Employee Spotlight - Kevin Hurdle

In our series of Employee Spotlights, you get to meet our brilliant Unifii team members! This month we have the pleasure to introduce you to our illustrious Principal Consultant Kevin Hurdle. Coming from an extensive background in IT and data, Kevin has had 40+ years in the workforce. Initially coming from a large consumer bank, he took the leap of faith into joining Unifii. Read more to gain some advice and learn more about his journey.

Meet Kevin Hurdle: 

Hi, I’m Kevin, and I’m a Principal Consultant at Unifii in the London office. My role is quite dynamic, it entails a variety of elements, such as being the practice lead for CSDM, and supplying customers with guidance on their data structures.

We know you’ve been in the industry for a while, can you share a bit about your journey and what initially drew you to it? How has it changed over the course of your career? 

The industry was in its infancy when I started, not many people, including me, knew what a computer was. But being inquisitive led me through operational roles, code development, systems management, architecture, and service or process-based support. It kicked off back in 1981 when I joined a newly established data centre. Started as a support analyst, and I then moved into a coding-focused developer role. Eventually, I decided to explore ITIL and ITAM for a fuller experience. It feels like the career chose me rather than the other way around.

As I progressed and developed throughout my career, so did the IT industry. It has changed over the course of my career in much the same way as the 'steam' revolution seen by Queen Victoria. It was pioneering, world-changing, and then became part of everyday life. Now even my granny expects internet searches to "just work!".

Is there any motivational advice that you have etched in your brain that made you stay in this career for so long, that can potentially aid someone that’s just beginning? 

The joy of working in IT, especially ServiceNow, is that it is relatively easy to give someone a system that transforms their Monday mornings. There is this incredible satisfaction within me that comes with taking complicated data models and turning them into tangible benefits for our customers. Seeing how it cuts down on costs and risks for businesses is a driving force.  What’s cool is that this field isn’t just for tech wizards, it’s a mix of tech and people skills. You’re not just stuck behind a screen coding all day, it’s a whole world out there – time to go explore!

What’s the biggest difference between working at Unifii and other organisations? 

I enjoy the freedom at Unifii that does not pigeonhole me into one role or one client or one activity. Working at Unifii has not only allowed me to do what I am most capable of but also enabled me to contribute to a plethora of departments and teams.  I have been able to host webinars, talk at events, and just spread my knowledge to the wider public! Let’s not also forget about the many aspects of pre and post-sales activities as well as project design, build, and implementation. Furthermore, with a wide client base, I also get the opportunity to work on small, medium, and large private corporate and public sector organisations.    

What has been the most exciting project you have worked on in your time here? 

From a personal point of view, the most satisfying and exciting is taking Unifii into the world of Common Service Data Model (CSDM) and embedding it into everything that we do and all thought processes. We now have a wide team experienced in the data model and how it affects all aspects of the ServiceNow platform and individual modules.

How do you approach continuous learning and staying updated in such a dynamic field over the years? 

I am fortunate in that I come from an artistic and inquisitive upbringing and that has rubbed off. Simply accept that change will always happen and flex with the times. Try to build time into your diary to sustain that learning motivation. 

What was the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in projects and how did you and the team solve it?

Stakeholder engagement is the one thing that all projects can benefit from and often presents a challenge. It is intrinsic that challenges in this industry require an approach that balances technical and more importantly, the human aspects of change. By shifting focus to a more strategic message, thorough communication, and collaborative relationships, complicated requirements can be conveyed simply. Certainly with a ServiceNow implementation, at Unifii we put a lot of effort into understanding customer needs, ensuring those are clearly articulated and that the resulting outcomes can be measured.

Is there a particular aspect or development in the industry you’re excited about for the future? 

In Formula 1 racing they were the first to have turbo engines; first to have hybrid electric engines; first to use aerodynamic tunnels to reduce drag but now we have and expect all those things on our daily drive to the supermarket. I think over the next few years when ServiceNow processes were no longer expensive to implement and support, these will filter down to small and medium-sized companies as an affordable (virtualised) offering.

How do you approach continuous learning and staying updated in such a dynamic field over the years? 

I am fortunate in that I come from an artistic and inquisitive upbringing and that has rubbed off. Simply accept that change will always happen and flex with the times. Try to build time into your diary to sustain that learning motivation.

Outside of work, what do you do in your spare time?

Outside of work, I keep busy with family and hobbies but as a grandad, there are not many of us who still go in for skateboarding. Specifically, I enjoy “downhill”. One of my favourite roads is in the mountains of Slovenia called “Bears Guts”, so named due to the presence of bears in the forests around it. Initially, this was thought of as a nickname but on one trip we did see bear paw prints on the road we were riding so took care not to stray too far.