Hot Seat: Andy Burton

What was your first job and how did you get into IT?
I was an application developer writing stock market settlement systems in Cobol on an ICL mainframe more than 20 years ago. I did a lot of computing in my degree and always enjoyed programming.

Which IT vendor do you think has been the most influential in the past 20 years?
I’m with Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, when he says Netscape’s IPO was one of the most important in our lifetime. Netscape levelled the playing field and led the way with open standards to enable the web as we know it today.

Is there any piece of tech legislation that will have an effect on your business?
Online betting and gaming is highly regulated, and demonstrating compliance with the regulator, Sarbanes-Oxley and payment card industry rules all take up a lot of our time.

Which mobile device do you use?
A BlackBerry Curve. I have not seen a better email handset, and the app store is growing stronger.

If you were not working in IT, what would you be doing?
Ideally, something that combines my love of travel, music and curry.

Which technology would you most like to have invented?
The worldwide web. It has had such a profound social, business and technological impact ­ and this is just the beginning.

Is now a good time for people to enter the UK IT profession?
Yes. We should not be afraid of change that affects us, such as outsourcing and offshoring. We should embrace new technology and new ways of working that enable us to deliver innovative business models and products.