Hot Seat: Mark Ridley

What was your first job and how did you get into IT?
I left university in the mid-1990s and worked on a freelance basis developing web sites. I finally settled at Reed in 1997. Site development and architecture led to management and leadership roles.

Which IT vendor has been the most influential in the past 20 years?
I think it would be difficult and churlish to discount Microsoft’s impact. I suspect that without Microsoft’s success, IT professionals would be working in a very different industry today. We are also indebted to organisations such as the Apache Software Foundation and the Gnu Project as the impact of free and open-source software has made a massive contribution to the quality of commercial software products.

Which mobile device do you use?
I have a battered, second-hand, first-generation iPhone. It’s not uncommon for me to go for days on end without even looking at it, or realising it is switched off. I generally use it to read e-books while commuting.

In the event of a fire, what technology would you save?
And miss the opportunity of buying all those gadgets again?

Is now a good time for people to enter the UK IT profession?
There has never been a better time. The UK is crying out for excellent IT staff. It’s a creative, professional, commercial, exciting profession, and the UK should be leading the world with the talent and ability that we possess.

What has been your biggest tech challenge to date?
Trying to explain to developers that Internet Explorer 6 is still used by 20 per cent of our users, and that they still need to test in it.