My Early Days in Telecom and IT Services (2001–2008)
Ah, the early 2000s. When “digital transformation” meant 1Mb broadband and Dial-up. I was hoping the customers wouldn’t unplug the wrong cable. My technology career started on the customer service and sales side until I realised that I could make an larger impact handling the technology directly. I started supporting in a call center environment and quickly moved into a role where I was designing the teams conducted support. I juggled everything from application support to network connectivity. Then in no time at all I moved to a company that let me be hands on with connectivity and networks. I grew my understanding of Routing and VoIP troubleshooting, all while keeping a smile for customers who barely understood what the internet was. My official title suggested specialization, but in reality, I was a walking Swiss army knife of tech support—patching analog systems one day, installing home theaters the next, and occasionally figuring out why someone’s fax machine refused to cooperate with modern electronics.
Industry trends were… optimistic. Providers promised instant connectivity, zero downtime, and effortless cloud migration, while the reality was routers were overloaded, networks that collided, and management teams that loved buzzwords more than actual results. Despite the chaos, I practiced the art of patience, the craft of translating technical chaos into plain language, and how designed solutions that survived both human error and hardware limitations. I understood that being technically competent was only half the battle; the other half was my now decade old skills of diplomacy, improvisation, and a willingness to dive into problems that were technically “someone else’s job.”