BlueFort turns 18 this month so we thought it would be a good time to speak to one of our founders and joint CEO, Ian Jennings.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m based in Church Crookham in Hampshire and live with my three children, 14, 19 and 21, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog called Nala – so when I’m not working I operate a shuttle bus to ferry them all around. I’ve been in the technical and operational side of businesses since I left university.
How did you get started?
I combined Computer Science and Management into a degree at the University of Leeds. Back in those days I had a 386 computer but needed that massive upgrade to a 486 to do Pascal and then C++ programming. I loved the way we learned to communicate immediately using the University’s email system, as the Internet wasn’t publicly used back then (1993)! I had early stints with local government where I ended up running IT change projects such as rolling out TCP/IP Windows Networks – at a time when everyone was using Novell Netware. Even then I knew that the migration approach of keeping one foot in each place was probably a bad idea, and it’s interesting how that approach continues today in other projects I get involved in. From there I joined a company who were focusing on helping enable remote access – pre-internet companies had to install banks of modems and provided US Robotics and 3Com systems, and quickly companies realised that they needed to ramp up security – that was my first involvement with RSA. From there the company grew quickly and was sold, and following a quick stint elsewhere I formed what was called Fortify Security with two business partners, one of whom, Dave Henderson is still with us today as my fellow CEO. Following a very amicable negotiation with an American company called Fortify who were being bought by HP, we agreed to change our name to BlueFort Security.
What’s your role at BlueFort and what does it involve?
I’ve always had a technical and operational slant so I’m responsible for those areas as well as taking a lead on legal and financial matters. We are at a good stage in the development of the company where some of the areas around Identity and Cloud security and becoming even more important challenges for our customers. Without name dropping, we’ve been helping the likes of NatWest Bank, Clifford Chance, and Virgin Media since our inception year, and the iteration of our portfolio has been very important to help customers stay on top of security challenges.
What do you love about your job?
I love to meet customers and help solve their challenges. My background with computer science and business studies has helped me understand the real need behind the technical challenges. Customers can struggle to bridge the technical and business conversation – it needs some translation sometimes, and I do like the challenge of helping communicate the complexities of the technical problems in a business way. Tech solutions don’t always fix business problems, so we must be careful not to do things just because we can. I love having to think on my feet and help in customer workshops.
What do you get up to outside of work?
We love our food and during covid got a pizza oven which is now used for many things including the Sunday roast. I love a good red wine and have been making my way through all the grape varieties. There’s an app called Vineo that helps keep track and makes it easier when ordering out and about – it’s a very handy use of technology! I’ve been restoring an old BMW for a few years, and have found a great use for my 3D printer to get all the needed parts created. I love combining troubleshooting with getting my hands dirty.
What does the future hold?
The next few years we are going to be very busy growing BlueFort – the real challenge is keeping up with market demand. The adversaries are accelerating attacks, and our customers are being placed under huge technical demands trying to keep their identities and systems under their own control, especially where they are transforming with cloud infrastructures. All being well though, in a few years’ time, I’m looking forward to finding somewhere to live by the sea, hopefully a bit warmer. I’d love to get more time to travel the world and experience new cultures. I spent my gap year in the Middle East and loved it, but this time around I don’t want to backpack!
