Doing business with Jason Poyner of Deptive

Title: Technical director, Deptive

Twitter handle: @jason_poyner

How long have you been in your current role? Eight years and still loving it.

What business technology issue is your organisation focusing on?

It’s a mobile world. Our clients want the freedom to work anytime, anywhere, on any device. We make that happen – reliably, securely and with a great user experience. Whether you need a native Android application, a full Windows desktop, or access to your board minutes, Word document from your iPad, we have a solution to deliver it.

What are your interests away from work?

Spending time with my family. We have two wonderful kids aged four and seven which keep us busy. I love music and even do a bit of DJing, not all the well although I did get everyone up on the dance floor at my wife’s 40th!

What are you reading at the moment?

Right now I’m in the middle of Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. The novel is loosely based on the author’s life as a convicted criminal who escaped from an Australian prison and ended up living in the slums of Mumbai – it’s a wild ride!

Rob Fyfe made some tough decisions while at Air New Zealand and in my opinion, successfully led the airline through significant change. Jason Poyner, Deptive

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Hire people who are smarter than you are.

Professionally, who do you admire most?

[Icebreaker CEO and former Air New Zealand CEO] Rob Fyfe. From what I have read, Rob Fyfe builds strong relationships and trust at all levels within an organisation and is incredibly positive and energetic. He made some tough decisions while at Air New Zealand and in my opinion, successfully led the airline through significant change. He seems pretty humble, considering his achievements so far, and he has empathy. I admire those qualities.

How long have you been working in IT?

It’s coming up to 20 years since my first IT job.

If you weren’t working in IT, What would you be doing?

That’s tough as I love working in IT, it’s in my blood. A season or two as a snowboard instructor sounds fun, though!

What was your first job?

My first professional job was for Hypercom performing QA on EFTPOS terminal software. As a student I worked at the Matakohe Kauri Museum in Northland doing odd jobs such as cleaning and painting. I was proud to work there because a lot of my family history is in that museum.

What’s the best thing about working with IT executives?

All the best IT execs have a “spark” – they have a passion which is infectious.

What is the worst?

Like any CxO, CIOs have a catastrophic diary and getting that face to face meeting can be a real uphill challenge.

An advice for managing virtual teams?

Communication is crucial, not just email, pick up the phone. And don’t always be virtual. Get the team together when you can – Friday beers, breakfast, anything to get the team together. We use Citrix ShareFile, Citrix GoToMeeting and Evernote to collaborate and share data. Sorry, that’s more than one!

A key pointer for keeping abreast of business and technology trends?

Get a Twitter account and follow the companies and industry specialists most relevant to you. You don’t have to tweet, use Twitter as a news feed.

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