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Internode MD Simon Hackett now also CTO

Internode MD Simon Hackett now also CTO

CIO, network engineer, peering team lead and network project manager roles made redundant

Internode managing director and chief technology officer, Simon Hackett

Internode managing director and chief technology officer, Simon Hackett

Adelaide-based internet service provider, Internode, may have made four technical roles including that of CIO and network engineer redundant on 2 September, but managing director, Simon Hackett, has added on the role of chief technical officer (CTO).

According to a statement, the position of CTO formalises the role that Hackett had performed in the business during its 20-year history. He will also retain the role of managing director.

Four people in senior positions left the company, including chief information officer, Frank Falco; network operations centre project manager, Andrew Walton; peering, commercial and DSLAM lead, Matthew Moyle-Croft; and network engineer, Mark Newton.

Despite the restructure, Internode chief executive, Patrick Tapper, said in a statement that the company was still "actively hiring people" for its technology division, with 13 positions vacant at present. The division currently has 100 staff.

According to Tapper, the restructure was driven by the need to get Internode “match fit” in terms of its internal structure, so the company could take advantage of the opportunities created by the National Broadband Network (NBN).

“A major focus for us is to make it easier for our customers to deal with us online,” he said.

“Simon [Hackett] is taking on the role of CTO in order to provide additional ‘hands-on’ leadership of this process.

“The four people who have left each played a great role at Internode, but there would have been too much overlap if those positions remained unchanged.

“We have a vast amount of technical skill and knowledge at Internode, with many long-standing employees, it is still full steam ahead.”

The company now has 450 staff nationwide, with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

While former Internode network engineer, Mark Newton, is disappointed that his role with the ISP ended abruptly after more than 12 years of service, he was ready to take a break.

Newton told Computerworld Australia that while he could not comment on the email missive sent out to staff on September 2, he had considered tendering his resignation for some time.

"It's an end of an era, but it's disappointing that it ended this way,” he said.

“I was weighing up the pros and cons of resigning for a few months, this [redundancy] just forced the issue.”

Newton said he wanted to take a break before "casting the net" again.

"It's been a little bit like working for a start up for over a decade and it's been fairly intense," he said.

Newton also confirmed he would like to stay in the field of network engineering.

"I'm liking the carrier space and I've got a lot of skills in things like [Internet Protocol six] IPv6, which is growing like crazy as we speak,” he said.

“I'll just have to see what opportunities come down the pipe."

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU

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