Plusnet
Sunday 12th October 2008 Login | Register

And it's goodbye from him.....

April 16th, 2008 at 17:28 by Dean

9 years and 2 months ago I started on a very exciting journey with PlusNet.

I started off as the sole developer, establishing what is now PlusNet’s Workplace solution. Workplace is the software solution which pretty much controls everything within PlusNet. It includes the customer management, product management, billing engine and internal calendaring functionality amongst other things. It also ties together the network and software pieces of the business so we have a single platform - and not multiple systems that don’t talk to each other.
Since then I’ve been privileged to work with some of the best people I could ever imagine working with, on projects that were both exciting and personally rewarding.

Together we built Workplace, the customer self-serve environment, the industry-leading traffic management solution and an open & honest business which is totally transparent to its customer base. More importantly we built a team.

In the early years - my hands were dirty. I think the developers today are still looking at the code I wrote back then with dismay.  ;)

In the latter years, they wisely took me away from the code and allowed me to focus on new technology and strategy. 3 years ago I became the CIO of PlusNet and have been fortunate to have met some of the most creative and innovative people in the industry - who have shown me what the future looks like.

This week sees another chapter in my life as I am now moving on to new things.

Why?

For me, 2008 is very similar to 1999 (when I started). Today, the 2nd wave of the dot com era is here and promises to be even more exciting than the last one.

Software as a Service (SaaS), social networking and mobile applications are starting to become the norm and as such promise tremendous opportunities and exciting times. And frankly it’s an opportunity that I find too good to pass up on.

So I have decided to leave the comfort of a great position in a fantastic company with superb people to work alone in my attic for too many hours a day - having written that I’m now thinking I made the wrong decision. :-)

Honestly, its testament to what a great place PlusNet is that I lasted 9 years and 2 months (I had originally intended to only work for 3-6 months and then travel the world).

So with that, I would like to thank all current and past colleagues and customers for their contribution in making me who I am today and allowing me to work with them. It’s been a chapter in my life that I would not change for the world and there are memories (good and bad) that I will hold onto for as long as I can.

Regards,

Dean

Dean

This entry was posted by Dean on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 5:28 pm and is tagged with and is posted in the category PlusNet News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


7 comments on "And it's goodbye from him....."

Kelly

Make sure you come back and hassle us regularly Dean!

Ianwild

Many people have a lot to thank you for Dean. Not all of them will of course, but that's life!

It's certainly been great to have worked with you over the years and I'm certain we'll be seeing you and some of your new ventures soon - They are pretty much guaranteed to succeed if you're pushing them :-)

Ian

Jack91

All the best in the future Dean, hope things go well!

Jack

neil

Dean,
We've got you to thank for workplace...so we owe you an awful lot. Good Luck
Neil

petejackson

Extract from an internal (Workplace) post:
"You know, people talk about disruptive technologies. New things that come along and make you reassess how and why you are doing things the way you are. Dean is a walking 'disruptive technology'. If there's one thing that Dean showed me, it's to constantly question what it is that you're actually all about. He'd not be surprised for me to say that the sound of his whistle coming often made me inwardly groan, because I knew he'd most likely ask me something (seemingly random) unrelated to the task in hand.. forcing me to think about something new or not (yet) on my plan. It took me a long time to realise why he was doing that - I believe we got there in the end ;)"

Over the last 10 years we've delivered so much stuff it makes my head spin to think about it.. Workplace and the Referrals programme to name just two (small) things, would look very different (if they'd exist at all) - you really should've seen the original 'green' database we used. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next Dean.. I'm sure it'll be ground-breaking.. more power to your elbow!

Neil_A

Good luck Dean. You've been an inspiration! And there's not many people I can say that about.

Best wishes, Dean. Thanks for all the opportunities, mentoring and inspiration you gave me during my time at PlusNet.

Add a Comment




Photos

photo photo photo photo photo photo

View More

Forums

Users online: 35

  • Total Topics: 68522
  • Total Posts: 549524
  • Total Members: 9434

Visit the Forums

Plusnet

Force9

Metronet

Free-Online

PAYH

Related Sites

Community Apps

Here at Plusnet we're always trying to use clever open source things to make our lives easier. Sometimes we write our own and make other people's lives easier too!

View the Plusnet Open Source applications page

About Plusnet

We sell broadband, phone, VoIP and more to homes and businesses in the UK. Winner of 9 out of 11 Categories in the 2008 USwitch survey. Winner of "Best Consumer ISP" at 2008 ISPA awards. Voted number 1 in the Broadband Choices 2008 survey.

© Plusnet plc All Rights Reserved. E&OE

Community Site News is powered by WordPress

Add to Technorati Favourites