About/Contact
My Background
Following on with my passion for computing and software development, I found myself building early websites and applications in the late 90’s as well as writing the odd program in other languages. This eventually led me to wanting to take my knowledge a step further by undertaking a degree ‘Internet Computing BSc’ at the University of Glamorgan where I achieve a first class honors. I also received the Fujitsu Networking award for my final year dissertation.
My academic foundation fueled my passion which has since led me to work within several domains including Financial Services, Manufacturing, E-Commerce, Business intelligence, Consumer Intelligence and Data Mining using web technologies and SAAS models. This has been an invaluable experience which I believe has helped me go from strength to strength. During the experience my role has evolved from web developer, to IT Manager to Head of Product Development onto Agile Coach/Scrum Master/Product Owner roles. My current skills and focus are all about getting more out of software production environments using Agile practices and methodologies. I believe to get more out of software environments its a huge advantage to have a engineering background to understand cultures,people, practices and environments. I am very interested in team dynamics, a firm believer in Agile methodologies and am an advocate of innovative practices, whilst giving value to both the business and teams of individuals who work on the products. I am currently working as a Scrum Master on a contract basis.
Technologies Used
My technology journey has led me to work with Unix, Linux and Microsoft based technologies. However when looking to tackle business solutions I keep an open mind and find the best technology to satisfy the solution with the given constraints such as skill sets and time. I don’t believe in sticking purely with a technology simply because you’re used to it and comfortable with it. There are strengths and weaknesses with all platforms and ignorance doesn’t fit well with innovation.
My Spare Time
When I’m not working I enjoy watching movies, listening to music, cooking and reading (often about Agile). Most weekends I enjoy spending time with my fiance Jody and our crazy dog Buster especially when we are hiking through the countryside or coastline.
Groups and Associations
I am actively involved with several online communities and try to contribute value where possible.
Professional Member of the British Computer Society
View My LinedIn Profile
Certified ScrumMaster
South Wales Agile Group
Just some of the Technologies I am using or have used :
- PHP
- *nux (Fedora/CentOS/Ubuntu/Red Hat/OSX/Solaris),Windows
- MySQL
- MSSQL
- Oracle
- Java
- C++
- C
- XML
- AJAX
- Javascript
- Zend Framework
- Yii Framework
- Gearman
- Apache/Nginx/Cherokee
- Many others used…
Just some of the methodologies I am using or have used :
- Scrum
- Kanban
- XP
- LEAN
- SAAS
- Product Centric Development
- Customer Centric Development
- Cloud Computing
There are a few ways to contact me. Please feel free to use which ever one of the following suits you best.
Direct
craig.strong @ c6s.co.uk