IT Life: Storage Guy Adores A Vacuum

Martin Cooper is international technical director at scale-out storage vendor SolidFire. As you’d expect, he’s expert in data storage, cloud and systems work.

What has been your favourite project so far?
Being a part of the design team for Kansai International Airport, which is something I worked on while at Arup.

Doing time in storage

What tech were you involved with ten years ago?
All sorts – Networks, IPT, WAN, security and also lots of time with Data Storage SAN and NAS

What tech do you expect to be using in ten years’ time?
It won’t just be hardware that changes, I expect more convergence between software and interfaces, so when you’re working across different computer, phone and tablet manufacturers, there will be more transparent connectivity between them.

Who’s your tech hero?
Alan Turing. He was a multitalented genius

Who’s your tech villain?
Whoever it was who decided that having so many incompatible standards was a good idea.

What’s your favourite technology ever made? Which do you use most?
Hands down, it has to be Wi-Fl – it makes my life so much easier

What is your budget outlook going forward? Flat? Growing?
It is growing – storage is a rapidly expanding and exciting market to be in right now

Vacuum lover

Apart from your own, which company do you admire most and why?
It has to be Dyson – it’s based on super design, there’s constant innovation and it’s home-grown in Britain!

What’s the greatest challenge for an IT company/department today?
Having to align with the change in IT buying and spending patterns that we’re seeing from customers.

To Cloud or not to Cloud?
Embrace the cloud or be absorbed by it, it’s up to you.

What did you want to be when you were a child?
Professional cyclist.

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