Hi!
I'm Simon
I work with large corporations with their B2C and B2B eCommerce needs primarily with SAP Commerce (formerly hybris), as well as various side gigs, such as Open Source projects, Fiction Writing, Poetry, Living in France, and a few other bits & pieces. This site's designed to be a springboard to those various projects, and will evolve over time to include more information.
My story
I originate from the UK, but now live in France in a town called Nontron in the Dordogne with my wife Pat, our two poodles and two cats.
I typically challenge myself to understand different aspects of technology projectm having worked variously as Help-Desk Coordinator, Developer, ScrumMaster, Technical Architect, Practice Lead, and Product Manager at companies like SAP, Oracle, Deloitte, Apple and many, many household and non-household names across various countries and industries.
The Pandemic brought a new reality though as it hit my wife (who lives in France) hard, and so with the support of the corporation I worked for, I transitioned from the UK to a French part of the company to help support her with the after-effects of Covid.
I have a strong interest in independent publishing, and in this vein, have four series of books in various states of draft - first book is in edit so should be coming out later this year.
I've been a keen developer since the age of eleven, when I had my own paid home computer user club in the UK, sold software, and wrote programs for small businesses in my later teens to scratch that computing and entrepreneurial itch. I was told I had to go to college to get a job in IT, so I did.
A few jobs in after college, I found that this wasn't actually true in all companies, so was a bit annoyed about 'wasting' three years. But in retrospect, the three years held value that I hadn't foreseen - mostly relating to the non-educational aspects! I'm a great believer in education. I'm just not convinced about how we're told it should be delivered or instigated.
Today, it's much the same as when I was in my teens, but with extra grown-up things to think about as well.
Neurodiversity features strongly in my life - I have autism - and have been on a voyage of discovery for some time as I've been diagnosed for over ten years now, and had an inkling since childhood. I have learned various strategies for balancing my autistic and non-autistic traits over the years - a good proportion early on where I learned to embrace change until it became normal. That's served me well.
The original site (updated between 1998 and 2008) is still there on wayback machine - I took it down some time around 2010 because it hadn't been updated in a few years and still used flash animations! Still - it's a good way of getting an insight into my interests back then.
If you'd like to know what I'm up to at the moment, then catch me on my now page.
Make things better. Long term better.
Whatever I do, the aim is to leave things better when I leave than when I came... preferably long-term better.
That makes culture really important to me. Giving Purpose. Ultimately, my aim is to make change that renders me unnecessary in the long run. That, for me, is success.
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