By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Colin Barrett, IoT Country Manager, Vodafone Ireland
This week sees new and notable appointments at Vodafone Ireland, Fuzion Communications, Netwatch and Decision Time
Colin Barrett, IoT Country Manager,
Vodafone Ireland
Vodafone Ireland has announced the appointment of Colin Barrett as IoT Country Manager. Colin joined the company in 2015 from IBM to help launch the Cloud and Security business unit. To date Colin has been instrumental in successfully growing this strategic division for Vodafone, through business development, data centre strategy, delivery coordination, and alliance planning.
With a background rooted in technology, Colin’s career has evolved from developing software, to leading international project teams, and developing outsourced IT end-to-end managed services agreements.
Prior to joining Vodafone, Colin held a number of positions with IBM, Oracle/Siebel and eSpatial, focusing on business growth in emerging digital technologies.
As IoT Country Manager, Colin is responsible for leading a team of specialists who manage the continuing growth of Vodafone’s IoT services and solutions across Ireland.
Commenting on the new appointment, Anne O’Leary, CEO, Vodafone Ireland said, “Ireland continues to be a leader for the use and adoption of IoT solutions across multiple sectors from healthcare, agriculture to fleet and transport. As a front-runner in the development of IoT innovation, this is a key appointment for Vodafone as we continue to develop IoT technologies for large and small companies and support the growth ambition of IoT connectivity in Ireland.”
Commenting on his appointment, Colin said, “In just two years between 2019 and 2020, Vodafone’s Global IoT connections in Ireland grew by more than 50%. Small to large businesses, industries and organisations looked for new ways to enhance their operations by capturing data from connected devices to create smart, automated solutions and services. I am looking forward to continuing on this growth trajectory and building on the significant value opportunities that exist for start-ups, SMEs and larger businesses through IoT connectivity as we look to recovery post COVID-19.”
Colin is completing an executive MBA from UCD Smurfit Business School, and holds a B.Sc. in Computer Applications from DCU. Colin lives in Foxrock, Dublin with his wife Catherine and their three children.
Andy Lynch, Creative Director,
Fuzion Communications
Pictured: Andy Lynch, Creative Director, Fuzion Communications
Andy Lynch has joined Fuzion Communications as their Creative Director. Andy joins Fuzion from RTÉ where he primarily led the design, motion graphics and video editing output of the Central Communications department, which is responsible for all of RTÉ’s marketing materials as well as a variety of collaborative arts partnerships and national initiatives.
Andy began his design career with Media Manager, Cork and since then has built an extensive portfolio. After a number of years, Andy relocated to Dublin and set his sights for Maximum Media, where he worked for a host of external clients such as Mondelez, Unilever, Diageo, AIB and many more. In the time Andy spent in the organisation he was able to upskill substantially as well as developing broadcast-level motion design skills.
Apart from his expertise in design, Andy also brings managerial experience with him to Fuzion. During his time spent with Communicorp, Andy oversaw and managed the design of brands including Today FM, 98FM and SPIN. He worked on a vast array of projects such as digital marketing campaigns, show branding, vehicle liveries, national out of home print campaigns and event stage design at Longitude and Electric Picnic.
Andy, who holds a degree in Creative Digital Media from CIT, is delighted to join the team at Fuzion Communications.
“I’m looking forward to leading the creative team with Fuzion Communications and achieving some great results for all our clients. It’s a great opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients across so many different sectors. Every great design begins with an even better story, hence why working with Fuzion excites me as they are a full-service agency that integrates their approach of communications with design, marketing and PR and goes above and beyond to tell the story of the clients they work with.”
Mark Giblin, Sales Director for Ireland & UK,
Netwatch
Netwatch, the specialist in proactive video monitoring with headquarters in Carlow, has appointed Mark Giblin as Sales Director for Ireland & UK.
Mr Giblin brings 20 years of experience from his financial services career with AIB where he held management positions across a range of roles, particularly in Sales & Marketing and Business to Business. He joined Netwatch in 2015 as Regional Sales Manager moving to Corporate Account Manager in 2019.
The Sales Director role for Ireland & UK is a new position created to support the Netwatch growth strategy.
Established in 2003, Netwatch is a world leader in video monitoring, developing and deploying its proprietary technology for the protection of clients’ property, business operations and assets. It operates in a wide variety of sectors including government, critical infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, distilleries, education, retail and residential.
Patrick McAliskey, Chair,
Decision Time
Decision Time, which recently appeared in the Deloitte Fast 50 Ireland for the third year in a row, has secured the services of the highly regarded entrepreneur to help guide it to further growth and success and has appointed Patrick McAliskey as its new chairman.
Patrick McAliskey founded and developed Novosco into one of Northern Ireland’s best known tech businesses and one of the leading IT service providers in the UK before selling the company to the multi-national CANCOM Group in October 2019.
Under Patrick’s leadership, Novosco won a £107million contract with Cambridge University Hospitals Trust and grew its revenues to more than £50m.
In his role with Decision Time, Patrick will chair the company’s board of directors and provide strategic direction as it seeks to expand its already impressive list of customers across the UK and Ireland.
Antrim-headquartered Decision Time provides software that makes it easier for organisations to practice good governance by running effective meetings, managing risk and monitoring their strategic performance. It enables CEOs, directors and leaders across any organisation to manage all of these essential requirements in one place.
Decision Time’s customers include NHS Trusts, some of the UK and Ireland’s largest universities, over 60 housing associations, non-departmental public bodies, a large number of the Republic of Ireland’s public sector bodies, and major Northern Ireland organisations such as Tourism NI, Translink and Invest NI.
In the last two years, the company has more than doubled its customer-base including continuing to win business from large global competitors. And its projections are for revenues to more than double from £2.4million per annum in 2020 to beyond £5m in 2023.
Commenting on his appointment as Decision Time Chairman, Patrick McAliskey said: “Decision Time has a pedigree of nearly 20 years, and it is now at the point where it is growing rapidly and has an incredibly impressive market share in key sectors across the UK and Ireland. I fully expect the company to move to the next level over the next few years in terms of its customer-base, employee numbers and revenues and I’m really excited to work with Geoff, David, Sinead and the team to help them on that journey.”
Geoff Higgins, CEO of Decision Time, said: “Patrick’s track record speaks for itself and we’re really pleased to welcome Patrick as Chairman of Decision Time. He is one of Northern Ireland’s most skilled entrepreneurs and business leaders, and as we seek to continue to make Decision Time one of the best places to work in Northern Ireland and one of the leading software companies in Europe, I have no doubt Patrick’s input and guidance will be absolutely invaluable to us.”
Decision Time is run by Directors Geoff and Sinead Higgins and David Braziel.
