David Norfolk

Practice Leader
Focus Area: Development / Governance

David Norfolk first became interested in computers and programming quality in the 1970s, working in the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University. Here he discovered that computers could deliver misleading answers, even when programmed by very clever people, and was taught to program in FORTRAN. His ongoing interest in all things related to development has culminated in his joining Bloor in 2007 and taking on the development brief.

Development here refers especially to automated systems development. This covers technology including acronym-driven tools such as: Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), Integrated Development Environments (IDE), Model Driven Architecture (MDA), automated data analysis tools and metadata repositories, requirements modelling tools and so on. It also covers the processes behind them and the people issues associated with implementing them. Of particular interest is organisational maturity as a prerequisite for implementing effective (measured) process and ITIL (v3) as a framework for automated service delivery.

David is a past co-editor (and co-owner) of Application Development Advisor and associate editor for the launch of Register Developer, and is currently executive editor for GEE's "IT Policies and Procedures" product. He has an honours degree in Chemistry and is a Chartered IT Professional, has a somewhat rusty NetWare 5 CNE certification and is a full Member of the British Computer Society (where he is on the committee of the Configuration Management Specialist Group).

His early career involved working in database administration (DBA) and operations research for the Australian Public Service in Canberra. David then returned to his UK birthplace (1982) where he worked for Bank of America and Swiss Bank Corporation, at various times holding positions in DBA, systems development method and standards, internal control, network management, technology risk and even PC support. He was instrumental in introducing a formal systems development process for the Bank of America Global Banking product in Croydon.

In 1992 he started a new career as a professional writer and analyst. Since then he has written for many major computer magazines and various specialist titles around the world. He helped plan, document and photograph the CMMI Made Practical conference at the IoD, London in 2005 and has written many industry white papers and research reports including: IT Governance (for Thorogood), Online Banking (for FT Business Reports), Developing a Network Computing Strategy and Corporate Desktop Services (for Business Intelligence), the Business Implications of Adopting Object Technology (for Elan Publishing).

He has his own company, David Rhys Enterprises Ltd, which he runs from his home in Chippenham, where his spare moments (if any) are spent on photography, sailing and listening to music.

Research papers include: