Meet the Team: Malcolm Mccaffery
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… Malcolm Mccaffery, Professional Services
When did you join Cloudhouse?
September 2019, as a Global Escalation Architect
Tell us a little about your career up to this point:
It really all began when I was about 9 years old, and I started programming on a green screen Compaq “luggable” running MS-DOS 4.0 that my dad used to bring home from work! This set me on the path of writing programmes. My first job after school was as a Software Tester, which gave me lots of experience in different systems.
I took a career change then, moving to Australia to train under celebrity chef Matt Moran, before another change took me to Northeast China, teaching English as a second language. I came back to Australia in 2005 and, in 2009, began to specialise in Windows operating system migrations and application remediation – work I continue to do with Cloudhouse to this day.
What do you do at Cloudhouse?
I work on the migration of Windows operating systems, remedying problems with legacy applications, and debugging applications that are out of support, poorly documented or have lost all source code. I really enjoy the challenge of finding solutions to situations that seem impossible. Every day as a team we are challenged to solve complex problems, and we haven’t failed yet!
What’s the best thing about working at Cloudhouse?
We have such a highly experienced engineering and professional services team when it comes to migrating complex desktop and server applications, that the technical challenges escalated to me are always unique and complex issues. In previous companies I have felt that a huge percentage of my time was spent on administrative tasks: dealing with email and attending meetings. But at Cloudhouse I feel like almost all my time is spent “doing”. I also enjoy how rapidly the feedback for product improvement is incorporated by our engineering team.
Most embarrassing IT moment (e.g., deleting something VERY important, leaving your laptop on the train, dropping your phone in your tea…)
I once took out the entire network for the CEO and all senior executives at a large logistics company, after accidentally patching a network cable into the wrong port. Thankfully these days I mainly stick to software not hardware!
Favourite sandwich filling:
Some homemade pulled pork, smoked over charcoal and apple wood…
How do you take your tea?
Coffee, coffee, coffee!
Cats or dogs?
I like cats and dogs, but I have only one pet right now, Barney, a Labrador.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not at work?
I really enjoying playing music. I play keyboards in a local rock ‘n roll band and I’m rehearsal pianist for local community theatre productions. I’ve built up quite a collection of musical instruments! So far, I have acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, mandolin, soprano and tenor ukulele, electric bagpipes, electric saxophone, recorder, tin whistle, harmonicas, accordion, banjo, upright bass, violin and cello. Next, I would love to try harp, lute, and sitar. I love to play with my family and record our songs to put up on YouTube. Here is a video of me, my father and my daughter performing together – with me playing all of the instruments!
Dream holiday destination:
I have two dream trips. The first is a tour of every province in China, with a focus on rural areas and learning to prepare local dishes unique to each area. The second would be to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail in the USA from Mount Katahdin in north-central Maine to Springer Mountain in north-central Georgia. And hopefully get some bluegrass/old time music jams with locals along the way!
