Graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from
Portsmouth Polytechnic (now Portsmouth University) in 1982.
My employment history since graduating is as follows :-
Ferranti in Portsmouth, from July 1982 to August 1985, leaving as a Team
Leader.
A contractor at BP Research Centre in Sunbury Upon Thames, from August
1985 to August 1986.
A contractor at London Regional Transport in Chiswick, from September 1986
to January 1987.
A contractor at BP Exploration in Aberdeen, from January 1987 to September
1993.
SAIC at their BP Exploration site in Aberdeen, from September 1993 to
April 1997, leaving as DBA Team Leader.
A DBA contractor at ACC in Wellington, New Zealand, from May 1997 to May
1998.
Sybase in Melbourne, Australia, from August 1998 to August 2002, leaving
as a Senior Consultant.
A contractor at Deio Computer Systems (now GE Healthcare) in Kuopio,
Finland and Waterlooville near Portsmouth, from February 2003 to October
2003.
A contractor at Mott MacDonald in Glasgow, from October 2003 to September
2004.
A contractor at JP Morgan Chase in Glasgow, from September 2004 to June
2006.
William Wilson in Aberdeen from, July 2006 to June 2007.
A contractor at JP Morgan Chase in Glasgow but working from home near
Aberdeen from June 2007 to July 2010.
JP Morgan Chase in Glasgow but working from home near Aberdeen, from July
2010 to October 2016.
Working on personal projects and learning new skills at home near
Aberdeen, from October 2016 to May 2018.
JP Mogan Chase in Glasgow and then working from home near Aberdeen during
and after lockdown due to COVID, from May 2018 to June 2023.
I have used Sybase (now SAP) Adaptive Server
Enterprise (ASE) since 1987 (when it was known as Sybase SQL Server),
starting at version 4.9 and most recently with version 16.0 SP03 PL11.
I have used ASE as a developer, performance and tuning specialist, and a
DBA.
Whilst working for Sybase, I became a Certified Sybase Professional and a
Certified Sybase Instructor. At one point I was their IQ expert for the
Asia Pacific region.
I gained three awards whilst working at Sybase, including an Asia Pacific
Consultant Of The Year for 2000.
I have written two articles for the International Sybase User Group
Journal :-
"Surviving Multiple Simultaneous Threshold Firings" : appeared in the Q2
2005 issue
"Massaging Statistics in Heterogeneous ASE Environments" : appeared in the
Q3 2006 issue.
I was the author of the first IQ Quick Reference Guide.
I have written and delivered several condensed ASE courses, whilst working
for Deio and JP Morgan Chase.
I co-presented with Joe Woodhouse at a UKSUG broadcast on "Cheating With
ASE Optimiser Statistics", on 28th March 2023.
I have over 45 years
experience of using computers, nearly 40 of them using different database
systems, and with a majority of those nearly 40 years as a DBA level user.
When thinking "it would be great if ...", or if someone else says it, I do
not stop at the end of the statement. Instead, I weigh up the probability
of being able to complete the objective, and on many occasions I do so.
Out of all of the database management systems that I have used, I have
specialised in Sybase / SAP products. But not just ASE, as at one point, I
was the Asia Pacific IQ expert for Sybase Australia.
Although most recently employed in a developer role, I was considered to
be a subject matter expert in all areas of ASE and IQ at JP Morgan Chase.
I have a proactive mindset, I am fully committed to solving problems, and
I enjoy digging around in the more esoteric parts of database servers that
are accessible to users to deliver solutions that would otherwise not be
possible.