Ben Collins
is an IT professional with over 25 years of experience in the industry, having worked in both the retail and financial sectors throughout his career. Focussed on the area of ebusiness, Ben is an expert in the development of content management systems and the websites they support.
Graduating from Reading University with a First in Computer Science, Ben spent his formative years as a mainframe developer (COBOL, DB2) then switched to working with groupware and other knowledge sharing solutions (Lotus Domino and intranet technologies) before moving onto ebusiness, particularly focusing on the development of content management systems (Liferay, Autonomy TeamSite, Joomla and WordPress) where he continues to work today. Ben also has great experience and knowledge of web analytics, search engine optimisation, cyber security and regulatory controls (such as GDPR), key skills for any web technologist.
Alongside these technical skills Ben has in-depth experience of project management, Agile and scrum, business analysis and architectural design, all of which are essential to any serious IT developer and have been built up from many years in the industry.
Ben has the temperament and foresight required to build solutions that satisfy the best practices of IT - solutions that satisfy the user requirements, are stable, are maintainable and can be enhanced with the minimum of fuss. His early years of mainframe development and having to look after his systems overnight taught him that simplicity and stability were key at all times.
Most importantly Ben understands the importance of being able to communicate with others. In his opinion, building relationships is almost as important as the end solution, and certainly just as rewarding for him. He knows the value of explaining technical matters to those who are not experienced in such matters, avoiding jargon and other techno babble. He also knows the value of a friendly smile or a sociable conversation.
What's in a name?
So why the name bc1203? You may already have guessed that the bc part stands for Ben Collins. 1203 is his birthday (the 12th March). It is as simple as that.