CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL DETAILS
Name:
Simon James Farrell
D.O.B.:
23rd November 1961
Address:
8 Seymour Road
Hampton Wick
Kingston
Surrey KT1 4HW
Nationality:
British
Telephone:
0771 483 5751 (work)
Email:
Simon.Farrell@blueyonder.co.uk
CURRENT POSITION
Enterprise IT Architect, Cable & Wireless plc, Bracknell, Berkshire.
SUMMARY
Since 1984, I have worked in the UK as an A/P, designer, DBA, technical consultant and systems/enterprise
architect, using a wide variety of operating systems, relational databases and application development
technologies, including Oracle, Unix, using C/C++, FORTRAN, Java and XML. Areas of specialisation
have included:










Formulation of IT strategy and direction of architecture for a major telecommunications company
Product evaluation and selection, especially in the area of NSS/OSS
Vendor evaluation, negotiation and relationship management
Technical, data, systems and application architecture
Enterprise architecture, using the TMF and Zachman frameworks
Technical consultancy and troubleshooting
Middleware evaluation, selection, architecture and implementation
Systems analysis, logical and physical database design
Oracle database administration
3GL and 4GL programming
HARDWARE
Most of my work has been on DEC VAX/VMS and Unix computers, including Linux, AIX, Sun, HP and
Sequent, and WinTel PCs. In addition I have worked on Novell networks and Apple Macintoshes.
SOFTWARE
Operating Systems:
Languages:
Databases:
User Interfaces:
Tools:
Comms:
VMS, Unix SVR4, OSF/DCE, Linux, MS Windows NT
SQL, PL/SQL, C, C++, Java, FORTRAN, XHTML, XML, XSLT, PHP
Oracle RDBMS V8, V7, V6, Informix Online 5.0, MySQL v4
X Windows, Oracle GUIs, Java Swing
Encina, Oracle tools, VaxSet tools, Unix development tools, DCE, CORBA,
SQL*Net, webMethods, Websphere, Java/J2EE development tools
TCP/IP (esp. Internet-related), DECNet, SNA
APPLICATION AREAS
Application areas have included all OSS/NSS system types, customer care and billing solutions, workflow,
business and network systems integration, fault management applications, client/server and three-layer
architecture applications of many kinds, inter-process and data network communications, distributed
architectures, GIS, workforce management systems, document management and archiving.
-1-
Curriculum Vitae - Simon Farrell
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Cable & Wireless, London & Bracknell
Sep ’98 to date
Enterprise IT Architect
Global Architect for several key areas in C&W. I am currently responsible for setting global IT Strategy and
Architecture in the areas of EAI, Network-facing (OSS) IT systems and Provisioning, and have had
architecture responsibility for the definition of a number of products including PKI, ADSL & Bandwidth
Trading. I have been heavily involved in defining the IT support structure for C&W’s flagship IPVPN QoS
product. Prior to April 2000 I had joint architectural oversight and responsibility across all IT applications
and systems for the UK arm of C&W, concentrating on Enterprise Application Integration, middleware,
internet/intranet, desktops, fault, workforce and order management and workflow. I am responsible for
initiating and co-ordinating IT strategy & architecture work performed on behalf of C&W by third parties. I
am responsible for identifying new technology solutions with potential for increasing the company’s
competitive advantage (e.g., XML, LDAP/DEN, SOA), and for evaluating best of breed packaged
applications, vendor and systems integrator capabilities. I have managed a global team of 4 architects but
am currently part of a downsized team of four. My IT architecture work requires familiarity with a number
of frameworks, including Zachman, TOGAF and domain-specific frameworks like NGOSS, TMN, J2EE.
Aug ‘97 – Sep ‘98
Systems Architect
The technical authority within the IT Strategy group, responsible for evaluation of new technologies and
design authority for enterprise IT projects. Areas covered include interactive multimedia digital TV,
corporate intranet and internet strategy, desktop, server and middleware architectures. Contributed to a
Systems Renewal programme, establishing an IT infrastructure for the new company, defined Technical
Architecture standards and policies, liased with strategic suppliers. I architected a number of solutions for IT
projects, including Intranet/Extranet applications, E-Commerce, GIS systems and thin-client Oracle
applications.
Mercury Communications, Brentford, Middlesex & Holborn, London.
January ’97 - July ‘97
Technical Architect
One of three architects responsible for defining the technical strategy and architecture for the company and
evaluating new technologies for their applicability to the enterprise. Specific areas included coordinating the
rollout of distributed systems technology such as DCE and Encina, exploring the applicability of Java and
CORBA in particular business situations through small pilot projects and working closely with large
development projects to draw the maximum benefit from strategic technologies.
July ’96 - December ‘97
Technical Consultant
I was part of a small team responsible for end-to-end technical implementation of new projects, providing
consultancy and evaluation of new products, including Oracle, enterprise-wide monitoring tools and
Internet/Intranet technology. Provided company-wide technical resource for Web server configuration,
WWW-RDBMS interaction and some small Java, Javascript and CGI programs.
Database Administrator/Consultant
March '94 - June '96
Oracle Database Administrator directly responsible for the management of 14 V6 and V7 databases, on
Vax/VMS and Unix platforms. Additionally responsible for second-line support of another 30 databases.
Databases ranged in size from 2Gb to 30Gb, with 1-1000 users. Routine tasks included database creation,
reorganisation , version upgrades and conversion, replication, SQL*Net configuration management and disk
management. I gained extensive auditing and tuning experience at all levels (file system, RDBMS and
-2-
Curriculum Vitae - Simon Farrell
application code) and provided consultancy to a number of application development groups at all stages of
the design, development and release lifecycle.
Senior Analyst Programmer / Team Leader
September '93 - April '94
Team Leader of small team implementing a central customer repository database in Oracle V7 and
Pro*Fortran. This involved designing and implementing the monthly consolidation and import of customer
data from a number of different systems, working to tight timescales. I coordinated the successful
implementation of the database, interfaces and other support systems.
Dec ’91 – August ‘93
Senior Analyst Programmer / Team Leader
Member of Technical Architecture team, designing overall technical architecture for a new Sales Front
Office system. I wrote various network-related functions in C and Pascal. I authored the overall design
document of a Pro*FORTRAN Task Management system within the application and also authored the
interface spec between client and server. Designed and implemented a client-server DECNet
communications package and numerous SQL*Forms 3 and Pro*Fortran programs. Designed and oversaw
testing of the Task Management system.
On the departure of my boss, I led a team of 6 APs and SAPs in testing, debugging and releasing interfaces
to IBM mainframes, Northern Telecom telecomms switches and other remote systems. I recruited staff,
made development estimates and produced Gantt charts and other plans for the successful implementation
of a second phase of project development. I assigned and oversaw work until the group was re-located to
Birmingham.
Senior Analyst Programmer
Apr '91 - Nov '91
Member of team expanding and enhancing an order processing and provisioning system. Designed and
implemented SQL*Forms 2.3, SQL*Forms 3, ReportWriter 1.1 and Pro*Fortran programs to verbal specs.
The job involved making tactical enhancements to an existing database application, ranging from simple
SQL*Forms to more complex processes involving transfer of data from the Oracle RDBMS to IBM
mainframes.
British Telecom, Ealing, London.
Apr ’89 – Apr ‘91
Senior Analyst Programmer
Designed, investigated, proposed and implemented a number of systems including a fault reporting system,
internal training database and comms network configuration and fault logging system. Led a small team of
programmers to develop prototypes of several of the above systems before final implementation. Areas
covered included system performance, capacity planning, back-up strategy and system management set-up
and practices.
July ’85 – Apr ‘89
Freelance Author & Programmer.
Authored and co-authored 17 children's books for various UK publishers. Tendered, designed &
implemented several Educational Software programs in C on the IBM PC, mainly in the Special Needs area.
3 months writing a screenplay "treatment" for Columbia Pictures.
-3-
Curriculum Vitae - Simon Farrell
Games Workshop Ltd., London.
September ’83 – July ‘85
Data Processing Manager
Supervised and participated in the testing, installation, maintenance and modification of an integrated
Accounting/Stock Control system running in COBOL on a Texas Instruments mini computer running DX10 operating system. Implemented day-to-day running procedures, archiving procedures and crash recovery
procedures.
QUALIFICATIONS
Date
Qualification
1996
Certified Oracle 7 DBA (Chauncey Group)
1983
2.5 years of a 3 year BSc degree course in Astrophysics
1977-1980
3 GCE ‘A’ Levels, 11 GCE ‘O’ Levels
TRAINING
ORACLE: I have attended a large number of Oracle courses
DCE: Administrator and Developer courses. Encina programming.
UNIX: TCP/IP network configuration and administration, Unix System Administration
Other Courses: Project Management, Leadership Skills, Presentation Skills
I have attended a large number of technical seminars, with the purpose of evaluating and implementing new
technologies.
I speak regularly at Telecom industry conferences and workshops.
-4-