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Welcome

Hello and welcome to my personal blog.

TL;DR

  • An introduction to the blog and its purpose
  • A quick snapshot of the topics covered:
    • Developer‑focused insights
    • Reflections on technology trends
    • Personal experiences and observations

What is this blog about?

This blog is primarily developer‑focused, covering the technologies I encounter in my work and the tools that improve the developer workflow. While many posts will discuss IBM technology, I will also explore a broader range of solutions and ideas. The content reflects my personal thoughts and experiences and does not represent IBM.

Who am I?

I was born in North‑East England and am a Geordie by birth. I spent a couple of years in Glasgow, Scotland, but the majority of my adult life has been on England’s south coast due to work.

I began working in retail finance at the age of sixteen, but quickly realised it was not a long‑term career for me.

I earned a first‑class BSc (Hons) from Newcastle University and have worked in the IT industry ever since.

My career has included roles at:

I am approaching thirty years at IBM, having held many varied positions that have given me a broad view of enterprise computing.

My career at IBM spans nearly three decades, during which I have worked on a wide range of enterprise‑computing areas:

  • I contributed to adding commerce to games before online gaming existed
  • created mobile enterprise applications before smartphones were commonplace
  • supporting partners in adopting IBM technology, including:
    • enterprise Java development with IBM WebSphere products
    • work on the portal era
    • enterprise messaging
    • mobile applications
    • sensors and actuators (including RFID track‑and‑trace and MQTT telemetry)
    • artificial intelligence.