What was your first job?
I was a fast-track graduate management trainee at the Royal Mail

How did you get into the IT profession?
After qualifying as an accountant I moved from leading finance and ERP implementations into overall chief information officer roles while working in Europe and the United States.

What is the first web site you check in the mornings?
Our portal-based intranet gives me most of what I need in one place. After that my Gartner home page.

Which person do you most admire in the IT industry?
Tim Berners-Lee.

Who is or has been the most influential IT vendor?
Historically, IBM but recently I’d probably say Apple.

Which technology has had the biggest impact on your working life?
Virtual private networks and broadband, however, I have been glued to a BlackBerry since 2001.

Is now a good time for people to enter the profession?
Overall I would say yes, but only in roles that are predominately business-facing.

Which technologies do you most rely on outside the office or at home?
My BlackBerry, 3G card and the iDrive system on the road along with my video iPod - although not all at the same time while driving. Broadband and analogue synths at home.

What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years?
Probably RFID and location-aware applications.

Which recent IT development will have the biggest impact on your organisation?
I think that as Google Apps continues to develop and make news we could see the same change in buying habits in office software as we have seen in music over the past few years.

What keeps you awake?
Currently the SAP program we are implementing, although it’s the change management, politics and budget issues rather than the technology.