Ian Smith

Ian has spent his entire career in customer-focused roles in the ICT industry, notably with Digital Equipment, BT, and Oracle Corporation, and has a long-term commitment to skills development. He started at ICL as a computer service engineer and in 1974 joined Digital Equipment Corporation where he worked for 20 years in the UK and USA, latterly as Director of Business Partners. In the mid-1990s, he was recruited by BT to manage customer service for consumers and was subsequently promoted to become Managing Director of BT UK Customer Service. Larry ElIison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, recruited Ian as Managing Director of Oracle UK & Ireland in 1999. With responsibility for Oracle’s largest subsidiary outside the USA, Ian led the organisation with great political skill through the dotcom boom and bust, an exceptionally volatile period in the technology sector, which led to remorseless change in the global IT market. Subsequently, he became Regional Senior Vice President, adding South Africa and Israel to his portfolio. Ian’s commitment to skills development extended to organisations outside his main employment. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the City & Guilds Institute, a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, and an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University. Ian is greatly motivated by helping people with ability achieve their full potential. One of his greatest pleasures is challenging individuals to overcome self-imposed barriers, as he has done throughout his life, to achieve success beyond their aspirations.