What does your job entail?
I’m responsible for overseeing the building and operation of Géant2, a global
not-for-profit research network linking academics and students globally. I’m
based in Cambridge and manage a team of 40 engineers and IT support staff.
What was your first job in IT?
I started out as a development engineer with Post Office Telecommunications,
applying computer technology to electromechanical switching systems.
If you weren’t involved in IT, what would you be doing?
I’ve always fancied being a cartoonist, but I suspect I can’t draw well enough
to do it.
Who do you think has been the most influential IT vendor?
Unfortunately, it’s still Microsoft. In general it’s a bad thing for one company
to be so powerful because it tends to stifle innovation. Also, the way it wields
its power over the market is right at the limit of the law from my point of
view.
What keeps you awake at night?
Thinking about the vulnerability of a lot of the physical routes we use. If
someone gets careless with a digger, part of our network could be out of action
for 14 days.
Do you use a Blackberry?
No, I use a laptop with Wi-Fi – my fingers are too big for a
BlackBerry.
Do you think the internet could collapse?
No. I think that one of the reasons why it won’t, and why it succeeded
in the first place, is that it’s pretty bomb-proof – it was supposed to be able
to withstand a nuclear explosion. That said, there is a growing issue with
performance and reliability.
What’s the worst system you’ve ever used?
A Norsk Data Nord mini-computer in the 1990s. The interface on it was rubbish. I
learned an awful lot of Unix very quickly.
