The short version first:
- I live in Carlow
- I love technology and making good use of it
- I work as a consultant, teacher, trainer, backup provider and try to work at being fountain of knowledge for my friends, family and clients.
Now the long version:
I graduated from Brunel University, London with a First Class Honours BSc in Computing in Business. I have worked in IT and telecoms for over 13 years and and been running my own project management and IT consultancy company for over 8 years. I have been an Executive Director on the board of a multinational Telecoms development company in Germany and have had an interest in technology and business all my life. I have a passion for the good use of technology within a business and also try to make the best use of it in my private life. I’m very strict about avoiding buying into technology without having clear expectations and goals.
I have the following memberships/associations/partnerships:
- Member of the Institute of Project Management of Ireland
- Associate of the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers
- Member of the Irish Internet Association
- Qualified Google Adwords Professional
- Cisco Registered Partner
- Member of the Microsoft Partner Network
- Member of the Microsoft Partner Research Panel
My interest in IT started at my father’s garage in Carlow town – RF Shirley Ltd – when I was a small child. They were one of the first businesses in the country to have computerised invoicing and stock control. At the time the system was cutting edge and only took up a small room. It was only a short time later when I first started to realise that the installation of IT alone was not enough for successful usage and that a lot of work was needed. Even at that age I could not understand how these cool machines could cause so many headaches and resolved to do it better.
A decade later when it was time to start university I still had the same basic idea and started a course in Electronic Engineering (so I could learn to build them myself). I quickly came to realise that the issues were not just the physical system but more often was a failing in the integration and planning. To that end I changed my course to Computing in Business with the aim of learning as much as possible to allow me to help people get the most from their IT and other technology.
Before starting University I had gone to Germany to gain some general work experience and I returned there between studies. I spent almost 15 years in Germany – splitting my work life between there and Ireland. In 2006 I returned home permanently. Up to that point my company, Shercom Ltd, had been concentrating on sub-contracting work. Having seen far too many people lose data due to bad or non existent backup strategies – I decided to start offering managed online backups.We still do training and consultancy but see the online backups as a great way to help out small businesses.
My time in Germany has had a very strong influence on my work style. I pride myself on being well organised and reliable. Life is not all about work however and I try to make sure that I have as much fun as possible everyday.
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