How did you get into the IT profession?
I’m an accountant and as finance director of Swinton I picked up board responsibility for IT. I then hung up my calculator and became IT director.

If you weren’t in IT, what would you be doing?
I’d probably still be a finance director although I’m a frustrated engineer at heart, so I would be at home in a shed, trying to invent something.

Which IT qualifications or courses have proved most useful to you?
A programme at Cranfield Business School contributed to my overall business and general management abilities.

Which web sites do you have bookmarked at work?
IT sites, Butler Group, BBC News & Weather, and a few sailing web sites.

Which person do you most admire in the IT industry?
Steve Jobs of Apple for championing the cause of design creativity and usability, and giving an alternative to beige boxes.

Who is or has been the most influential IT vendor?
Microsoft, given its market share and its key role in the vast majority of businesses.

Which technology has had the biggest impact on your working life?
Networking. There is a massive value-add when you start connecting people, businesses and solutions together.

Which technology would you most like to have invented?
Cisco routers.

Which technologies do you most rely on outside the office or while at home?
Broadband and my iPod.

What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years and what will be the most over-hyped of the next year?
Over the past five years, voice over IP. It gives a good solution where appropriate but it’s still just a phone! Next year, Windows Vista and service-oriented architecture.