The Post: IT Architect, Liberty Information Technology
The Post Holder: Keith Annette
HOW I BECAME AN IT ARCHITECT
No two days are ever the same for IT Architect Keith Annette
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
After graduating from university in 2000, I worked in a few different business development roles across Ireland. I started to study Computer Science part-time and later transitioned into an infrastructure security role with Allstate.
I joined Liberty IT 12 years ago as part of a company expansion. My first role was a systems engineer where I was heavily involved in moving the company’s IT systems to the building we are in today.
I have had an interesting career so far where my role has evolved with new challenges, such as setting up our Dublin office from an infrastructure perspective and supporting our parent company’s, Liberty Mutual, large data centres.
In the past few years, I have become more involved in setting technical direction and building capabilities, such as DevOps and Cloud engineering for Liberty IT.
What was your favourite subject at school?
I really enjoyed languages when I was at school. I studied French, Spanish, Latin and Russian (this being my favourite). I had visions of going into a linguistic role of some sort when I got older.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I did the International Baccalaureate and then proceeded to a BA (Hons) Business with Entrepreneurial studies at Napier University in Edinburgh. After a few years of working post-university, I decided to do a post graduate in Computer Science at Ulster University.
How did you get into your area of work?
It has been an interesting journey over the past 20 years.
After graduating, I worked in various business development roles as well as doing my own ventures. The turning point for me was the last business development job I was doing and it involved selling IT solutions to businesses. Sales is tough and I really enjoyed the buzz of getting new business on the books but in this particular role I would be responsible for deploying and installing the IT solution also. I started to get a bigger buzz with working with IT than the sales and have never looked back.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
I have always had a keen interest in building things with technology from a young age and that hasn’t ever changed. One of the most exciting things about working in IT is the speed of technology advancements.
With the commoditisation of compute and increased adoption of cognitive tech, this fourth industrial revolution as we know it will not be slowing anytime soon.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
Tertiary education and certifications are important but I also believe that the sooner you can get experience the better. Whether that is from a placement year or just building your own projects using the latest tech. With the increase of self-study IT websites and the use of public cloud providers, it has never been easier for someone to start building their own infrastructure and applications whether for learning or potentially a new venture. Also, the IT communities and events such as meet ups within Belfast is very healthy these days and I would recommend for people interested in certain fields of IT to look at them to get greater insights.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Everyone is on a journey throughout their career. I hadn’t started with the traditional path of doing an IT degree. My advice would be if you have, or find, a passion for something, then you need to work hard and pursue it to achieve your goal.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
As the role entails working with multiple teams across different parts of the organisation, strong organisational, communicative and problemsolving skills are needed.
You need to be continually learning as it is essential to have a wide understanding of the technology landscape. I make a point of doing at least one certification per year. It is important to be inquisitive and join the dots across projects to assist teams on architectural and management on business decisions.
In Liberty IT we are also very focused on servant leadership and encourage a coaching culture. This is very important as we want to create the right culture to enable everyone the opportunity to grow in their role.
What does a typical day entail?
I don’t have a typical day as no two days are the same. However, in the mornings I normally join different product team’s huddles to get updates on progress of work and discuss any blockers or support that the teams might need. This might include peer review features of an application and work through future technical decisions. After lunch, the focus changes to our US colleagues as they come online. Typically, I would have conversations with our vendors or customers updating them on our product roadmaps as well as identifying any new technical features or needs.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
The best aspect is when you see our teams growing and having more autonomy to use IT to deliver business value. This year I was heavily involved in building out a new DevOps capability in the org. The result has been tremendous and when you see the increased drive from the teams involved and the positive feedback from our customer, it makes it all worthwhile. The most challenging but rewarding aspect is keeping up-to-date with all the new technological advancements and then being able to apply that knowledge to business problems.
Why is what you do important?
Liberty IT develops software products for US Fortune 100 company Liberty Mutual with a global presence specialising in many different lines of insurance including personal and commercial. I have always had a passion for technology but what makes it even better is when you see how the applications we are responsible for building make our customers lives better in times of need.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
My role encompasses working with great people and a technology landscape that is forever changing. There are so many paths in IT and there are a lot of opportunities in Ireland at present. You need to dive in, be inquisitive and driven about how technology can be used to realise business value.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
I think if I wasn’t an IT architect, I would have probably been a building architect. I really enjoy creating new things whether it is a team, application or capability. There is a sense of achievement from designing and planning something and then seeing it come to life.
If you could go back, what is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
I know we say, “everything’s great in hindsight,” but I am not sure if there is anything I would like to do different. I do believe we are all on our own career journeys and it is up to you to shape what that looks like. I think it is important to be inquisitive, self-driven and don’t be afraid to lift your head above the parapet in order to achieve your goals.
Describe your ideal day off.
Ideal day off would be to spend some quality time with the family. Work/life balance is important for sure.