Curriculum Vitae:

I am an IT leader with broad experience in driving and delivering transformational change; both as a consultant and practice-leader, and as a line manager within one of the UK’s largest banks.

I am comfortable working at all levels, whether working with Senior Executives to define strategy or more junior managers and professionals in delivering that strategy. I enjoy a challenge and take pride in helping others achieve of their best.

I have wide international experience, having consulted across many large European companies. These include companies such as the .......

I am a good communicator and have presented on topics such as IT Transformation at the Institute of Directors, [snip] CEO Conferences, internal company conferences and several colleges and universities. I initiated and then co-authored the book “snip”, published by McGraw-Hill.

Education          Manchester University (1972 to 1975)

Qualifications     BSc (Hons) in Chemistry

Age                  Born 05 September 1951, Yorkshire

Marital Status    Married with 3 children

Interests            Reading and going for long walks

Freelance IT Consultant                          April 2007 onwards

[snip], CIO Organisation            January 2003 to March 2007

[snip]             August 1976 to January 2003

I went immediately from [snip] to [snip], having been recruited by the then Head of Application Delivery. I resigned with effect from January 2007 to become a freelance consultant. My responsibilities within [snip] were varied, with the following ones being the key ones.

I set up and ran a small team of internal and external staff to regularly review large (multi-year, multi-million, multi-vendor) programmes and projects to maximise their delivery success. I involved both business and IT managers and professionals in joint reviews, action planning, prioritisation and follow-through.

I was responsible for setting up the benchmarking with [snip] that would measure the benefits of the outsourcing partnership between [snip] and [snip].

To provide clear measurements and targets around both operational and transformational performance, I developed a simple Balanced Scorecard for the Application Development function, which was later adopted by the whole of the CIO organisation. This Balanced Scorecard was largely automated and was widely communicated electronically across the organisation.

For the Application Delivery area, which covered around 3,500 staff in [snip], [snip] and [snip], I developed and gained acceptance for a 5-year Business Plan. This was a natural extension to the previous work on the Balanced Scorecard. The Business Plan drove both immediate performance improvements as well as medium-term transformational initiatives. An important aspect of this was the alignment of the Business Plan with the individual performance plans of all members of staff, thereby helping to show clear ‘line-of-sight’ between individual and corporate performance.

I was then tasked by the Executive Team to develop a standard delivery life cycle across all delivery areas of the Bank, and to automate the underlying processes and governance controls with [snip], the world-leading toolset in this area.

I ran this as a virtual programme with [snip] over 18 months bringing Release 1 (Standard Delivery Life Cycle, Demand Management, Resource and Portfolio Management) to a successful conclusion. The environment now created will be subject to ongoing performance improvement and subsequent releases covering Programme and Project Management. This initiative was widely accepted as one of the most important internal initiatives the Bank had ever executed.

Set up two virtual governance bodies to help the whole of the CIO organisation get better control over both processes and tools. These governance bodies were successfully used as design authorities to oversee the implementation of the new Standard Delivery Life Cycle. 

Over a 27-year career with [snip], I successfully and quickly developed though several roles in different parts of the organisation:

• Programmer
• Analyst
• Database Designer
• Relational Database Consultant
• IT Consultant
• IT Transformational Change Consultant

I concluded my [snip] career as the concurrent leader of three highly utilised and successful consulting practices:

• European Technology Strategy
• UK Communications Sector Strategy & Change
• UK Cross-Industry Technology Strategy

As a key member of the [snip] global team working on Business and IT Strategy, I helped to lead a community of nearly 2,000 consulting practitioners worldwide; I led the IT strategy community in the UK, taught IT Strategy across Europe and was an active writer and trainer in several technical areas (primarily relational database technologies) and was a regular assessor on [snip]’s Leadership and Management Training programme.

I worked with a large number of organisations in almost every industry sector, focusing on complex system designs, broad enterprise-wide architectures and the organisational and governance needed to ensure the delivery of real and sustainable value. A sample of these engagements is shown below.

I led a board-level steering group and a 60-person team across [snip] and the client to consolidate and centralise nearly a billion pounds of IT and Operational cost. This resulted in a reduction of costs by almost eighty million pounds in the first year, whilst maintaining and enhancing both business and IT capabilities. The client was delighted.

I was asked to work with the IT Director and his team to get a troubled programme back on track. I changed the structure of the team, liaised with key suppliers to resolve several technical issues and helped to re-plan the implementation on a more realistic schedule. I also worked with key client and vendor stakeholders to ensure their increased level of involvement and to sensibly reset their expectations. The programme was successfully delivered in line with the revised plan.

I led the executive team of a large retail organisation in the assessment and planning for the launch of a completely new business focused on supplying financial and logistical support to emerging e-commerce markets. This resulted in the launch of a successful new company and a radical restructuring and transformation of the supporting organisational entities.

I was asked by the Chairman of [snip] UK to work with the newly created National Training Organisation to build an IT Skills Strategy for the UK for the late 1990’s. I formed and led a steering group consisting of both UK Government as well as key IT organisations in the UK, such as [snip], [snip] and [snip]. The IT Skills Strategy was accepted and published, helping to shape Government funding decisions in this important area.

I worked with the newly appointed IT director for a large utility company in the initiative selection, prioritisation and launch of both business and IT initiatives aimed at transformation of the company.

I led a senior team on the identification of cost-saving initiatives enabled by new technologies – a concept known as ‘e-enablement’. This resulted in identified savings above the target set and an aggressive programme of execution aimed at delivering those benefits to the organisation.

Led the senior management team of a world-class electronics manufacturer in Sweden in the analysis, design and planning of a global operational infrastructure to support their innovation aspirations. This resulted in an increased ability to rapidly build and deploy business solutions and is now being used as a bridge to other organizations in an increasing virtual network of value.

I worked with a large UK bank on the definition and implementation of a governance system to maximise the effectiveness of billions of pounds of infrastructure investment across multiple business divisions. This resulted in cost savings and efficiency improvements as well as a leaner and more aligned decision-making system.