My Bio & Highlights
From birth to retirement…
Let’s do some reminiscing below!
1967, Birth in Meppel
Yoh Mama... Johny's here!
I always have been a good swimmer.
I remember being on a long, long swim together with millions of others, ending up all by myself in a nice, cosey and warm cave with a constant supply of warm food, fluids and entertainment, 24/7… all for myself!
Initially I felt sorry for all those millions missing in action but after a while I noticed that the comfort of the cave started to cave in… And it didn’t take long before the final wall squeezed and pushed me in the arms of… my dad…? Nope…
Man, that was a very confusing and rather rude awakening… for every centimeter of my slim yet long 57 cm body. I was being slapped on my butt, twisted and turned around by so many unfamiliar hands, looked at through weird apparatus in every hole I had… As if I took something not mine! But what did they want from me? They already snipped me off my food supply, crying out loud! I AM DYING HERE… STOP HITTING ME…
I admit… I cried for my mom for almost a minute before they finally rested me in her warm and trustworthy arms, with a fresh supply of comforting lukewarm nurture less than a cry away.
In this picture you can see me on my mom’s lap, keeping a suspicious EYE on those she calls my siblings. They are up to something… I’m telling yah!
My mom and dad, may God have their souls, did a very good job raising me. My siblings also turned out to be fantastic, as they still are. Well done mom! “Och… dat doe je gewoon jongen…”, is what my mom would say…
I was born in a place called Meppel. The only one in the broader van Ommen-de Groot family born up North of the Netherlands, in the province called Drenthe. Where the people speak in a heavy dialect and regularly are referred to as “farmers” by the rest of the Dutch. Just because most people spoke, and still speak, in quite a heavy dialect and are somehow busy with… farming… Anyway, I remember being the subject of jokes and remarks within the family for being born in Drenthe. Jealous people.
My whole family came from a province called, Gelderland. Mid 60’s my parents moved to Drenthe for my dad’s new job at the Scania-Vabis truck-cabine production plant. There they started to build truck cabins for Scania-Vabis and in the beginning for Volvo trucks. My dad worked there for the rest of his career. And what a career he had.
I must admit that I learned so much from my dad on how he run that manufacturing plant. From logistics, to building a paint/climate simulation box, to the full ISO-9001 (re)certifications, my dad did it properly and he was my hero! Even my mom was involved in the beginning years of Scania-Vabis Meppel, by knitting curtains for in front of the cabin windows… Can you imagine?
When my dad retired, they got one of the first build trucks from some private museum/collector and Scania gave my dad and mom a well-earned Jubilee-ride through the city. With my mom’s knitted curtains… My dad was knighted by the queen for his contribution to the city of Meppel (Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau)… Yeah, all that because I was born in 1967. What a man I am…
After the death of my parents, my brother executed my parent’s estate as per official will and I commend him for performing that gruesome task with all the dignity he possesses. And he shared with me my parent’s marriage booklet, the official document proving that my parents were indeed officially registered as married. That booklet was also used to officially register any new born within that marriage. Below you will find a scanned version of the page in that booklet, with my siblings and me registered as legit children.
Now, may I ask you to count the number of syllables in each name and feel free being surprised after the final count, as one most probably should be.
You can stop counting at three… yes… my parent’s originality, when naming their most favourite child ever… EVER!, stopped at coming up with just a 3 syllable name… Jan… named after my mom’s dad… both sharing an eponymous relationship with Johannes de Doper, or John the Baptist. Wow…
Later I found out that registration of the names didn’t come cheap. My parents had to pay for that registration per syllable… adding insult to injury.
1971, Move to Nijeveen
My parents decided for a move to Nijeveen, a village 5 km away from Meppel with (then) about 1300 inhabitants, most of whom were related to either farming, peat cutting, cheese or their neighbour.
During the 70s Nijeveen started to expand and grow beyond their then available means.
They brought in many people from outside the province, referred to as “imports”. Many bought their new land in a development area called Griftestuk. A small suburb referred to as the “Spekkenbuurt”, or the “Bacon area” where the rich lived… so they said.
The native Nijeveners didn’t particularly needed the imports. Anyway, they had an advantage as most of the imports had no clue what those Nijeveners were saying… What a linguistical barrier they were faced with and the Nijeveners were not particularly eager to breach that gap. And coming from Gelderland, where the dialect is closer to ABN (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands, or Generally Civilized Dutch), my mom had her own challenges in understanding the local shop owners when she was out shopping. But she managed well! Well done mom!
1971/79, Primary SCHOOL in Nijeveen
I went to the Christian primary school, called “School met de Bijbel” (School with the Bible).
I always wondered if somehow there was only one bible in the whole of Nijeveen and THAT school had it. Only later I found out that every class had some bibles laying around for reference.
One teacher used his copy to “teach” anyone naughty or disrespectful, a lesson. And he found me to be extraordinarily and rather frequently naughty. Which, of course, is not true. I just learned quickly in life that people have lots of buttons, and what does one do with so many buttons? Press them! And he had so many…
I was a good student and excelled in most areas… except in my writing skills and somewhat in my pronunciation of the Dutch language. All because some smartass found it necessary to use the letter R in so many words. Way too many!
I mean, there are 26 letters in the alphabet, and with any average word using only 6 of them… why did he or she found it necessary to use the R that liberally? The Dutch language has 50.000 words starting with the letter R… first letter of the word! Serious? WHAT IS WRONG WITH USING ANY OF THE OTHER 25, I ASK YOU?
Anyway, in Dutch one pronounces every letter used in a word, just like in the French language… so I had to follow speech therapy… IF I wanted to achieve anything in life. Anyways, it didn’t work out…
And my writing skills never improved… in Korea they thought I could write Korean…. Really? Now I am teaching myself to write with my left hand, having a rather useless right one, but that really is quite difficult…
For hours we had to repeat sentences with predominantly words containing R’s in it, like
“Rode Rozen gRoeien RappeR.”
We gave that speech therapist more grey hairs than smiles and both knew we would not be bothered by our mis-fortunes but rather enjoy them.
Down the drain my ambition went in becoming a well-spoken comedian. I wanted to become the next Andre van Duin! He was a Dutch comedian and in 1977 my parents bought his 10 – year jubilee album for me and I could recite the whole album within minutes. I already acted out Andre’s radio sketches (De Dik Voormekaar Show) prior the album’s release, but that album delivered me my first portfolio… I loooooved his smart simplicity, his facial expressions and his straightforward in-your-face, flat humour. Better than Benny Hill’s.
Looking back at the odd jobs I had, I must confess that when the school asked me to manage the school’s old paper storage barn and it’s logistics, I started to get really interested in the movement and storage of goods. And that was fun and for a ten year old, quite a responsibility.
But what would a memory be without some old school pictures to show me to me. Let’s start with me in grade zero…
I was way taller than most others and always had to stand at the back…
In the higher classes the rule of tallest at the back, was dropped. Here I am in group 6… de 4de klas… on my knees… The teacher was the one with the flying bible… can’t mention his name, but I apparently made him horreDol.
And the next one is rather a special one. It was taken in the year 1977, the year Nijeveen became 500 years old. Big festivities in the village of Nijeveen and everybody wore traditional clothing. Cute… the village even got a new windmill that year.
And the last one is of group 8, or de zesde klas. Final year… all serious from here on…
1979/87, Secondary SCHOOL in Meppel
I followed my secondary education in Meppel, on Dingstede, where they provided Christian Secondary education. Every day, no matter the weather, you had to cycle to school. 7 kms back and forth, through traffic, in colons of 10+ boys and girls, 3 or 4 wide, no hands on steer, rolling and smoking cigarettes, while ignoring other traffic, its written rules, and eager to go back home… alive.
Somehow that was fun! And the first two to three years going back home I always broke existing speed records, for my mom and I would play backgammon till it was supper time!
We must have played almost every day and dear Lord, was she fanatic! We shared some of our best time together playing that game. Love you mom!
For the first 6 years I followed the HAVO (higher general continued education). One year longer than scheduled, but I flunked the 4th year quite badly. I struggled with growing up, I guess.
I was a last -minute learner and never spent much time studying. I did pass my HAVO and enrolled into the Athenaeum. There my autonomous character got in the way of passing the final exams.
I wrote an apparently controversial Dutch essay on religion and warfare, and the examiner didn’t appreciate the “tone” it was written in. Who is the grown-up here? Anyway, he didn’t even give me a sufficient bad marking, which would allow me to pass my overall exam… all in the name of being a good Christian… hypocrite.
The time to decide about my future was fast approaching… what kind of higher education will open the doors towards the future I’ve never even dreamt of? I had no clue… I never thought about being a responsible individual… and now I must decide about the rest of my life? Nope… not ready yet…
So I decided to first tackle my military service, while contemplating the higher educational options… and my future…
Gone was my innocent youth.
1987, MILITARY SERVICE
Before I enrolled into the higher education system in the Netherlands, I fulfilled my obligatory military service at the Dutch Airforce. I served on the Wing-Ops, at the military airfield Twente in the Netherlands. Got promoted to Sergeant Major prior a second reserve stint, involving the conception of the 11th Air Mobile Brigade (Lucht Mobiele Brigade).
A truly amazing time and I learned a lot, being involved in the actual flight planning, Air Defense & Flight Operations. I even worked with the future Chief of Defence for the Netherlands! WHAT? Yeah, truly true. We spent many nights on duty in the Wing-Ops bunker, eating pizza, dealing with peace- time calamities, ensuring national safety, and watching many movies. From horror to porn… Lots of porn… those F16 fighter pilots did love their porn! And Top Gun… For Heaven’s sake!
Believe me, I was a mere innocent victim, who suffered many, many hours of useless rewinding of VHS video tapes, with despicable titles, like “Barbie and the Seven Henchman”, and many other more explicit ones…
Yeah, I knew by then that my life would not be a boring one. How right I was…
1988, tertiary education
I decided to study Mechanical Engineering at the Higher Technical College (HTS) in Groningen, way up North of the Netherlands. I choose Mechanical Engineering because I (still) had no clue what I wanted to do. BUT I liked what kind of work my older brother got involved into after completing the same study at the HTC in Zwolle, a train ride away from Meppel. My mom enthusiastically supported me in my choice of study AND city…” Perfect Jan, then you can stay here and just take the train to Zwolle… like your brother did!”
No Mom, I love you and all that, but I have been in the army now. I potentially could have killed many Russians during my service and I have watched a porn movie… TWICE! I can’t stay home anymore… It is time for me to fly out of your comfortable nest. And I will go together with my best MALE friend and rent a place in Groningen. I will be fine Mom!
And so it happened. My friend and I found an affordable apartment in a suburb of Groningen, about 40 minutes from the HTC by bicycle.
The suburb was called Lewenborg and turned out to be a dump place for the displaced drug addicts. It had a mix of high-rise apartment blocks and middle-class single housing. The high-rise blocks were almost all used as an end station for evicted junkies from other suburbs of Groningen. And we lived in the tallest block, called Sloep, on the 15th floor.
Almost every month the police would raid one or multiple apartments and evict whoever they would find and trash whatever they found. Rotten couches and mattresses would fly through the windows, junkies would run, and other suburbs knew what was coming to them… A fresh influx of trouble. The picture with the map shows the marketing folder the municipality had printed and distributed prior the actual build of Lewenborg. I lived there where the blue arrow points at.
I never experienced any real danger. Just some very close calls. The top of the block always attracted the junkies. A perfect spot to administer their heroin shot in the semi comfort of a secluded staircase, with minimum traffic. They used those staircases as public toilets and free sleeping quarters.
After a few too many close calls, where I almost kicked over their freshly cooked heroin and ended up being threatened to be slashed into pieces, I had enough. They were not worth my life.
Anyway, in 2014 they demolished my block… I always love watching a well executed demolition.
Demolition Sloep, 2014
1993, Yes, we do. Even on Friday the 13th
During my study at the HTC in Groningen my then girlfriend and I decided to live together. She was doing a higher education in Meppel and rented a house big enough for the two of us. We bought a car to get me commuting between Meppel and Groningen and decided to get married directly after my graduation. We told both sides of our family about the marital plans but forgot to actually book for our wedding. And when some members of the family inquired about the actual date, we both knew that, in order to tie our knots within the 4 months still remaining, we were indeed quite late in our arrangements.
Anyway, we got married on Friday the 13th of August. That date was fully open at any venue, church and municipality, anywhere in the Netherlands. We got married and stayed married for 24 years.
I love this picture, showing the both of us enjoying a cigarette and a quiet place in between the stresses of the day. 
You looked like a younger me. Handsome, yet… well, lets not split hairs. Handsome it is…
1993, MITSUBISHI CATERPILLAR FORKLIFT EUROPE
MCFE (Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe), was a production plant in the city of Almere. They produced forklifts for warehousing & material handling.
Via some networking, both your ex as you got employed by MCFE. She started on the Finance department and you on the Planning Department. You were primarily responsible for the correct administration of the Bill of Material into the MRP (Material Requirement Planning) system. This included the implementation and execution of the change management process on any design changes. But this is getting boring really fast, so please keep it short and simple.
You worked there for three years and ended up as a Special Projects Engineer, with your first project the introduction and implementation of the EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) concept for the automation of the purchasing, billing, shipping and warehousing processes.
Through that you enabled the online delivery of a critical high-value component, assembled and shipped from more than 200 km away and even crossing a border.
And with that you helped in the reduction of stock levels from 3-4 months to 10 minutes online. Just-In-Time delivered and by such, made a real impact on the efficiency of several departments and saved loads of money in storage space and reduced the amount of money reserved in stock.
Well done for your first job!
1996, GIANT bycicles EUROPE
Giant Europe was a well-run Dutch company representing the Taiwanese Giant bicycle brand within the European market and sold their bicycles through a very well-established dealer market.
The organisation predominantly busied themselves with marketing & sales, on-road branding shows, dealer management and aftersales. The actual bicycles were manufactured in Taiwan and imported into Europe via the Netherlands.
Giant decided to set-up a brand-new production plant in the Netherlands due to the need to reduce the long delivery times and getting more flexibility in responding to changes within the dealer network. They hired the production director from MCFE to realise the actual build of the plant and to establish the production of the Giant Europe bicycles. That old MCFE director hired you to design & implement all processes around the production, material handling & logistics and the translation of these processes into the manufacturing MRP system, MFG-Pro.
You did well and stayed true to the colours of your integrity. The old Marketing & Sales organisation learned the hard way that setting up a production plant from scratch, requires huge changes in mind-set, working ethics, investment & reward principles, work processes, internal & external communications.
You were very successful in realising the objectives for which you were employed, plus more, but failed miserably in the reading of and anticipating on the internal political dynamics. Within a year they fired the production director and asked you to either do what they asked for, or find a new employer.
A new employer you indeed found.
But not before the production team assembled the first Giant Europe bicycle, marketed as Euro 1, within the expected timelines and to the surprise and annoyance of the Dutch directors. The competitors were impressed!
How proud we were…
1996, Marcus BORN
On the 21st of August 1996, my son Marcus came to be.
My first born!
Love you ever since and miss you even more.
1997, PROLIN/HEWLETT PACKARD OPENVIEW EUROPE
The last months at Giant were difficult, to say the least. You were bouncing around between leaving them behind or continue to be the buffer between the production team and the Marketing & Sales organisation.
Your ex saw the suffering and didn’t like it a bit. She offered to help by applying to random job-adds. And what a job she did! A company called Prolin responded positively to her writing and asked you for an interview.
Prolin… A company working within the IT industry, providing an IT Service Management software solution.
“WHAT?… That really is totally a different industry than where I am now… I know nothing about IT…”.
I read up on ITSM and learned that it deals with the process side of IT Support & Delivery, with rather familiar terms like Change, Configuration and Capacity Management, but… IT? Nothing ventured, nothing gained… I guess.
And off you went. You got the job and later found out that your reply to the question of “what do you know about IT?”, was the best possible reply you could have given.
Instead of trying to BS your way through that question, you honestly said, “Nothing… I know nothing about IT. But tell me, what do you know about processes?”
You were not asked to come for the second round but were surprised to be offered a truly brilliant job as a consultant for Prolin. Consulting on their IT Service Management software solution, the process review and the adaptation into the ITSM software.
A new world opened up for you. One with a company mobile phone… a Nokia 2110… and a company car, plus a very bulky laptop… and loads of People, Process & Technology information. Thank you, my sweet Ex.
Within 9 months of you starting your employment with Prolin, the organisation was bought by Hewlett Packard. And Prolin’s ITSM software became the flagship solution within HP’s Openview Enterprise Management software offerings. In 2007 HP started to rebrand the Openview name, but let’s stick with Openview. “Does a rose smell less, when you change its name?”
Your horizon just grew exponentially, as did your secondary salary components. Thank you again, my sweetest Ex.
You had an excellent boss, who managed and assigned the consulting resources to the customers projects. One of those customers was PDO, Petroleum Development Oman, in Middle East.
PDO/SHELL required a consultant to teach SQL to their internal Oracle team. SQL is the programming language of the database platform, called Oracle. Oracle and SQL formed the underlying database structure of ITSM and are used to (pre)design the front-end screens within the ITSM software.
“Me? Yeah, I know I did a 4 hour course on the SQL basics… but I am not 100% confident if I am ready to teach on an application coordinator’s level… ok… yeah… book me the flight…”
The following week you did go to Oman and had your first international experience. You loved it and did a good job in getting the team trained, although YOU didn’t really train the classes, did you… Let’s reminisce later on that one.
You were asked several times more by PDO for additional training on the ITSM product plus for the review and re- design of their IT processes.
From then on you would pursue more international opportunies & experiences. Your boss was already talking about… Asia…?
1998, JULES BORN
On the 5th of July 1998, my daughter Jules took a deep breath and liked it.
Souhait de roi, fils et fille.
Love you a bit more than yesterday, but a bit less than tomorrow…
1998, HEWLETT PACKARD OPENVIEW ASIA & EMEA
Your daughter was not even 9 weeks old and the whole family packed up their lives and relocated to Singapore. You were asked by HP Openview ITSM to represent the division within the newly formed Openview Asia group, together with about 8 other hosted resources. from other product-lines within Openview.
Most of its product representatives, like you, were hosted resources within the Asian entity. All trying to sell & deliver a unified HP Openview solution while individually being accountable towards each individual (and target driven) product line. In simple terms, we all had to sell the concept of home-baked bread and help the customer actually bake the bread at home, while on-selling spreads, cheeses, peanut butter, jams and HP storage units. We set up new sales principles within the existing sales forces and in stead of selling the individual pieces of hardware or network component, we came with the unified HP Openview management solution, helping to sell HP cross the divisional borders. And it worked!
The hosted Openview team did very well and within a year HP Openview Asia grew from zero to the best performing region within the HP Openview family. And we could have done better when the guy representing the eggs didn’t try to have his customers buy only from his basket.
But you personally were still blind for ongoing political game -play, as that would only distracted you from the task at hand. And under the excuse of cultural insensitivity you were asked to return to Europe and become the divisional Product Manager for the EMEA, Europe Middle East & Africa, region.
Being Dutch and accused of cultural insensitivity… really?
On the day of your return flight back to the Netherlands, you made time to meet with a potential customer who was interested in the ITSM solution. And in 2001 that customer became your first customer after your relocation to South Africa. He, his brother and their Dubai-based company had a tremendous positive impact on your life.
Europe, Middle East & Africa were your new markets, with Europe shared between other European product managers, and with the emerging markets of Africa & Middle East for yourself to deal with.
But before you started working within the EMEA market, you got awarded for your efforts in Asia, with the Outstanding Achievement Award for achieving under the “Most Extreme Circumstances”. And the STAR, Stock Options Achievement Reward, but that one got lost in the Dutch tax rules. 
Cultural insensitivity? My rectum!
I predominantly focused my attention on South Africa and the Middle East, for the simple reason that the other emerging markets were all managed as part of the established Central European HP organisation… and they already knew everything… EVERYTHING! YOU HEAR? SO… SHUT UP!
Well, if we want to make progress, you need to allow me to help you where you feel the pain and reduce it till you can manage it. That you know how to spell pain, is very encouraging. But dont ask me to ignore your pains, as I see them.
And South Africa & the Middle East were so eager to learn. So eager to grab the opportunity to leapfrog over their European colleagues… a perfect platform to collaborate… and politics ruled the European established markets… so many opportunities must have been lost… Well, not on me…. again.
I loved working with the HP teams of both markets. Both HP organisations were very active in establishing a strong network of implementation partners and resellers on all HP Products. Even the HP Consulting arm within these regions were actively representing the whole of HP and not only the consulting side of it. Especially HPC in the Middle East were masters in managing their money loaded customers. “The deal will come Habibi… Inshallah.”
All those partners & resellers wanted much training on both the technology as the actual benefits of the Openview suite. This included many multi-day break-away events where the local HP sales teams would present the HP solutions to their partners. Especially HP South Africa were masters in organising such evens and always asked me to cover the Openview logic with its flagship ITSM, or ServiceDesk.
I ate my first flying ant during a bonfire somewhere in the African bush.
One of the attending partners took me to Johannesburg’s New Town to enjoy a Mopani worm… On both occasions I was drunk. We all were drunk.
Israel started to actively market the Openview suite and asked me to join them on a product show, showcasing the new ServiceDesk solution within the Openview suite. I did and enjoyed the country and its people.
Quite tense at times and not really open to discuss anything other than the solution. I always reminded myself to add a blank piece of paper into my passport and ask the security personnel at passport control to stamp that sheet and not any available blank page in the passport. If they did stamp the passport, one would not be allowed to enter any country in the Middle East, or any other Islamic ruled country for that mater.
I found Israel to be the most inconvenient country of all countries I have visited. It takes ten minutes to clear airport security on arrival, but a minimum of 1 hour on departure. EVERY MINUTE YOU SPENT IN THEIR COUNTRY NEEDED TO BE EXPLAINED. And if they have any doubt, or catch you glance to any random co -traveler, they will make you miss your flight, rather than their doubts.
I met my new employer at such event.
1999, QUINT WELLINGTON REDWOOD ASIA
Quint Wellington Redwood was a consulting company focused on several process improvement & governance concepts, like ITIL (IT processes), Cobit (IT Governance) and Prince2 (Program Governance).
They were based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and were in the process of starting an Academy. The initial focus would be to provide certification training on the concept of ITIL, the IT Infrastructure Library. They developed a brilliant simulation game and during the three-day course, all the ITIL processes were experienced while simulating them through a role-based gameboard. Brilliant!
And after meeting up with the director of the Academy when I was in Israel for HP, I got offered to set-up the Academy in Asia, Malaysia. Yes please! And since the Academy had a strong partnership with HP-Education, I was still closely connected with HP.
But not all turned out to be manageable in Malaysia, and the family ended up in the middle of the worst ethnic violence imaginable. I asked a lot from my family and in the end it was simply too much to handle. I was on an average 6 weeks away from our home in Malaysia and not having enough qualified international resources within the academy team, I ended up conducting training all over the world.
I neglected the Asian market for the benefit of the established markets. Worst of all, I neglected my family and expected my ex to handle everything all by herself. And when my pleads to the directors of Quint fell to deaf ears, I knew I had to choose for my family.
And so I did.
There were a few companies in South Africa who were interested in me and offered me a good employment package. One of them, AST, could guarantee that my family was also their priority, and within a few months we were relocated to South Africa.
2001, Hello South Africa
And there we were… safe… in South Africa.
“Are you crazy? The crime! The killings! Why South Africa…?”, is what we heard from about all we met. And our Dutch fanbase were worried about the lions… “…AND ELEPHANTS! Are these gates around your house strong enough?”. “No… it is best if you stay away… far away…”.
Let me put some perspective around the feeling of safety. The last months in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, my ex had to do shopping under direct military protection as the local Chinese Malay population was retaliating against any Indian they could find, or anyone in their way. Their reason was a disrupted Chinese-Malay wedding festivity, by a drunk Indian.
Not even 500 meters away from our house an Indian got beheaded and what followed were months of serious violent acts against the Indian population, their properties and anyone in their way.
And our house was also targeted as it showed signs of Indian ownership. Not even funny…
So, coming to South Africa brought us much needed peace. I am not saying that all is hunky-dory here in SA, but looking at it from my perspective, where we came from and the overall Asian circumstances I have worked in, makes South Africa a place of safety. And I still think it is.
Below I have video on the ’98 riots in Indonesia. It will give you an idea of what our perspective was. Not for the fainthearted.
1998, Jakarta Indonesia, what started as a student protest against the government escalated into wide-spread xenophobic attacks on Chinese residents all over Indonesia. More then 2000 Chinese lost their lives.
I also found a video showing the dangers Europeans have to face, while taking a trip through safari park Beekse Bergen in The Netherlands. No fence can protect you against your own stupidity.
2018, Beekse Bergen, the Netherlands. French family offering leopards almost a free lunch
2001, AST & Bentley West Consulting
AST was one of the bigger South African IT companies, started by having companies like ABSA, Iscor and Kumba Resources outsource their full IT organisation into one AST. Later they got Gijima involved as their BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) Partner.
I came there working under the AST Consulting arm, prior Gijima. Initially helping the team to set up their consulting & training practices.
Within 6 months I got a call from the owner of the Dubai-based company, who I met on my last day in Singapore. They asked me to help them restructure their existing business and define their new service offerings, and re-brand the company accordingly. I ended up for several weeks at a time in Dubai and had a wonderful experience. I was working at their new head office when 9/11 occurred and the whole world went berserk.
One of my AST Consulting colleagues joined me to run a project at the company, reviewing the number off headcount required to run the operations. How shocked he was when within a week of him releasing his final recommendations, the owners implemented every recommendation in the report. Around 16 fulltime employees were asked to leave and departments were re
structured. He was upset that they even listened to him… Well… what did you expect…
That was a reason for me to review my role within the AST Consulting organisation. The prospective international customers required a commitment in dedicated resources who are willing to work overseas and who are open to experience new cultures. In the end AST Consulting wished to continue their local focus and I moved to the Management Consulting organisation, Bentley West Management Consulting, within the AST Group.
Over the years I build up a strong relationship with some senior managers and directors at Unisys Americas and engaged through them with the bigger corporates in the US. I worked on innovative projects, like creating the online training program for Microsoft’s .NET Framework. I even had my Dutch friend run some of the Unisys projects and ended up offering him employment at Bentley West. Unfortunately, he went for a different career path and ended up running Quint Academy Asia, my old job.
My biggest project under the Unisys flag, was organising the design and delivery of all IT-related service processes for the TSA organisation, including web-based & video training material.
The Transport Security Administration organisation, part of the Homeland Security Department of the US, contracted Unisys to deliver all IT systems. And Unisys asked me to organise 7 South African resources for multiple months to deliver the process job. WOW! What a job we did… We even made snow angels… And recorded Ali-G… live.
But my health was running backwards on me and the diagnosis of probable PPMS made me quit my job and start on my own. Dear Tutu proved his point…
Financial independence to cater for the future of my family needs, became my new challenge.
2004, Hephaistion International Consulting
Hephaistion was the name of one of the most successful generals within Alexander the Great’s army. And also considered to be Alexander’s closest friend. Most successes Alexander enjoyed, were based on the strategic impulses of Hephaistion. And that resembled my style and strength very closely.
Technology is just technology. I had the best resources within the specific technology fields delivering it. But how best to organise the people and the processes around the strategic intent, was where I felt in my element and excelled.
But nobody starts a business just on a name. One needs a product to sell and with good prospects of making it through the first year.
And I had both. A very broad international presence and a strong product and concept to sell. Where others struggled to deliver merely a piece of technology, I gathered people around me who were able to learn the true power of People, Process & Technology. I did well and had resources working for me in the Middle East and South Africa. All was well.
My largest customer in South Africa required me to comply to the South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rules before continuing doing business with them. I managed to attract a black and a white partner and continued to deliver a successful project at South Africa’s leading mobile provider.
2004, Affirmative Technology Services
The BEE-deal got established by combining three running concerns in one entity and name it Affirmative Technology Services. No exchange of monies… just three companies bundling their existing business in one. And it would have worked well, were it not that one partner choose to continue his main business by himself, effectively stealing monies and diverting new opportunities away from the company.
Anyway, I ended up with full control of the company and found a new BEE partner who was willing to be an equal partner… not a bit more equal than me…
We did well and even got a stronger foot in the Middle East. Happy sailings… till we scored a rather big contract at one of South Africa’s state enterprises. They benefitted from our delivery, but failed to honor the payment terms.
When they finally paid, we could not do much more then close the business, pay-off the taxman and retrench the remaining employees.
There was one South African company in need of my skillset and I ended up working for one of the best HP partners of that time, Aptronics.
2007, Aptronics
Before the final ATS project I hired a guy called Pieter Neethling. I knew Pieter very well as I had the unfortunate pleasure to retrench him… Not once, but twice I had to approve his retrenchment package. The first time was in 2004, when Bentley West had to downscale their Full Time Employee pool and the second time when I had to retrench him from ATS.
Pieter has an exceptional skill set and I could work with him on any program, subject matter, or strategic challenge. We understood one another and complemented each other perfectly.
I brought Pieter with me to Aptronics, and we did well. Pieter is currently working, living, and thriving in Prague, the Czech Republic, together with his way better half Linda. Love you both!
Aptronics was an IT company pur sang. Pushing IT hardware, cabling and network equipment, with some HP network management skills on board. Highly respected within the HP Partner circuits and with a loyal customer base.
I joined the consulting team, trying to add a diversification to their consulting services. In the end (Pieter’s favourite phrase) we ended up remodelling the whole company, from their core-business to the marketing, from their financial system to the company profile and their (web) presence. I really think we touched every aspect within its potential and even unlocked new opportunities.
But I also had the consulting arm to make profitable and before I knew it, I was trying to balance too many rocks and one was bound to fall off. At my last customer’s board presentation, I was wheeled off by my colleague in a big director’s chair. My body was unable to unfreeze, and I was not able walk… only talking worked.
The presentation went extremely well and exceeded the customer’s expectation… but I knew I would have to stop pushing myself to such limits. My work ethics were not compliant with my chronic condition, and stress was literally killing me. I activated the disability clause within my employer’s risk policy and started the process of being declared incapacitated for work. With pain in my heart, but necessary.
Thank you Appie, for all you did for your employees and for me. Your mandatory company Risk Policy brought the right perspective into my life when I needed it the most.
And I kept the bird…
2010, Retired
You were just 43 years young and had to stop working due to the progression of your chronic condition. Way too young, but reality is a bitch. And dying before you even turn 50, is a way bigger bitch.
I am glad you accepted yourself and continued to live your life. You got stronger with every curveball thrown at you. Even the divorce process, the brachial plexus episode, the passing of your parents, and your children who are still far out of reach, could not stop you from hoping for brighter days ahead. And they came and will come, plentiful evermore.
Thank you, God!
“Absolutely! Just stop using that third-person thing… It confuses even me…”
WHAT?
And this week’s winners are…
doing it here.
Feel free to share…
Thank you!
