Blog it Forward – Chris Kernaghan

After much watching of others doing this brilliant project, I was tagged by two people Tammy Powlas and Vinod Kumar.

The Blog It forward Community Challenge can be found here and the amazing blogs can be found here in the Rogues Gallery aka the Blog it Forward Chain

My name is Chris Kernaghan, I am over 30 but less than 40 and that number seems to be decreasing as the earth revolves on both it’s axis and the around the sun. I was born in Johannesburg South Africa to my parents, who decided not long after that to move back to Northern Ireland – I was never sure if it was something I said :-). I proceeded to spend the next 19 years in Northern Ireland, around the Belfast area – through the 1980s and 1990s, not the greatest time to be in Northern Ireland, although thankfully it passed me by and did not intrude on my childhood or teenage years. I took a few years away from Belfast to go to University in Manchester (DJ Adams’ home town) with some friends, one of whom is now my wife (Lorna aka @Mrsk78). We returned to Belfast where upon I undertook a career in IT which has led me to many ‘exciting’ places and to being a SAP Mentor.

– What do you most enjoy on SCN?

That is easy, the people, although we have to do better – the new SCN has brought many improvements and a number of new problems with it. We all appear to have shrunk back into our shells- when what we should be doing is working more with each other and supporting each other. The simplest devices for encouragement, the like and the ratings which encourage people to contribute more, and encourage growth of the community are not being used enough. So come on people, when you read something, make it a priority to either like it or give it a rating. It takes 2 seconds and it will encourage the person to contribute more, if nothing else, this experiement has shown that there is a desire to interact on SCN

· What do you enjoy most in your work and why?

I enjoy walking between the silos, I came to SAP from an infrastructure background and brought a massive amount of curiosity. Most Basis people (we are still Basis, despite the changes technology) either sit in the technical layer and work upwards into the application, or sit in the technical layer and move downwards into the infrastructure and hardware – although 1 thing remains constant, good Basis people walk between the silos, connecting people and co-ordinating the solution. I have cross skilled into more areas than I can count, able to talk across multiple technologies to a good degree of depth. That makes life very interesting and provides consistent challenges.

· Name the person who affected you most in your career/ way of thinking and why?

There are many influences upon everyone, so I’ll pick the earliest influences specifically upon my IT career – I skated through my 1st and 2nd year of University and somehow managed to land one of the most sought after placement years at LloydsTSB. I had no idea at the time, but I would meet two of the most

influential people in my career – Dave Walsh and Steve Noel.

Simply put, Dave Walsh taught me to always bring a problem and a solution to the table, never just a problem. At the time I had no idea that he was teaching me this lesson but he did, we would stand outside the office having a nicotine based refreshment talking through possible solutions. It was amazing that this guy, who was a reasonably important person in LloydsTSB – certainly way above a placement student, would have the time to work through things in the way he did.

Steve Noel exposed me to the world of project based life and consultancy, and it really made me want to do this as a job. The project was stressful, tight deadlines but the team was amazing and had a great warmth to it. I realised that it was a way of working that suited my temprament and would provide me with life long learning, when I got back to college that realisation and the support of the guys I met on placement helped me raise my grades.

· If you could be a super hero (or are in your spare time) who would you be?

Iron Man or Batman, I always loved the way they both had no superpowers beyond their genius but could fight and beat super villans.

They share a few characteristics

1. They look as if they work alone, but they have many collaborators

2. They use technology extensively in their lives and crime fighting

3. They did not give up on a problem and always found ingenious ways out of tight situations

– My Fun facts

1. I have a support squad for all upgrades and system builds (there have been a few line up changes though 🙁 )

Newest addition is Eliza

2. I love a good practical joke (it is a long story but trust me it was hilarious)

I am going to blog it forward to 3 people

Makus Doehr, Dieter Krieger, James Ibbotson

1. If you could time travel to any point in human history, past, present and future – when would you travel to and why

2. What is your favourite moment in TV or cinema history (Youtube clip if possible)

3. If you were given by your work a full day every week to do whatever you feel like, what would it be?

This was a lot harder than you would think – but I hope you find the end result worth it. I will leave you with this card as sent to me by MrsK to remind you about how easy misunderstandings can be made and how often they are totally hilarious – please remember to laugh.

Thanks

Chris