Meet Matthew, Technical Lead

Industry views

A day with Matthew

Job Title:
Technical Lead

How long have you been with Instant On IT (IOIT)?
13.5 years

What brought you to IOIT?
After my Computer Science degree and a year out, I had a choice between various IT jobs. I elected for exciting growth potential and being part of a talented team; and I haven’t looked back.

What was your first impression of IOIT?
I didn’t bring an umbrella to my interview and just before I arrived the heavens opened, completely drenching me. Despite turning up in a sodden suit with slicked back hair (I had more of it all those years ago), I was made to feel very welcome. IOIT was much smaller back then – I still remember the passionate descriptions of the growth plans and future structure of the company and feel privileged to have long since seen those visions surpassed.

Describe a typical working day for you:
A quick refresh of ongoing issues and a catch-up with the Infrastructure Team is always the first job, and this sets the tempo for the morning ahead. The typical day is punctuated with briefings and meetings with the tech teams and account managers regarding their projects and proposals, during which I get to see people’s passion for choosing the right technology, methodology and timescales based on their intricate knowledge of our clients’ businesses.

Client relationships on the technical side are a key part of the day too, offering industry insight and maintaining project programmes with Heads of IT and CIOs at some of our larger accounts.

An informal catch-up with the MD, Paul, to discuss progress around large projects, vendor relationships, opportunities, and any noteworthy news from the day so far frequently brings some interesting insight. Lastly, I always enjoy making some time to get stuck into something techie for a few hours which is a hugely rewarding core part of my role here.

What are you most famous for at IOIT?
Boldly claiming something would be “a 20-minute job”. Over ten year’s since people still quote me on this! I don’t remember exactly how many weeks the coding and testing took before the issue was finally fixed, but I’m happy to say the client is still with us today.

In your opinion, what is special about working at IOIT?
Nobody is ever typecast and job roles are really varied. Career development and the opportunity to grow makes IOIT a great place to work and an even better place to stay and succeed.

What area of IT interests you most?
A few years ago I would have said virtualization; VMware disrupted the IT industry and brought revolutionary software and ideas. But now it’s got to be all the exciting opportunities within Microsoft Azure, especially around identity, security and Artificial Intelligence. Anything we build in Azure has no like-for-like comparison to on-premise servers or offerings from Private Cloud vendors.

What has been your best memory during your time at IOIT so far (at work or at one of our social events)?
I haven’t driven in quite a few years but still managed to win both races at the go-karting social event. People still can’t quite come to terms with that, which greatly amuses me.

 

Contact us for: Cloud Services, IT Security, Infrastructure Consultancy, IT Management & Support

For more of our industry news and updates, follow us on: LinkedIn and Twitter