In the latest blog in our series, we chatted with Matt Shearsby, Inciper's ERP Practice Lead. We talk quality family time, Star Trek and why being inquisitive will get you a long way in the tech industry.
1.) Where do you call home?
My family and I live in St Albans. I was born and raised in and around Greater London. St Albans though is a lovely city (yes - it is a city as it has a Cathedral) with lots to see and do and it is easy to get to most places in the UK.
We also spend a lot of time in Swanage in Dorset - any trip to Swanage instantly makes me (and the family) feel calmer and more relaxed. We love swimming in the sea, walking on the beaches and eating fish and chips and ice cream.
2.) What hobbies did you have growing up?
Swimming was at the centre of my life - I don’t think any other sport takes as much commitment. I trained up to 8 times a week, morning and afternoon, and spent a lot of my weekends at events. I had great friends though and there was incredible comradery in the community.
Outside of this I was always outdoors - riding and crashing bikes, riding and crashing roller skates, driving and crashing radio-controlled cars.
Computers have been a part of my life from the ZX81 (yes that old!) right through to today. I was growing up as consoles started to come to the forefront and owned SNES, Megadrive, N64, Playstation 1, 2 and 3 and Xboxes.
I probably have more hobbies now than I did when I was growing up though!
3.) What are you currently watching?
Too many things - have always loved Sci-Fi and enjoyed both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett series. Have also liked the latest Star Trek Discovery and Picard series.
In a deviation from Sci-Fi my wife and I are currently streaming Lovesick on Netflix - worth checking out.
I hate period drama and musicals!
4.) What was your first mobile phone?
My first proper phone was a Nokia ER-500 - these things were truly indestructible and the first phones to have a game (Snake) and text messaging (most of our text messages consisted of four letters).
5.) What’s the coolest bit of tech you’ve ever seen?
Hmm - not very good at doing favourites. In some ways tech has become so good that new versions of phones etc. are hard to distinguish (oooh another megapixel is just what I need) that I've almost stopped caring about them.
The latest generation of flexible screens though is quite exciting - what I really want though is my own head up display !
6.) Describe what you do at Inciper in one sentence?
I’m the Practice Lead for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Practice, providing consultancy services to implement and enhance ERP for our clients.
That's one sentence but it's not that simple – Microsoft Dynamics 365 is evolving so fast that it now touches so many technologies, from Power BI to Azure Micro services, AI and beyond.
7.) What’s the best part of your job?
Going live and seeing clients reap the benefits. It is also the hardest part, as no matter how well prepared you are there is still risk in replacing an organisation’s entire operational platform.
8.) What’s so cool about Microsoft technology?
I've worked with ERP all my career. Since the launch of Microsoft Dynamics 365 (over Ax) the evolution of ERP has turned into a revolution.
I think this is what is best about Microsoft technology - the pace of change is so fast. This does pose a challenge, as what is the correct answer today may not be tomorrow, but again staying at the sharp end keeps it interesting.
9.) Who’s your tech hero?
First answer - Tony Stark, but then he is fictional.
Again - not great with favourites so here is my top 3:
- The obvious answer is Tim Berners-Lee - without him would we even have blogs?
- Alan Turing is of course really important - without him would we even have computers?
- Isamabard Kingdom Brunel - He changed the English and world landscape forever inventing not only new machines but techniques.
So, on balance - probably Brunel. I would love to work in the more physical world where what we invent has an impact on the physical (as opposed to digital) world.
10.) What advice do you have for anyone looking to get into this industry?
Be Inquisitive - if you don’t understand how it works, take it apart and put it back together again. If it doesn't work after that you get to try again.
Be Tenacious - if someone tells you "That's impossible" don't accept it, prove them wrong.
