Mr Daniel Mar: Cloud solutions we design and implement are never a single-vendor solution and this is when we need to think outside of the box.

Careers in Infocomm

With the changes taking place in the cloud computing arena, it is sometimes difficult to work out what your next new role should be in order to succeed as an infocomm professional. But that is what makes the job interesting, says Mr Daniel Mar, Principal Consultant with Infront Consulting Group.

What sparked off your interest in cloud computing?
Virtualisation is a key enabler to cloud computing and when I first started off with server virtualisation using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 – the predecessor to current Microsoft Hyper-V – I could see immediate benefits for organisations not only in hardware cost savings but also the greener aspects of IT such as reduced power and cooling requirements due to server consolidation. It was only a natural progression for me to move from physical to virtualised data centres and then onto cloud computing. This is what I focus on today, in particular private clouds.

What makes cloud computing/virtualisation an interesting area for infocomm professionals to be working in?
Cloud computing is a disruptive technology – it changes the way businesses access and use software, services and infrastructure compared to traditional methods today. Working in the Infocomm industry is already quite dynamic – you need to constantly keep up to date with new technology. With cloud computing replacing traditional outsourcing and on-premise data centres for applications and service delivery, it makes working in IT all the more challenging and difficult to work out what your next new role should be to succeed as an infocomm professional.

How did you start your career in infocomm and what were some of the key roles you have held since then?
After I graduated from the University of Auckland (with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) majoring in Management Science and Information Systems, and a Bachelor of Science majoring in Computer Science), my first job was as a Management Consultant with Ernst & Young, working on a large scale SAP rollout in New Zealand.

I left New Zealand in early 2000 and landed in Singapore to a new life, working culture and to experience my Chinese heritage. After the dotcom bust, I took a two-year break from IT to go travelling around the United Kingdom and Europe but returned to Singapore to look for work in the IT industry.

I’ve held consultant roles in many organisations since Ernst & Young, including large organisations such as StarHub, Daimler and HP. I’ve always enjoyed the consulting aspect of the job – where you gather and analyse customer requirements then design, innovate and be creative in developing a solution that meets their problems and challenges.

Describe some of the highlights of your infocomm career to date.
The highlights include many of the successful server virtualisation projects I have worked on, where we saved the organisation hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was one project where we reduced the organisation’s server footprint in the data centre from 22 racks down to five racks – a huge reduction both in terms of space and cost especially when the organisation was paying a flat rate per rack.

Another highlight of my career was being recognised by Microsoft and Citrix as a Most Valuable Professional. This, combined with my role as an active member of the Singapore Computer Society – Enterprise Cloud Computing and Virtualisation Special Interest Group, allows me to share my knowledge of virtualisation and cloud computing to the wider infocomm community.

Describe what you do in your current role.
I am currently a Principal Consultant with Infront Consulting Group, which specialises in System Center and Virtualisation. I provide consultation services on virtualisation and private cloud solutions to clients ranging from small and medium enterprises to large enterprises. My specialisation right now is in Microsoft Private Cloud solutions deployed using Hyper-V and System Center. In the past, I worked on XenServer and VMware platforms so I have extensive experience in the virtualisation market and products.

What are the important skillsets required for your role?
The most important skillsets that are required for my role are listening to customers and being creative and innovative when it comes to solution design.

Listening and asking the right questions are necessary to understand the challenges customers face in their IT environment. The way I normally approach this is to put myself in the shoes of the IT manager and trying to understand what problems and issues they face, and then using my experience and knowledge to develop an innovative and creative as well as cost-effective solution design. Cloud solutions we design and implement are never a single-vendor solution and this is when we need to think outside the box.

Time management is another competency I have had to develop over my career. Juggling work, family and leisure time is not easy and gets more difficult as you move up the corporate ladder.

Managing your time effectively ensures you get a good work-life balance enabling you to succeed at work, have time to spend with loved ones and maintaining good health.

To achieve this, two things I have had to do are to prioritise and delegate. Prioritisation of tasks is key for me as there are so many streams of work going on – proposals that need to be prepared and responded to, presentations that need to be drafted, customer meetings and even administrative work. Having a to-do list is necessary. By prioritising, you can also identify tasks that you yourself do not need to perform and these are prime tasks that can be delegated. My approach to delegation is to ensure that whoever you delegate to has the knowledge and capability to perform the task and also support from me to complete it. If you can master these two aspects of the work – prioritisation and delegation - it will go a long way to achieving your goals at work.