Ian Musgrave - Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Forfusion
Did you always envisage a career in the world of technology?
Subconsciously, I think yes. I joined the RAF straight from sixth form and entered the electronics engineering trade. Over the 15 years I served, I gradually developed skills across a range of systems. Initially, some of the “tech” was fairly old-school: valves and transistors. But eventually, as the RAF modernised, I worked on modern, digital systems. This is what really ignited my interest in technology as we see it today.
What attracted you to your current role?
After leaving the RAF and spending a few years working in several different technology roles across both industry and the public sector, the opportunity to be involved in a start-up was very appealing. Forfusion was born from a collective frustration with large technology integrators not delivering on their commitments to customers. To me, the solutions were often simple ones, but due to the rigid, inflexible service delivery mechanisms under which some of these companies operated, I was not able to make the changes that were obvious to most involved. The opportunity to grow Forfusion into an organisation that was just as capable but agile and able to deliver significantly better outcomes was too good to turn down.
What tips would you give to someone looking to work in the industry?
Do your research. Various roles and career paths are open to people looking for a career in technology. At Forfusion, we have many different roles across our technical teams; we have engineers specialising in cybersecurity, software-defined infrastructure, collaboration, cloud solutions and software development – to name a few. Each has its own specific set of learning, qualifications, and career paths. Add in the rapidly evolving world of AI, which is disrupting, pretty much everything, then it’s key to choose a career path which you find engaging and matches your wider interests.
Tell us about the most exciting project you’re currently working on.
There is a lot going on at the moment, all of which is exciting from a CTO perspective. As a rapidly growing technology company, we’re constantly monitoring technology trends and new products to identify those best suited to growing our capability and the value we offer to customers. We’re focusing on AI from both an internal and customer-facing perspective. Our Managed Services department is already benefitting from an internally developed AI tool that uses historical data to make customer interactions much more efficient.
Tell us more about Forfusion.
We’re a North East-based IT solutions consultancy and managed services provider. We specialise in delivering secure, innovative Cisco infrastructure solutions to help organisations transform their business. Using our inhouse delivery methodology: Assess, Design, Integrate and Operate (ADIO), we focus on a full lifecycle approach to deploying and managing IT. That means we’re in it for the long haul. We want our customers to see us as trusted advisors and partners. Seeing our customers gaining real value from the solutions we design and deploy is hugely satisfying.
What are the long-term plans for the business?
Our performance data so far this year indicates we’re on track for our best-ever year of trading. We’ll be looking to build on that over the coming few years, and I’d like us to be established as the go-to Cisco partner in the North East. We’re also starting to build a strong IoT capability, and I’m really looking forward to growing that and working with new and interesting customers.
What’s your favourite piece of technology?
It has to be my iPhone and Apple Watch; I don’t think I’d survive without them.
How do you like to relax?
Spending time with the family, I enjoy watching them participate in their weekend sporting activities. I also try to play football a couple of times a week to keep fit.
To find out more about Forfusion, visit:
www.forfusion.com