Meet the Team: Adem Ali, Senior Software Engineer
We thought it would be interesting to run some blogs about the super people at Cloudhouse. We’re speaking to people across all our teams to find out a bit more about them, what their role is and what makes them tick. We also ask them to spill the beans on their worst IT fail… because it happens to the best of us!
Meet… Adem Ali, Senior Software Engineer
Senior Software Engineer within the DC team
When did you join Cloudhouse?
July 2019
Tell us a little about your career up to this point:
After I graduated, I spent around nine years working for Sky as a Principle Software Engineer. I then took a year out doing something completely different, running my own recording studio in East London. I set up the studio myself and had all the equipment and would do all the mixing and mastering. But it wasn’t as fun and glamourous as it sounds! So, I came back to the other love of my life, which is coding, and joined Cloudhouse. I still have all the studio equipment, though, and I perform in a few bands – my main instruments are piano and guitar, but I do a little bit of everything. I have a saxophone I want to get better at playing, and I also love the ukulele.
What do you do at Cloudhouse?
My role is centred on deployment and compatibility. The main project we have at the moment is a new approach to how we virtualise software. It will allow the team more flexibility and enhance the customisability of what’s possible with virtualisation. I really love working on this project. My favourite thing to do in the world is learning, and this role is 60% learning and 40% application of things I am already confident in. That’s what gets me up in the morning: there is so much stuff to learn and at Cloudhouse I have the opportunity to go ahead and run with it.
What’s the best thing about working at Cloudhouse?
There’s a lot of autonomy, Cloudhouse excels at that. And the people are great: lovely to work with, super knowledgeable, super friendly and super sociable! Which is a great combination. It gives you an opportunity to melt the stiff barriers between colleagues and the work becomes much more collaborative.
Most embarrassing IT moment (e.g., hitting reply all when you really shouldn’t have, deleting something VERY important, leaving your laptop on the train…)
I think the biggest faux pas for me is something that I consistently do: I always forget my password for logging on. It happens a lot! All I need is a Bank Holiday weekend and I’ve forgotten it, and I need someone to reset it. I use software to manage my passwords, but the problem is that it lives on my laptop, which I need a password to access…
Favourite sandwich filling:
Anything with olives, I like olives!
How do you take your tea?
As strong as possible, and no milk. And not too hot.
Cats or dogs?
Well, I have two kittens, so I have to choose cats! They are sisters, Mocha and Chino, about 9 months old now.
Dream holiday destination:
Hawaii, I think. I like anything with sun, sand, and tropical nature. And I can take my ukulele with me and learn some traditional Hawaiian songs!
