Therefore I mould my approach as CTO around leading a team that delivers capabilities that delight our users and customers. I think it’s really tempting to focus on innovation and the bleeding edge - and don’t get me wrong, that’s so much fun to work on - but the reality is that most organisations, and huge parts of the target market, are often three or more years behind the curve. What type of CTO are you? Great question. I always ask: How can I help organisations improve their security, and how can we eliminate the things that are painful as front-line practitioners? Despite a few years in product leadership and some aspects of marketing, my roots were forged as a practitioner and that’s the angle I bring to work with me. It’s been quite a ride from starting out in an ISP’s call centre doing consumer tech support at the turn of the century to spending a decent chunk of my career at the forefront of cybersecurity with a number of vendors. Did you take any detours? If so, discuss. What was your education? Do you hold any certifications? What are they? I went straight into work after leaving school, and augmented on-the-job experience with Open University and industry certifications from vendors including Microsoft’s MCSA/MCSE, Trend Micro, Symantec, and the ISC2 CISSP.Įxplain your career path.

Fun fact: when I left school in 1996 my Record of Achievement even said that I planned on becoming a software engineer. My love of tech then carried on through my teen years when I found the bulletin board scene and coding. I think it stems from being a video games nerd! My primary school in the late 1980s somehow had a bunch of BBC Micro and Archimedes computers, and if you knew how to use them, you were allowed to play educational games instead of attending what in comparison were other boring lessons. My time at Cobweb gave me a great foundation for my later roles at Symantec, Gartner, Endgame, and CrowdStrike.ĭid you always want to work in IT? I have always had a strong interest in tech. Cobweb is a cloud services specialist and Europe’s largest hosted exchange provider that helps organisations of all sizes to grow into flexible, agile businesses through best-of-breed cloud technologies. I worked with the team there for a few years in the early 2000s.

What was your first job? My first job in the IT industry was Principal Systems Administrator at Cobweb Solutions Ltd. He is well known as a popular commentator in the cyber industry, and prior to joining Arctic Wolf spent time at Symantec, Gartner, and CrowdStrike. As a former Gartner analyst, Ian has advised tens of thousands of organisations worldwide. Ian McShane has over 20 years’ experience in cybersecurity and operational IT.

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