Hi, Im Steve a Full Stack Systems Engineer from Leeds, UK.
I created this website to provide a location where I could share articles related to my interests / findings when working as a Developer / Sys Admin / Solution Architect.
My interest in IT started when I was very young, my Uncle worked for a large IT company and I was always fascinated by his work. I would build my own computers with him and eventually built them for friends and family too.
I started my career in IT straight from high school where I had an apprenticeship with Kodak working in one of their datacenters, I then moved on to working for small IT Resellers, and then on to a small Leeds based data center and hosting provider where I honed my skills and continue to expand my knowledge.
Now working for one of the worlds largest service providers, I spends this time working on projects to ensure the business runs in the most efficient ways possible by implementing automation tooling and improving processes.
The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before. Neil Gaiman
As a hobby, I likes to spend time on home automation & 3D printing projects and of course spending time with my beautiful wife and children.
Thank You for reading!
Key Skills
Workfow Optimisation
90%
System & Product Architecture
80%
Project Management
50%
People Leader
40%
Programming Skills
HTML5/CSS3
90%
Python
75%
Typescript / Javascript
60%
Full Stack Systems Engineer III
2020 — present @ Rackspace Technology
Responsible for the design, function and future of the business products and support tooling. Working closely within functional team and with external stakeholders qualifying and documenting new products, both hardware and software.
Identifying areas of improvement both within the team and the larger organization. Designing, engineering, architecture, and integration of tooling to reduce total cost, to support customers and minimize human error.
- Identify areas of improvement for existing or new tooling
- Manage approved projects and implement within assigned timelines
- Provide support and guidance to other engineers
- Point of escalation for support teams and Full Stack Systems Engineers
Full Stack Systems Engineer II
2019 — 2020 @ Rackspace Technology
A small team of engineers setup to help standardise, train and implement new ways workflows or applications to improve efficiency within the business. Also an escalation point for support teams.
Role:- Improve business workflows and tooling to provide more efficient service
- Independently manage assigned tasks and communicate with task stakeholders
Technical Support, Team Leader
2017 — 2019 @ Rackspace Technology
Responsible for leading a team of 13 Windows Engineers, providing 3rd line support to our customer base.
Role:- Management of Windows Engineering team, including performance reviews and 1-to-1
- Planning of on-call rotas and shift patterns
- Ticket queue reporting and ensuring SLAs are adhered to
Technical Lead
2015 — 2017 @ Datapipe (Acquired by Rackspace Technology)
Adapt was a Managed Service Provider, also providing Co-Location and internet circuits to customers.
Role:- Overall technical responsibility for a number of large enterprise businesses.
- Work closely with the Account Director and Service Manager to co-ordinate teams and deliver the best possible service.
- Track and progress problems and projects to enable continued improvement.
- Worked with the companies two largest customers to ensure retention after a period of issues, one customer ended up expanding their contract and adding additional £1.2m due to this effort.
- Provided a full CMDB device and relationship mapping to allow enhanced support and impact analysis.
- Executed monthly usage analysis to provide feedback on potential savings or performance bottlenecks. This resulted in a major bottleneck being found with part of the infrastructure and mitigation being implemented.
- Implemented a billing audit to ensure devices were being billed accurately each month.
- Resolved some major problems that were causing poor customer performance.
Senior Hosting Engineer
2014 — 2015 @ Adapt (Acquired by Datapipe)
Adapt was a Managed Service Provider, also providing Co-Location and internet circuits to customers.
Role:- Architect and project manage deployment of customer environments.
- Act as an escalation point for Junior engineers.
- Improve technical documentation and procedures.
- Architected a repeatable VMware environment with DR capabilities if required.
- Fully automated deployment of environment to enable the most efficient use of engineers time.
- Continued development of internal IPAM for asset tracking and IP Management.
Hosting Engineer
2013 — 2014 @ Sleek Networks (Acquired by Adapt)
Sleek Networks were a Data Center and Managed Service Provider, Hosting services for SME businesses across the UK. Later acquired by Adapt.
Role:- Provide assistance in maintaining the data center, including failover testing for generators and mains power.
- Provisioning of new cabinets with power, cabling and switching gear.
- 1st and 2nd line helpdesk support for any customer queries or issues.
Senior IT Consultant
2007 — 2013 @ Galtec Solutions
A small Managed Service Provider. Providing IT Support, project management & hardware / software sales to our customers.
Role:- Architect environments for SME customers.
- Deploy Virtualisation and Windows infrastructures.
- Evolve the internal & customer products offered.
- Designed & Implemented the first Cloud hosted Bloxx appliance in partnership with Bloxx.
- Designed & Implemented an off-site backup solution for our managed customers.
- Designed & Implemented custom Sharepoint sites for businesses.
- Implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM.