Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 15 | Page 92

GET TO KNOW “ IF I WAS A TIME TRAVELLER I WOULD GO BACK AND MAKE SURE THAT I TRUSTED MY INSTINCTS. continent. Additionally, businesses have limited budgets and appetites to bring on entire security teams, consisting of analysts, researchers, security specialists and ethical hackers. same infrastructure and resources that international developers take for granted. This includes high-speed networks and often the latest hardware is simply beyond the reach of many African businesses. How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office? What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months? The best stress relief is to go for a run. I run with my wife and we do a minimum of two half marathons a year. When we run I switch off any outside stress and focus on that moment, making sure the pain is not too intense when we hit the long hills. I also love to play hockey and spend time with family and friends whenever there is an opportunity. If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be? I would trust my gut more. Over the years some of the primary reasons that we have had success is due to the instinctive gut feel around solutions, customers or methodologies. There have been occasions when my gut told me that there may be something wrong with an individual in relation to our team or a choice on some pricing option and I went ahead anyway. In every one of those situations, things did not turn out well and it caused a great deal of unnecessary stress and ill feelings. If I was a time traveller I would go back and make sure that I trusted my instincts. I have seen changes driven by technology. This has meant changes to the way I access systems and manage my time, and the roles of the rest of the team at J2 Software. I have had to empower other members of the team to get things done that I would have done myself in the past. In the next 12 months, this will evolve even further as our cybersecurity centre grows and team management gets moved out to other management staff along the way. It is an exciting time to be at J2 Software and I look forward to the changes and growth that is coming our way. What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry? I honestly believe if you want to be successful and climb the ladder, you cannot have an attitude of ‘that’s not my job’. One must work harder than anybody else. The truth is that if you get involved and learn about various parts of the business you are in, you can pick up how the various departments run and how it all fits together. With this insight you can develop methods to improve and streamline processes as well as make sure they become easier and more efficient. n What are the region-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in Africa? I am of the belief that there are not enough African developed technology solutions. This brings about massive problems in adoption due to several factors. Firstly, many African businesses lack the 92 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com