Francois McDonald
Solutions Manager
The Beginning
I've always had a very keen interest in Science and Mathematics and completed a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1992.
In 1998 I was headhunted by Compuware (South Africa) and joined the company as a Pre Sales Consultant, providing support to the sales team and technical assistance to end users, after which I moved into the software quality assurance and system management side of the business.
Finally, in 2001 I was approached by Compuware (UK) who at the time were on the lookout for experienced Quality Assurance consultants and I made the decision to move to the UK in April of that year to join this division of the company’s operations. My key responsibilities involved performance testing applications; troubleshooting performance issues and managing teams of other performance testers; and it is here that I met the future CEO of Stage, Toni Kendall-Troughton.
My Work at Stage
As Solutions Manager my primary responsibilities involve everything from planning and provisioning IT solutions to support Stage’s day-to-day operational requirements and service offerings; working with our sales division to formulate policy and strategy in terms of the solutions Stage engage in or may want to engage in and setting service delivery processes, procedures and quality expectations for all Stage consultants.
Life at Stage
Having joined the company from the start in 2007; I have experienced firsthand the rapid business growth and commercial success the company has encountered throughout the years gone by. There is a strong and ever-present network of communication between management and employees and as a result a very close-knit family feel that inspires everybody to take great pride in their work. There is shared accountability across all parts of the business and a vested interest from everybody I work with to see the company continue to grow and maintain its competitive advantage.
The Future
I am very much looking forward to playing a significant role in helping the company continue to grow and expand on its range of IT consultancy and outsourcing service offerings in the market. Together with our Chief Scientist, Dr Lin Li; a great deal more of my time will be geared towards working on Artificial Intelligence (A.I) driven software development techniques aimed at solving highly complex commercial problems, which more traditional IT software systems and processes cannot solve. Our research into an intriguing issue concerning the logistics behind the daily redistribution and availability of bicycles on the Barclays Cycle Hire (BCH) scheme and how A.I. could potentially optimise and improve the operational management of the scheme; has seen the emphatic growth of our new research and software development arm, Stage Intelligence. These are very exciting times for the company as Artificial Intelligence is still very much an unknown entity within IT, but we have the right personnel on board to drive this area of the business forward.
