Appnovator Spotlight: Ed Cann

Here's an insight into Ed, the man with the 'Cann do' attitude...

Who are you? What's your story?

I'm Ed, a welshman born an bred in Swansea. I grew up fiddling with computers from an early age starting with my Commodore +4. After university I decided that Engineering wasn't for me and Web development was where my talent lies so started with a few freelance websites for friends of friends. In my professional career I worked up from being developer for a local print company, a student marketing agency, a design consultancy and then started at Appnovation a little over a year ago.

What's your role at Appnovation?

I am a Drupal developer and Team Lead within the Managed Services department of the company. My role gives me the opportunity to work closely with our clients to update, expand and improve their websites to best suit the changing needs of their business. I love that no two days are the same in my role and there's always something new to challenge me and make be think in new ways.

What's the greatest lesson you've learned in your professional career (or even personal life) that you would like to share with others?

Never deploy on a Friday... or at the end of your day for that matter. It doesn't matter how certain you are that everything will be perfect there's always the chance that something will go wrong and you'll wish you'd waited. Also Backup, Backup, Backup! You can never have too many backups to ensure your data is safe when the worst happens.

What do you do outside of work?

When not working I'm mostly running around after my 2 little ones who are 5 years and 18 months old and keep me very busy. My weekends are mostly spent getting out and about with them on some adventure around the Gower peninsular, be it swimming, cycling, camping or even just a day on the beach. On the rare occasions when they're otherwise occupied I like to get out and ride my motorbike around the Brecon beacons or sit and play guitar.

Where do you hope to take your career at this point/what's next for you in your professional career?

Right now I'm enjoying helping to develop and grow the Managed Services department. As it's still a relatively new area of the business it's great to see it expand and be able to help shape what it will become with my input into the systems and procedures that we're putting in place. In the near future I hope to expand my knowledge into new technology areas and improve my management skills to progress within Managed Services and Appnovation as we take on more clients and staff.

*BONUS* What are some fun/random facts about you that many may not know?

I'm a massive geek and I'm a regular LARPer (Live Action Role Play) Think Dungeon and Dragons but in a field and with a foam sword instead of the dice.

I only got my motorbike licence at age 31

I've played guitar since I was 13 and own 5 guitars but I'm still rubbish.