Who am I?

I'm a BI/data analyst/developer with over fifteen years of experience across many different industries. I've worked a lot on systems that enable financial planning and analysis as well as processes across the wider finance space. I'm pretty accomplished at developing fast, scalable IBM Cognos TM1 / Planning Analytics implementations but am also comfortable with a wide variety of other database, ETL, reporting and BI/data visualisation technologies.

What am I interested in?

I've maintained an interest in open source software since university and can still remember the days when Debian came on seven CDs and just getting a graphical desktop took all weekend (but, even then, your soundcard still didn't work). My friends thought I was a masochist, I thought it was fun.

In recent years, I've focused more on brushing up my Python which I've used to automate a lot of the "boring stuff" in my professional life as well working on a few personal projects. I can also have some knowledge of shell scripting and have played around with several other languages. Julia has caught my eye recently....

I try to contribute to open source projects when time allows but I also keep myself busy outdoors and away from screens with things like hiking, cycling and exploring my (relatively new) home in Berlin as well as the lakes of Brandenburg. I still play cricket occasionally but I'm not getting any younger and there isn't much cricket to be had in Germany anyway. I do still like to swing a tennis racquet though which keeps me a little bit sharper than I might otherwise be.

What is this?

This blog is simply a place to pull together ideas, play with new tech and develop new skills. I adhere to the adage that the best way to learn something is to try to explain it to other people so it's really for my own benefit. Maybe some of it will be useful for others though, particularly some of the TM1 stuff. Right now I'm interested in data analysis and visualisation with Python, building and consuming data from APIs and building data pipelines as well as maps, podcasting, photography and most things open. Over the years I think I've spent more time configuring my various blog than actually writing so don't expect a high turnover.

Contact

I'm always interested in new opportunities and projects. You can get in touch with me via Linkedin if you want to discuss an opportunity or just get make contact.