Independent technology consultancy
Hairy IT helps healthcare and other regulated organisations make sense of complicated technology. I’ll help you work out what matters, choose a clear direction and turn it into something your teams can actually deliver.
Most big technology programmes don’t struggle because people are short of ideas. They struggle because the plan, the people and the delivery teams start pulling in different directions. I bring those pieces back together and help everyone see what happens next.
Core expertise
I help leaders see the whole picture, make the awkward choices and give their teams a plan they can use. That might mean setting the technology direction, designing what comes next or putting sensible decision-making in place.
I’ve spent eight years working inside the NHS, from large acute trusts to national programmes. I understand why safety, continuity and the reality of clinical work have to shape every technology decision.
Workplace technology should make someone’s day easier, not add another obstacle. I help join up Microsoft 365, devices, identity and large migrations so the whole experience works better.
I started out on the technical side, so my advice stays grounded in what will work. I can help you plan resilient cloud, datacentre and platform changes without losing sight of the day-to-day service.
A career built on delivery
I’ve worked from the server room to the boardroom, across organisations of all shapes and sizes. That breadth helps me spot the patterns, ask better questions and stay realistic about what it takes to make change work.
See the workSelected case studies
Here are a few of the problems I’ve helped untangle, the thinking behind the work and what changed as a result.
A hospital group needed a clearer view of its application estate, where systems overlapped and which changes would make the biggest difference.
The move covered email, files, Teams and identity across a busy clinical organisation where disruption had to be kept to a minimum.
Several hospitals had grown their infrastructure separately. The group needed one design that could reduce duplication, improve resilience and support future change.
Teams needed clear, consistent technical direction across workplace, endpoint and infrastructure programmes.
A practical approach
First, I get close to the people, the pressure they’re under and what really needs to change. There’s no point jumping to an answer too soon.
Next, I turn the tangle into a few honest choices that technical teams, executives and boards can all understand.
Then we agree where you’re heading, what matters along the way and a practical sequence for getting there.
I stay close to the delivery teams. Things change, as they always do, and the plan needs to remain useful in the real world.
The person behind the hair
I’m a senior enterprise and technical architect with more than 20 years in IT — and the founder of Hairy IT.
I’ve spent the last eight years working inside the NHS, from individual trusts to national programmes. Before that, I led technology change in telecoms, government, financial services, automotive and manufacturing. So I’m used to complicated organisations where the answer can’t simply be “switch it off and start again”.
I’m straightforward, curious and happiest when I’m working alongside the people who’ll live with the result. Give me a messy problem, a room full of different opinions and a lot of moving parts, and I’ll help turn them into a direction people can get behind.
Field notes
The best architecture work starts with people and trust, not a framework or a diagram.
Read the long view →Four ways to change critical systems without forgetting the people and services that depend on them.
Read article →The tools matter. But how work actually feels will decide whether the change sticks.
Read article →Got a knotty technology challenge?
Tell me what’s making life difficult. There’s no hard sell—just a friendly first conversation to see whether I can help.
chris@hairyit.com