Context, Content, Capability —
The three dimensions of any system, whether abstract or tangible, legacy or “state of the art” (also known as tomorrow’s legacy).
Without exception, all systems operate within a context, contain useful info, and do (at least some) useful stuff.
Final Chapter — or Epilogue?
I’m in the final chapter of a career that began in 1986. Not quite finished—still fuel in the tank and a few hills to climb. Writing this down isn’t nostalgia, it’s duty: reflect, distil, and pass things on before it all vanishes into the cloud (cumulus or Kubernetes).
I’ve seen projects fly, stall, and fall sideways. Rarely from lack of talent—more often from jargon, shiny frameworks, or slide decks that buckled under reality. Clarity still matters. Delivery doesn’t start with a licence key or the latest three-letter acronym—it starts with understanding: observation, curiosity, logic… and the odd raised eyebrow when something smells off.
I’m still learning. Today’s slick platform is tomorrow’s legacy system with a support contract no one wants. So part of this is me testing what’s next—figuring out what works, what lasts, and what deserves a place in the kit. I’m not just passing the baton; I’m checking it isn’t glitter-coated and held together with duct tape.
If this sometimes reads like the mutterings of a grizzled data wrangler, fair enough. But think of it as breadcrumbs: why the star schema matters, why data models aren’t “just diagrams,” and why marketing should never pick the system architecture.
If you’ve made it this far—cheers. You’re either in the business, curious enough to dig deeper, or simply patient with metaphor-laced ramblings. Whatever the reason—welcome aboard. Let’s keep things sharp, sound, and only mildly scribbly.
👋 About Me (click-2-see)
I’ve worked across telecoms, finance, insurance, utilities, and the public sector — usually in that elusive space where strategy makes promises and delivery keeps them. Three degrees, a few decades in the game, and still partial to a clean star schema.
I enjoy a good metaphor — think of me as the violist or bass player: not chasing the spotlight, but keeping the whole thing in tune.
🛠 What I Do and How I think (click-2-see)
Whether you’ve arrived out of curiosity, confusion, or because someone said, “This one knows what he’s talking about,” (thanks, Mum!), you’re in the right place.
Data migrations, data architecture, project rescue missions, cloud integrations — and plenty of time spent bridging the gap between tech and business. If it involves data, delivery, or crossed wires, I can probably help with it.
📈 Data in Context: Dig Site ≠ Museum (click-2-see)
Data is the artefact; insight is the archaeologist going, “Aha!” OLTP is the dig site—real-time, chaotic, with mud on your boots. OLAP is the curator’s lounge—quietly piecing together the past over a cup of tea. Best practice? Don’t curate in the trench. Let Change Data Capture (CDC) ferry the finds from OLTP to lakehouse—without tripping over the wheelbarrow.
🧠 Gantt and Jira Type Musings (click-2-see)
Waterfall (e.g., MS Project) keeps the CxOs calm at the programme level, Kanban chunks (e.g., Jira) keep progress visible and controlled, and Scrum sprints give devs enough freedom to fly—just not a passport to vanish into techie nirvana.
🤖 🧠 🛸 Hey Ho AI/ML (click-2-see)
AI doesn’t naturally understand star schemas or metadata — that’s our architectural baggage, not its native tongue. It wouldn’t know a conformed dimension if it tripped over one. But give it a clean, flattened dataset extracted from your beautifully modelled star schema, and it’ll crunch numbers faster than a finance team at quarter-end. It doesn’t care what a ‘dimension table’ is — just that the columns line up and the maths add up. The real trick? We hide all that clever pattern-spotting behind slick APIs, so other systems can call it like it’s magic — no whiteboards or data lineage diagrams required.
☁️💻 📊 Every Day is a Cloudy One! (click-2-see)
'The Cloud' — basically a data centre, just without the weird humming noise. Or as we now say (because we’re professionals): DCaaS — Data Centre as a Service. We must be experts — after all, we’ve invented a whole new set of acronyms, hand signals, and architectural diagrams.
Frankly, with this level of vocabulary inflation, it’s probably time we set up our own professional movement. Robes optional, but a Latin motto wouldn’t hurt. How does ”Templum Nubium: In Cloud We Trust” grab you?
🛞 Where the Rubber Hits the Road! (click-2-see)
I’m not here for the merch or the slideware. I build tools that work — not perfect, but proven. This isn’t theory; it’s a working kit that’s evolved through delivery, not decoration. From architecture patterns to RAID logs, everything here has earned its place by holding up when things get political, complex, or downright messy. No fluff. No grandstanding. Just frameworks that flex, stand up under pressure, and get better with use — not polish.
📬 Contact (click-4-details)
Need help untangling a project? Want to chat SAP, ERP, data, integration or delivery over coffee (real or virtual)? Happy to hear from you.
🛠️ Thanks for visiting (click-2-see)
If something here resonates, bookmark it.
If it makes you roll your eyes — well, at least it made you think.
🤔 Let's get back to fixing what needs to be fixed.