SHAPING THE FUTURE OF CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES WITH BETTER CYBERSECURITY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In 2017, Ian Vickers launched the METCLOUD brand. The organisation has gone on to be recognised as one of the most secure cybersecurity platforms not only in the UK but has won dozens of internationally recognised awards for innovation. Through Ian’s leadership the business has developed into a multi-million pound organisation and is currently planning on International expansion in 2024.

Advocacy

Ian is also keen to contribute to the community and over the years has been Chair of the Birmingham Related Crime Steering Group (BRCSG) and a Board member of the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership and a board member of the West Midlands Crime Partnership which is an initiative developed by the Police Crime Commissioners Office to develop thought leadership to combat rising crime in the City. These roles are helping shape the security and safety of Birmingham and the West Midlands. Ian was previously a Founding Member and Chair of the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (WMCRC). The WMCRC is a Government backed initiative establishing ten regional Cyber Resilience Centres working in collaboration with NCSC, Police Cyber Teams (RCCU), Businesses and Academia.

International Memberships and Partnerships

Ian is an active member of the Computer Trade Industry Association (CompTIA) and in the UK, was a member of the Executive Council between 2015 and 2018 creating and supporting diversity initiatives. Ian is a member of the Microsoft Partner Advisory Council, which is made-up of twenty global Microsoft Partners to assist in the development of the Microsoft Partner program. In May 2020, Ian became a member of The World Economic Forum (Invitation only membership). The World Economic Forum is an organisation for Public-Private co-operation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Fayyaz Shah oversees the day to day administrative and operational functions of METCLOUD, ensuring the delivery of exceptional levels of service and value to our customers.

Since joining the company in 2010 Fayyaz has developed extensive experience in technical, commercial and leadership roles. He is highly certified with project management and technical qualifications which have been demonstrated through his ability to successfully architect and deliver multi-million-pound projects across a variety of industries such as finance, education, and manufacturing.

Fayyaz has helped drive change through every level of the business and has been a key member of the leadership team helping to transform the culture, processes, and service delivery.

Sonia Vickers is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategy in support of the overall business plan and strategic direction of the organisation, specifically in the areas of succession planning, talent management, change management, organisational and performance management, training and development, and compensation. Sonia provides strategic leadership by articulating HR needs and plans to the executive management team, shareholders, and the board of directors.

Tom Gregg is a proven technical leader. He is responsible for the overall technological management of METCLOUD services along with providing the architectural vision for solutions delivered to customers.

He has vast experience and certifications in a wide range of technologies from vendors such as Microsoft, HPE, SonicWALL, Mimecast, Veritas, Symantec, and others.

With over 20 years of industry experience, Tom joined METCLOUD in 2004 and has since helped bring to life many of the offerings within our service portfolio and has been key in both our own internal and customer adoption of public cloud services, designing and implementing successful, reliable, and secure, cloud and hybrid infrastructures. 

Don Randall served with the City of London Police from 1969-1995, with specific emphasis on fraud and counter terrorism. He spent four years as Deputy Head of the Fraud Squad and three years in Operational Support Department. Don was Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase from 1995. In August 2008, Don assumed the role of Head of Security at the Bank of England and in November 2013, he was appointed as the Bank’s first Chief Information Security Officer. In February 2015, Don moved to a consultative position with the Bank as their Cyber Ambassador.

Don is Chairman of the ‘Sister Banks’, City of London Crime Prevention Association and ‘Project Griffin’ and a member of the City of London Crime Disorder Reduction Panel.

Scott Tyson hosts our brand new podcast show– The Vanguard Podcast. Scott was recently the International Managing Director for Auvik Networks. Prior to Auvik Scott was Head of Global Sales at Inbay, where he drove significant company growth in EMEA, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and founded the company’s first international office in the USA. Scott has a history of building strong, successful sales teams locally and remotely all over the world along with providing sales methodology training, mentorship and coaching allowing those teams to reach their objectives and help individuals achieve their personal goals.

Coming to the UK in 1998 as an Overseas Professional cricket player, Scott moved into channel management in 2002. Since then, he has held senior sales management roles in both the UK and Australia building out regional and global sales channels for the companies listed above as well as SpectraLink, AdvaTel, and Mailprotector.

Paul Kearney is Professor of Cybersecurity at Birmingham City University. Prior to this, he had a long career in R&D in industry with British Aerospace, Sharp and BT, where he was Chief Security Researcher. He is well known in the UK and EU cybersecurity research communities, having participated in numerous collaborative research projects, and served on committees and advisory and working groups and reviewed projects and proposals for Horizon 2020 and Celtic programmes. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Etisalat-BT Innovation Centre (EBTIC) at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, an active contributor to the IoT Security Foundation, and full member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security.

Chris Bailey is a qualified Accountant (ACMA) and has undertaken a number of finance and general management in a variety of industries, during his career. His roles include Divisional Finance Director Misys PLC 1989-91, Managing Director Misys Integrated Solutions 1991-1998. Shareholder/Director of TIS Software undertaking a management buyout supported by Venture Capitalists from Misys PLC 1998-2004. Finance Director of Watford FC 2005-2007, Finance Director of Fulham FC 2007-2010. Head of Operations and Catering Norwich City FC 2012-2015. Interim Turnaround Manager working with McTear, Williams and Woods Chartered Accountants and Insolvency Practitioners at TP Fire 2018.