In our brand new blog series, we uncover the humans behind Inciper, who are leveraging Microsoft Business Applications technology to help organisations realise their digital transformation potential - empowering them to reach new heights in efficiency, consistency and cost savings. First up, is Paul Keys, Practice Lead for our Technology Platform Services (TPS).
1.) Where do you call home?
Can I say “wherever I lay my hat”? No? OK, then home is the Wirral. I was born and raised here, moved away a few times for university and work but always gravitated back to the Wirral. We’re surrounded on 3 sides by water and having access to some really nice beaches whilst being so close to Liverpool and Chester provides a really great mix of activities that I try to make the most of whenever I can.
2.) What hobbies did you have growing up?
Probably not dissimilar from many of similar age, I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up. My friends and I used to disappear in the morning and not return until dinner time, out cycling along the Wirral way, playing football at the park. I was fortunate enough to be in my early teenage years when home computing was just emerging. The first computer I had was the ZX Spectrum (yes, the one with the rubber keys) and this was my first foray into coding with basic (which was indeed very basic!). This continued into more Spectrum and Commodore computers as I moved through my teenage years (before the internet was really “a thing”) and continued into university where the internet started to emerge, albeit in a very different format compared to how we see it today (remember IRC?)
3.) What are you currently watching?
With the advent of streaming services, I find myself watching a number of series at once. Ozark on Netflix, The Handmaid’s Tale on Amazon, the new Boba Fett series on Disney+ and The Responder on BBC IPlayer. I rarely watch live TV now (except for sport), which seems to be becoming more the norm, I think.
4.) What was your first mobile phone?
Ha! Showing my age here perhaps, but it was one of the very early Motorola phones which you could only use to send short texts or make phone calls. Big rubber keys and a very small screen and a cost per text and per minute. A big departure from today both in terms of technology and the approach to tariffs where it’s now all about the data, with texts and calls pretty much free.
5.) What’s the coolest bit of tech you’ve ever seen?
From a business perspective I think it’s the Hololens. The opportunity that mixed reality provides in cross industry use cases is really significant and I can see the value of this only growing over time. From a personal perspective I’d have to say the Kindle. The ability to make multiple books available in such a user friendly, tactile device was a real game changer for someone like me who likes to read a lot of books!
6.) Describe what you do at Inciper in one sentence?
I’m the Practice Lead for the Technology Platform Services (TPS) Practice, providing Data and Analytics and Integration services to our clients, either supporting Inciper’s Dynamics implementations or as dedicated TPS engagements.
7.) What’s the best part of your job?
The “Wow!” moment with clients. I love the moment that the client realises the value that Data and Analytics can provide in their organisation to drive business decisions or automate previously manual processes. That’s what has kept me in the consulting industry for so long, I love the variety of clients and being able to make a difference in a really short period of time.
8.) What’s so cool about Microsoft technology?
For someone who has worked in Data and Analytics for over 20 years I’d have to say the advent of Azure. Where previously the cost and time associated with provisioning hardware and software was significant, the ability to provision and scale resources in Azure so quickly has been a real game changer. With the majority of organisations now having a ‘cloud first’ strategy it has become more straightforward to demonstrate the technical capabilities and articulate how they can add value to our clients.
9.) Who’s your tech hero?
I’m not sure I can give you a single answer and I’m probably going to break from the norm here, the first name that springs to mind is James Serra. While I was still the early days of my Data and Analytics career trying to enhance my technical knowledge, the wealth information that James was routinely making available was really beneficial. Secondly (and not strictly tech, sorry!) is Ralph Kimball. The approach to modelling data for analytics workloads has evolved based on Ralph’s bible and the original versions of these reference books continue to be as applicable today as they always have been. Finally I’m going to say Simon Whiteley. I’ve had the good fortune to be able to see Simon present at several conferences. The passion he has for analytics is obvious and his ability to weave humour into his presentations makes them so enjoyable to watch.
10.) What advice do you have for anyone looking to get into this industry?
A couple of points;
Firstly, don’t be afraid to start small. As someone who has worked in most Data and Analytics roles throughout my career, the technical and business knowledge gained from opportunities to learn from more senior data and business professionals has provided me with the foundation for my whole career.
Secondly, make sure you take the learnings from challenging projects into future projects. I’m sure we’ve all had projects where there has been a technical obstacle or maybe a challenging stakeholder. The experience and learning you gain from overcoming these challenges is really valuable, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time!
