Ken Thompson
Head of Product at Stax- Claim this Profile
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Bio
LinkedIn User
Over the last 3 years, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Ken Thompson, where he was my direct manager at Microsoft ANZ in our Global Partner Solutions organization from 2020 to 2021. Ken was the manager who hired me into Microsoft. Prior, I had experiences that made me question my sense of belonging in the Tech Industry. I remember Ken opening the informational interview by asking how to pronounce my name. Whilst a simple gesture of respect, this was the very first time in Australia that a hiring manager asked. After the interview, we went overtime discussing his commitment towards allyship where he candidly shared his goal of building a high-performing team that also happened to be diverse and inclusive, where fairness and a passion for technology was the foundational principle. It spoke volumes of his character and his commitment to building great cultures and lived allyship. This only grew when I joined his team in late 2020 as I got to observe his leadership style more closely. Ken believed in me from Day 1. He advocated for my career, what I bring to the table and created space for me at higher altitudes in the organization. He empowered me to think big in how I create impact, to be boundaryless across Microsoft’s organizations and to boldly pursue my dreams and career aspirations. There are no limitations nor reservations in how he helps. He nurtured my career through practical advice and generously connected me to his product leader peers across Microsoft. Ken been in my corner from the day I joined the team and long after he was my direct manager at Microsoft. He is a fantastic sponsor and a genuine ally who wants to see you be empowered in growing beyond expectations. Ken is a leader who wants to see you succeed in delivering strong results whilst growing as an individual. He genuinely cares about your career and who you are. His open-mindedness, kindness and authenticity make him a genuinely wonderful person, and when paired with his vision for building up the Australian SaaS ecosystem, Ken is a fantastic product leader. He balances being an outstanding technologist and people-leader incredibly well. His empathy for his team and the customer makes him a product leader whose primary focus is to meet the articulated and unarticulated expectations of enterprises. It is rare to find a leader who does both, inherently understanding that building a great culture informs great business results. Without sounding crass, Ken’s commitment to building an inclusive culture for all, balanced by his deliberateness in developing a high-performing team committed towards outstanding results, is what brought me to Microsoft and changed my life. If you have the chance to join Ken’s team, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll be supported by a leader who creates a sense of belonging and inclusion for all. Ken is excellent in his vision and will strongly advocate for you to see more, do more and be more.
LinkedIn User
Ken convinced me to leave a position I loved and join his team at Microsoft. While I was only in his team for a short time, his keen focus on promoting diversity within his team, strong technical expertise alongside his supportive demeanor left a really positive mark. I really enjoyed how Ken would encourage me to challenge my imposter syndrome and to think innovatively and approach issues from different angles. Ken is wonderful at fostering professional growth in a supportive way. His feedback is consistently well-considered and constructive, and he's incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. I genuinely hope I can work with Ken again some day soon!
LinkedIn User
Over the last 3 years, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Ken Thompson, where he was my direct manager at Microsoft ANZ in our Global Partner Solutions organization from 2020 to 2021. Ken was the manager who hired me into Microsoft. Prior, I had experiences that made me question my sense of belonging in the Tech Industry. I remember Ken opening the informational interview by asking how to pronounce my name. Whilst a simple gesture of respect, this was the very first time in Australia that a hiring manager asked. After the interview, we went overtime discussing his commitment towards allyship where he candidly shared his goal of building a high-performing team that also happened to be diverse and inclusive, where fairness and a passion for technology was the foundational principle. It spoke volumes of his character and his commitment to building great cultures and lived allyship. This only grew when I joined his team in late 2020 as I got to observe his leadership style more closely. Ken believed in me from Day 1. He advocated for my career, what I bring to the table and created space for me at higher altitudes in the organization. He empowered me to think big in how I create impact, to be boundaryless across Microsoft’s organizations and to boldly pursue my dreams and career aspirations. There are no limitations nor reservations in how he helps. He nurtured my career through practical advice and generously connected me to his product leader peers across Microsoft. Ken been in my corner from the day I joined the team and long after he was my direct manager at Microsoft. He is a fantastic sponsor and a genuine ally who wants to see you be empowered in growing beyond expectations. Ken is a leader who wants to see you succeed in delivering strong results whilst growing as an individual. He genuinely cares about your career and who you are. His open-mindedness, kindness and authenticity make him a genuinely wonderful person, and when paired with his vision for building up the Australian SaaS ecosystem, Ken is a fantastic product leader. He balances being an outstanding technologist and people-leader incredibly well. His empathy for his team and the customer makes him a product leader whose primary focus is to meet the articulated and unarticulated expectations of enterprises. It is rare to find a leader who does both, inherently understanding that building a great culture informs great business results. Without sounding crass, Ken’s commitment to building an inclusive culture for all, balanced by his deliberateness in developing a high-performing team committed towards outstanding results, is what brought me to Microsoft and changed my life. If you have the chance to join Ken’s team, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll be supported by a leader who creates a sense of belonging and inclusion for all. Ken is excellent in his vision and will strongly advocate for you to see more, do more and be more.
LinkedIn User
Ken convinced me to leave a position I loved and join his team at Microsoft. While I was only in his team for a short time, his keen focus on promoting diversity within his team, strong technical expertise alongside his supportive demeanor left a really positive mark. I really enjoyed how Ken would encourage me to challenge my imposter syndrome and to think innovatively and approach issues from different angles. Ken is wonderful at fostering professional growth in a supportive way. His feedback is consistently well-considered and constructive, and he's incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. I genuinely hope I can work with Ken again some day soon!
LinkedIn User
Over the last 3 years, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Ken Thompson, where he was my direct manager at Microsoft ANZ in our Global Partner Solutions organization from 2020 to 2021. Ken was the manager who hired me into Microsoft. Prior, I had experiences that made me question my sense of belonging in the Tech Industry. I remember Ken opening the informational interview by asking how to pronounce my name. Whilst a simple gesture of respect, this was the very first time in Australia that a hiring manager asked. After the interview, we went overtime discussing his commitment towards allyship where he candidly shared his goal of building a high-performing team that also happened to be diverse and inclusive, where fairness and a passion for technology was the foundational principle. It spoke volumes of his character and his commitment to building great cultures and lived allyship. This only grew when I joined his team in late 2020 as I got to observe his leadership style more closely. Ken believed in me from Day 1. He advocated for my career, what I bring to the table and created space for me at higher altitudes in the organization. He empowered me to think big in how I create impact, to be boundaryless across Microsoft’s organizations and to boldly pursue my dreams and career aspirations. There are no limitations nor reservations in how he helps. He nurtured my career through practical advice and generously connected me to his product leader peers across Microsoft. Ken been in my corner from the day I joined the team and long after he was my direct manager at Microsoft. He is a fantastic sponsor and a genuine ally who wants to see you be empowered in growing beyond expectations. Ken is a leader who wants to see you succeed in delivering strong results whilst growing as an individual. He genuinely cares about your career and who you are. His open-mindedness, kindness and authenticity make him a genuinely wonderful person, and when paired with his vision for building up the Australian SaaS ecosystem, Ken is a fantastic product leader. He balances being an outstanding technologist and people-leader incredibly well. His empathy for his team and the customer makes him a product leader whose primary focus is to meet the articulated and unarticulated expectations of enterprises. It is rare to find a leader who does both, inherently understanding that building a great culture informs great business results. Without sounding crass, Ken’s commitment to building an inclusive culture for all, balanced by his deliberateness in developing a high-performing team committed towards outstanding results, is what brought me to Microsoft and changed my life. If you have the chance to join Ken’s team, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll be supported by a leader who creates a sense of belonging and inclusion for all. Ken is excellent in his vision and will strongly advocate for you to see more, do more and be more.
LinkedIn User
Ken convinced me to leave a position I loved and join his team at Microsoft. While I was only in his team for a short time, his keen focus on promoting diversity within his team, strong technical expertise alongside his supportive demeanor left a really positive mark. I really enjoyed how Ken would encourage me to challenge my imposter syndrome and to think innovatively and approach issues from different angles. Ken is wonderful at fostering professional growth in a supportive way. His feedback is consistently well-considered and constructive, and he's incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. I genuinely hope I can work with Ken again some day soon!
LinkedIn User
Over the last 3 years, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Ken Thompson, where he was my direct manager at Microsoft ANZ in our Global Partner Solutions organization from 2020 to 2021. Ken was the manager who hired me into Microsoft. Prior, I had experiences that made me question my sense of belonging in the Tech Industry. I remember Ken opening the informational interview by asking how to pronounce my name. Whilst a simple gesture of respect, this was the very first time in Australia that a hiring manager asked. After the interview, we went overtime discussing his commitment towards allyship where he candidly shared his goal of building a high-performing team that also happened to be diverse and inclusive, where fairness and a passion for technology was the foundational principle. It spoke volumes of his character and his commitment to building great cultures and lived allyship. This only grew when I joined his team in late 2020 as I got to observe his leadership style more closely. Ken believed in me from Day 1. He advocated for my career, what I bring to the table and created space for me at higher altitudes in the organization. He empowered me to think big in how I create impact, to be boundaryless across Microsoft’s organizations and to boldly pursue my dreams and career aspirations. There are no limitations nor reservations in how he helps. He nurtured my career through practical advice and generously connected me to his product leader peers across Microsoft. Ken been in my corner from the day I joined the team and long after he was my direct manager at Microsoft. He is a fantastic sponsor and a genuine ally who wants to see you be empowered in growing beyond expectations. Ken is a leader who wants to see you succeed in delivering strong results whilst growing as an individual. He genuinely cares about your career and who you are. His open-mindedness, kindness and authenticity make him a genuinely wonderful person, and when paired with his vision for building up the Australian SaaS ecosystem, Ken is a fantastic product leader. He balances being an outstanding technologist and people-leader incredibly well. His empathy for his team and the customer makes him a product leader whose primary focus is to meet the articulated and unarticulated expectations of enterprises. It is rare to find a leader who does both, inherently understanding that building a great culture informs great business results. Without sounding crass, Ken’s commitment to building an inclusive culture for all, balanced by his deliberateness in developing a high-performing team committed towards outstanding results, is what brought me to Microsoft and changed my life. If you have the chance to join Ken’s team, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll be supported by a leader who creates a sense of belonging and inclusion for all. Ken is excellent in his vision and will strongly advocate for you to see more, do more and be more.
LinkedIn User
Ken convinced me to leave a position I loved and join his team at Microsoft. While I was only in his team for a short time, his keen focus on promoting diversity within his team, strong technical expertise alongside his supportive demeanor left a really positive mark. I really enjoyed how Ken would encourage me to challenge my imposter syndrome and to think innovatively and approach issues from different angles. Ken is wonderful at fostering professional growth in a supportive way. His feedback is consistently well-considered and constructive, and he's incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. I genuinely hope I can work with Ken again some day soon!
Credentials
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Career Essentials in Generative AI by Microsoft and LinkedIn
MicrosoftAug, 2023- Nov, 2024 -
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services (AWS)Jul, 2022- Nov, 2024 -
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
LinkedInJul, 2020- Nov, 2024 -
Unconscious Bias
LinkedInJul, 2020- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals
MicrosoftNov, 2019- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft 365 Certified Fundamentals
MicrosoftSep, 2019- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
MicrosoftAug, 2019- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
MicrosoftApr, 2019- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Specialist: Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
MicrosoftAug, 2016- Nov, 2024 -
RHCSA (Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator on RHEL 7)
Red HatNov, 2015- Nov, 2024 -
RHCVA (Red Hat Certified Virtualisation Administrator)
Red HatSep, 2014- Nov, 2024 -
VCP 5 (VMware Certified Professional on vSphere 5)
VMwareSep, 2012- Nov, 2024 -
MCSA 2008 (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate)
MicrosoftApr, 2012- Nov, 2024 -
VTSP 5 (VMware Technical Sales Professional on vSphere 5)
VMwareFeb, 2012- Nov, 2024 -
MCITP EA (Microsoft Certified IT Professional - Enterprise Administrator)
MicrosoftJan, 2010- Nov, 2024 -
MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer 2003 & 2008)
MicrosoftDec, 2009- Nov, 2024 -
ITIL v3 Foundations
AXELOS Global Best PracticeNov, 2008- Nov, 2024
Experience
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Stax
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Australia
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Software Development
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1 - 100 Employee
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Head of Product
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Sep 2022 - Present
As Head of Product / Chief Product Officer at Stax, I lead the development and delivery of our cloud management platform, which consists of 3 product squads. I have led a Product-Led-Sales & Growth strategy that has redefined how Stax goes to market, leading to increased customer acquisition & retention, leading to over 70% reduction in EBITA burn rate in less than 15 months.• Leading 1-3 year product strategy & execution, introducing Stax Connections, and the use of AI & LLMs (Large Language Models) for faster customer environment remediation• Aligned GTM with Product-Led-Growth & Sales, using analytics and feedback to sync roadmap with customer value, boosting MRR by over 4% MoM on average, as well as GP by 22% YoY• Led a transformation of product delivery, increasing the delivery output of product & engineering teams by over 386% YoY• Helped reduce operating expenses by 34% YoY through organisational & infrastructure optimisation Show less
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Head of Product Strategy & Product Marketing
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Jul 2022 - Sep 2022
I led Product Strategy & Product Marketing at Stax, and in collaboration with our engineer, marketing, partner and sales teams, I help customers and partners realise the full potential of Stax.io - empowering you to migrate faster, stay compliant and operate more efficiently in AWS.• Defined Stax's Product Vision & 3-year Strategy• Created Stax's new pricing model to provide more transparency to customers, leading to reduced sales cycles and upsell opportunities in return for increased customer value from Stax• Created Stax's Total Cost of Ownership calculator to help customers better understand the cost of DIY vs. leveraging Stax Show less
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Microsoft
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United States
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Software Development
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Manager, SaaS Architect Leader
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Mar 2020 - Jul 2022
I led a team of 12 Cloud Solutions Architects & Product Architects who work with Software as a Service (SaaS) partners for Microsoft Australia. Our team helped over 60 Aussie SaaS companies build innovative, fast, scalable, reliable & secure products on Azure and leverage Microsoft's clouds & products to increase their monthly active users. • As well as increasing other areas of diversity with our technical team, I led the increased female representation in our technical organisation from 14% to 46%• 91-100% of my team were satisfied with the work/life balance, inclusion, engagement and performance of our team - 10-35% higher than average• Our team helped over 60 Aussie SaaS businesses grow by over 165% on average, year on year, leading to an increase of Microsoft product utilised by 96%• Helped launch Microsoft Founders Hub in ANZ and Asia, to empower startups’ ambitions and fuel innovation to drive economic and societal progress for these markets and beyond Show less
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Principal Product Architect for SaaS Partners
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Jan 2019 - Mar 2020
Working directly with CTO/CPO/CEOs at Microsoft's leading SaaS partners to help them build innovative, fast, scalable, reliable & secure products on Azure and leverage Microsoft's other clouds & products to increase their monthly active users.• I helped my partners to grow their business over 180% on average, year on year, leading to an increase of Microsoft product utilised by 89%.• Helping customers out-innovate their industry competitors by leveraging AI/ML &technologies that accelerate their speed-to-market Show less
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Principal Product Manager
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May 2017 - Jan 2019
Focused on Open Source Software, I was responsible for growing Azure consumption with customers using DevOps tool integrations like Ansible, Chef, GitHub, Jenkins, and Terraform. Working across multiple Microsoft product teams to drive cohesive roadmaps and product positioning, winning the hearts and minds of developers outside of the Microsoft ecosystem.• Working in the core GitHub acquisition team, I led the marketing integration and defined GitHub's current product positioning and messaging framework• Increased the revenue driven from DevOps tool integrations by 1089% year on year through a targeted strategy of product roadmap, technical content creation, new web properties, event sponsorship, and go-to-market activities• Transformed a marquee virtual event to authentically deliver technical content to developers, reaching 189,000 live viewers – an 82% Increase on prior events• Regular briefing and engagement with analyst firms which led to stronger positions in reports such as Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud IaaS• Received a speaker rating of 8.3/9 from CXOs at Executives Briefings Show less
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Principal Product Engineer/Architect - Open Source Software
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May 2016 - May 2017
I was an Open Source Software specialist in the Microsoft Azure Global Black Belt team, based in Australia & New Zealand. My job was to ensure that customers, partners and Microsoft teams got the maximum benefits of running Open Source Software on Microsoft Azure.I worked with customers to deliver result-oriented solutions for customers on top of Azure, which were either completely open source based, or a combination of open source software and other offerings. I worked directly with Azure product & engineering teams to help set roadmaps that would help customers use more open source technologies on Azure. Show less
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Red Hat
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United States
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Software Development
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Solutions Architect
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Jun 2014 - May 2016
As Senior Cloud Solution Architect, I worked closely with customers, regional account executives and partners to develop technical solutions that could successfully meet my customers' requirements. My focus was on helping customers to identify how business problems can be solved, and business opportunities realised, through the innovative use of open source technologies. I worked with Red Hat's cloud product portfolio, including Ansible, Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform (RHELOSP), Red Hat CloudForms, OpenShift Enterprise (OSE) by Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV), and Red Hat Storage (Ceph & Gluster). While at Red Hat, I lead the product management & development of Telstra's OpenShift Dedicated offering which is now a fundamental component of their PaaS & Developer engagement strategy: https://www.telstra.com.au/business-enterprise/solutions/cloud-services/applications/redhat-openshift#overview Show less
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Accenture
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Ireland
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Business Consulting and Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Manager
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Sep 2013 - Jun 2014
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. As a Manager, I was responsible for sales, delivery, and leadership of Accenture's project-based work.Technical Product Manager (SaaS Collaboration Offering):• Enabled the sales lead generation and wins for customers between 1k-75k users through translation of customer requirements to tangible product features and managing internal & external stakeholder relationships• Worked as a trusted advisor with customers throughout all pre-sales, on-boarding and post-sales support activities to ensure successful product operation and realisation of value• Represented customers’ needs & requirements as an internal advocate in the product development cycle, prioritising feature delivery• Reporting to the Director, developed and managed sales pricing models that translated complex infrastructure solutions into scalable SaaS based models. Providing greater transparency of costs per SIO and recommendations for cost reductions.Solution Architect (Accenture Agile Data Centre - APAC): A lead Solution Architect for Accenture's Agile Data Centre (ADC) offering within APAC. Accenture's ADC is a vendor agnostic, private cloud framework that provides a clear, business value driven road map to private cloud implementation and data centre transformation. • Architect solution designs, delivery plans & statements of works on deals ranging between $0.5m-$55m+, 6-36 months in duration and using technologies such as VMware, Microsoft, Red Hat, EMC, NetApp, Cisco, HP, BMC and Huawei.• Develop show cases that demonstrate clear business value through utilisation of cloud technologies• Deliver presentations to key business stakeholders Show less
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Consultant
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Jan 2011 - Aug 2013
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.As a Consultant for Accenture I provide IT consulting and project management services with a more technical focus in the Data Centre Services division.Technical, Team Lead & Product Management (SaaS Collaboration Offering):• Enabled Go-To-Market within 5 months of project commencement, using Agile project methodologies to iteratively deliver feature sets that provide business value• Managed a cross-functional team of 15 Engineers & Solution Architects to deliver a SaaS Collaboration Suite (Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint & Lync) • Managed the delivery of 3 major functional releases in extremely short time frames while still exceeding time, budget and quality expectations• Ensured business requirements were accurately delivered through the most efficient technology solutionsOperational Acceptance Project Manager (IaaS): • Created an industrialised process for operational acceptance encompassing a project plan template and documentation templates, reducing average operational acceptance timelines from 6-24 months to 1-3 months.• Successfully delivered 7 projects in to operational acceptance on time, within budget and exceeding expectations of receiving operational stakeholders; including the largest public cloud infrastructure deployment project within APAC, in 2012 Show less
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KeyTrust
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Australia
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Systems Engineer
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Jul 2009 - Jan 2011
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Support Engineer
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Jan 2009 - Jun 2009
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XXIV
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Melbourne, Australia
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Founder & Director (IT, Sales, Marketing)
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Jun 2005 - Dec 2008
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Founder & Principal Designer
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Dec 2002 - Dec 2005
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Education
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2011 - 2014
Swinburne University of Technology
Master of Technology (Business Systems), IT, Business -
2003 - 2007
Charles Sturt University
Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design
Community
