IT leadership · Education · Ideas
Making technology work better for education.
I lead IT at pointblank. I’m writing Crashing, a book on ITIL in education, and building a platform to make staff training easier to manage.
Explore my workCliff FernandesHead of IT at pointblank
A practical approach
I have spent my career solving the practical problems that stop organisations working at their best.
My work brings together IT leadership, hands-on operations and service management. At pointblank, that means looking after the technology behind a creative education: devices, networks, security and the digital services people use every day.
I came into education with a strong Microsoft Windows infrastructure background. Helping lead a move towards an Apple-centred environment reinforced something I have always believed: the right technology is the technology that best serves the people using it.
I’m a certified ITIL Expert and now working towards ITIL Master.
Selected work
pointblank · LondonI led a full infrastructure upgrade at pointblank’s new Penn Street campus, followed by its smaller Orsman Road site.
The project brought together new Macs and the latest Wi-Fi standards available at the time. Choosing when to invest mattered as much as choosing what to buy: I took considered risks around release dates, aiming to give the school the longest useful life from its technology.
Select a new generation of technology with its useful lifespan in mind.
Balance the opportunity of upcoming releases against the practical needs of the project.
Make the infrastructure support the people making, teaching and learning.
What I’m creating
The book · In progress
A book on ITIL in education.
I’m bringing my experience of running IT services in education into a book. Crashing explores service management in the setting I know best: education.
I’m currently shaping the format and how I’ll release it.
Read my thinkingThe learning platform · In development
I’m building a platform to help schools reduce the administration involved in staff training and keeping up to date with compliance requirements.
The focus is practical: helping schools manage training in areas such as Prevent, safeguarding and cybersecurity as requirements change.
It’s a project in development. I’m interested in working with people who understand the pressures on school staff and want to make training easier to manage.
Selected writing
Thoughts on education, technology and the decisions that connect them. Read the full articles on LinkedIn.
A platform is only part of a service. People, information, suppliers and everyday processes have to work together for it to earn trust.
Using ITIL’s guiding principles to ask better questions about value, responsibility and the role of people before introducing AI.
Reflections on Apple’s music space, the technology behind the experience and what it could mean for creative education.
Computers for Schools
Over my career, I’ve collected thousands of computers for schools, charities and organisations that support learning across the UK, thanks to some very kind donors.
Today, my focus is on supporting the Burundi Education Trust, which is building schools in Burundi.
If you have computers you could donate, I’d love to hear from you.
Talk about donating computersGood conversations start here
I’m open to conversations about IT leadership, advisory work and speaking, as well as collaborations around Crashing, the learning platform and getting useful computers to people who need them.
Let’s connect Find me on LinkedIn