Group.
I am an experienced lecturer on courses and at conferences, on topics related to OSI, networking, LANs and network management. I presented courses for Omnicom on OSI Management and LANs over a period of several years.
I have been involved in leadership and team building training since 1990, initially as a course tutor for the Leadership Trust's acclaimed "Leadership in Management" course, and a course tutor for Foundation Teambuilding's "Open Teambuilding" course, and following Foundation's reincarnation, for The Leadership Art Masterclass.
I was a founder member and director of Galatea Training Services Ltd. between 1998 and 2010, a company that specialises in the development and delivery of training materials and training solutions.
I am a founder member of ItsMoi, a startup building an amazing identity and access management (IAM) solution.