
Vice President Enterprise Publishing Solutions at Stilo International
Ottawa, Canada Area

Vice President Enterprise Publishing Solutions at Stilo International
Ottawa, Canada Area
I could fairly be described as someone who is seriously "into" content. While I have played a rather unsettling range of roles over the years, from analyst through to manager and entrepreneur, a majority of these roles have focused to a large extent on understanding what content is, how it can be managed effectively and why this has become so important. My first encounter with content technologies was in 1987 when I was introduced to SGML and a number of applications intended to support academics working with complex text collections. It could be said that at the time, as a reader in the Bodleian Library, I was swimming in content so the potential benefits of this line of innovation effectively entranced me. Since that time I have managed to find ways to use, some might say mis-use, SGML and its offspring HTML and XML, in many, many different ways.
Perhaps more important than an early infatuation with this family of technologies is the fact that I was typically tasked with deploying these tools within highly demanding environments. The ensuing project experiences were as far from "academic tinkering" as can be imagined and some of those projects represent content management implementations on a monumental scale. All this explains why I am bald and why my project case studies generally leave audiences feeling that their projects suddenly don't seem that bad after all.
I have had the privilege to work with many world-class organizations over the years and I count myself lucky to be supported by a network of colleagues who, taken as a group, represent the world's most capable team of implementers in advanced content management. My most recent projects are getting even more extreme because I just know that my colleagues are not only up to, but look forward to, any challenge.
Knowledge Management, Enterprise Content Management, Project Management, Procurement Facilitation, Acquisition Reform, XML Technologies, Information Architecture Design, Business Development, Communities of Practice, Technology Solution Design and Implementation, Intelligent Content, Electronic Publishing Systems, Requirements Engineering, Technology Management, Business Communications, Technology Marketing.
(Public Company; LSE:STL; Information Technology and Services industry)
December 2004 — Present (4 years 8 months)
In this position, I lead a great Ottawa-based team in the design, development and delivery of enterprise solutions for customers all over the world. These solutions universally leverage open standards, intelligent content and advanced content processing technologies.
In this capacity, I also get a chance to meet a great many people who are passionate about improving the ways in which teams and organizations manage and leverage the content that in many ways makes their world go round. Whether as clients, colleagues, contributors, or even as critics and competitors, I take a great deal away from my exchanges with this community - and hopefully give something back....
(Information Technology and Services industry)
May 1998 — November 2004 (6 years 7 months)
Founded and then managed the growth of a niche technology services company that specialized in the design, development and deployment of XML-enabled solutions. Operating under the tagline "Content Solutions for the Smart Enterprise", XIA undertook a bewildering array of projects in a wide variety of industry sectors. The projects ranged from building an XML-based software design and code-generation system to constructing a secure content interchange framework for the defense sector.
This venture brought together a stellar group of people who became leaders in this emergent field. The network of people remains in many ways intact years later. XIA was acquired by Stilo International late in 2004.
(Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)
May 1991 — April 1998 (7 years)
Founded a venue through which to conduct work as a contracted resource but this entity grew, somewhat unexpectedly, into a specialist consultancy consisting of a number of people all juggling numerous engagements. Areas of activity included project management, business development support, early work in electronic commerce, SGML solution design and implementation management, exploratory application development, business process design, technical information management and organizational consulting. The extensive client network and wide-ranging experience gathered during these years prepared the way to forming a larger venture - XIA Systems Corporation.
(Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; Military industry)
August 1989 — April 1991 (1 year 9 months)
Returning to Canada and intentionally stepping outside the cloistered world of Academia, I could not have found a better "first job". I worked as a project officer in the Directorate of Computer Systems Engineering and Maintenance (DCSEM). It was something of a baptism by fire because this group managed a massive volume of technology acquisition projects and its mandate covered engineering, project management and procurement. I was fortunate enough to work in this "crucible" when the management layer was populated by "old school" veterans from the days of cold war technology advancement.
While I calculated that, given the long hours I worked and my low salary as a junior officer, my hourly wage would have come out to less than $2 an hour, even then I had no regrets. The lessons I learned from some of the old guard have paid recurrent benefits ever since.
(Government Agency; Military industry)
January 1981 — April 1991 (10 years 4 months)
As an adjunct to my university education, I was a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, initially as a Gunner and Bombardier, and then, upon completing the Officer Training Program in delightful Gagetown, New Brunswick, a Lieutenant. As is customary in the military, the vast majority of my time was directed to being trained to perform a wide array of functions. The experiences accumulated during this time are something that I now see as irreplaceably valuable even if they were not always pleasant. Perhaps my fondest memory came from the summer of 1986 when I stepped in as the course officer for a Combat Leaders Course and had to learn as quickly and as much as I was teaching...