Hello Jason! Shed some light on your life’s journey.
I had an interest in all aspects of computing from my early teenage years and decided to study Computer Science at university. Upon graduation, I moved on to work as a software developer.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to expand my experience in several roles, including serving as a technical lead for software delivery projects, where I was responsible for the non-functional requirements of the project. It was in that role that I was introduced to Dynatrace - first via AppMon and later with Dynatrace SaaS (classic).
We used Dynatrace to verify performance testing results, as it was the only tool available that could record and store the necessary KPI metrics. Inadvertently, we were doing Quality Gates (when I think back!), but there was definitely no automation involved. 😊
Tell us about your work and what interesting things you’re working on.
I work in Dynatrace’s D1 Team based in the UK as a consultant, ensuring our clients get the best value from our ever-growing platform.
I’ve spent most of my tenure supporting one of our largest customers, SAP, which keeps me busy as consumption has grown across the organization - with more and more teams wanting to benefit from a leading observability platform deployed alongside their products.
More recently, I’ve been assisting several customers with the migration to Gen3 SaaS and onboarding new clients directly to Gen3 SaaS. I get to see a broad mixture of scenarios, from completely greenfield projects to those where clients have been long-term users. In either case, all users need upskilling to take full advantage of the new platform capabilities.
What makes you excited about being a part of Dynatrace?
Two things that excite me the most about working at Dynatrace:
- Attending company-related calls that are primarily focused on technology. Having worked in different organizations whose primary business wasn’t technology, listening to industry trends in banking or energy wasn’t that interesting when you’re a technologist. It’s far more engaging to listen to conversations around hyperscalers and AI, etc.
- Self-development. It’s not possible to be an expert in all aspects of IT, but working at Dynatrace - with access to courses and support to get certified - you’re definitely given the opportunity to learn as much as you can handle.
What makes Dynatrace Community important to you?
It’s a great way to see questions and use cases you may not come across frequently, so being able to contribute and read responses helps the whole community grow its knowledge of Dynatrace.
"Given my role, it’s important to contribute whenever possible to help others. It not only assists those who immediately need help, but also ensures Dynatrace’s value is realized in the long term."
Tell us something about you that most people don’t know. What is your biggest joy or passion in life?
Two wheels; either my motorcycle which I admittedly do not get enough time to ride and a return of an old passion, mountain biking.
Most of my time is taken up with my two daughters, whom I ferry around to Brazilian Ju-jitsu training (the older one) and ballet for the younger. Although my elder has now decided she wants to return to ballet too after a 3-year hiatus.
They seem to be catching the 2-wheel bug too; we've had countless outings to the park with the girls, although they need to work on their endurance and speed before I can get them on the proper mountain bike trails.
In my youth, I was an avid cricketer and played at a county level. I also played with a few former international players and a few others who went on to represent England at Test level. It wasn’t meant to be for me, but a lot of memories and the instillation of participation and determination stay with you for life.
Here's my bucket list:
🔹 Motorcycle track day at Donington Park in the UK.
🔹 Mountain biking holiday in Portugal or Spain.
🔹 And a Wembley visit, albeit I was lucky to tick that off this year, I went to watch Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals, but the outcome wasn’t favorable, losing to the might of Man City.
What achievement are you most proud of?
Since leaving formal education, it was 16-year gap before I sat another exam, when I obtained an AWS certification.
Since joining Dynatrace I’ve gained a further 13 certifications. A hell of a lot of exam sittings the past few years – completely killing the metaphor that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!
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