Summary of Profession

Roderick has a background in Information Systems Management, Consultant, Enterprise Architect, Software Architect, Software Engineer, Lecturer, Entrepreneur, Researcher and Graphic Designer. He has over 20 years experience working in various sectors: IT, Government, Education, Healthcare, Banking, Energy and Petroleum and Media, Media, Retail, Financial Services, Internet and Telecommunications. He has developed intellectual capital in architecture approaches, metadata management and Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools. His goals are to help develop the CIO, EA and IT profession, IT Skills and graduate programs. He also seeks to develop research in social and enterprise architecture within the African context.

Roderick's first passion was art and architecture history. He wrote a thesis on building architecture as a reference for architecture intensive disciplines. He has been researching modernism and in particular the Bauhaus Movement. He has followed the works of Christopher Alexander, John Zachman, Kent Beck, Kaplan & Norton, Grady Booch and Peter Senge amongst other thought leaders. His philosophy on systems architecture and systems engineering is inspired by natural systems architecture. He has transformed from a modernist to postmodernist and now aspiring towards natural and organic patterns in systems thinking.

Roderick is a co-chair and co-founder of the academic CIO Forum in South Africa - www.cioforum.co.za. He is also a local chair for the Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC) Chapter of the IEEE on Enterprise Information Systems. He has lectured in Information Systems Management and Enterprise Architecture at the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He is currently doing research with the Centre for CIO Research at CPUT and the Meraka Institute at the CSIR on Agile Practice and Enterprise Architecture.

Special Interests

Enterprise Architecture, Software Architecture, Systems Architecture, Systems Engineering, Knowledge Management, Information Architecture, Metadata Management, Business Architecture, Application Architecture, Service Orientated Architecture, Object Orientation, Software Development Methodologies, Corporate Repositories, Information Management, CASE Tools and Code Generation, Agile Practice, Configuration Management, Legacy Systems, Enterprise Information Systems, Portal Strategies and Evolving Internet Technologies.

Recommendations

Roderick is a visionary with extraordinary courage and self-belief. He imagines a team, an organisation, even a world, that is bigger and better, and then he brings it into being. At MWEB, he has transformed the development division into a set of effective agile teams. He has brought about a significant change in the way IT and Business work together - with huge improvements in trust and teamwork. He's done it by inspiring us, empowering us, and trusting us. And by working very, very hard. As a result, many of us have learned to trust him, to take inspiration from him, to learn from him and to follow him. As he shares his visions with me, I continue to be inspired and excited about the work that lies ahead.

Donald Graham

Roderick is one of the most intelligent people I know. One could leave even the shortest discussion with him feeling richer for it, because he generously shares his enormous knowledge and experience of enterprise architecture and other related topics. He also has an enormous amount of creative energy that results in a constant stream of new and innovative ideas that are relevant and fundamentally sound. Roderick is a visionary.

Dr Kobus Smit

I found Roderick a goal oriented manager with a vision not just for Technology but for the company and it's people. Roderick is 100% dedicated in achieving amazing results from his people in a humane and professional manner. Roderick faces any crisis with an open mind and always have a solution ready. I trust and respect Roderick for his fairness, profesionalism and knowledge and will always be honoured to work with him. I have learned a tremendous amount from him.

Sue Eloff

Roderick has vision, intellegence and character - a keen combination in any workplace and a pleasure to interact with. Not only does he provide insightful solutions to engineering problems but he is able to bring out the best in others to create highly effective teams who are focused on delivery. I enjoyed every minute of working with Rod and would highly recommend him as an essential part of any technology team.

Kelly Ledger

Roderick till thus far is one of few people I know that could demonstrate how ICT strategic principles are implemented in the real world. I've witnessed him introducing text book examples of SOA, BPM and ERP principles into a unstructured development environment in a very short period of time. The man is brilliant.

Nathan Graham

During my business relationship with Roderick I have gained a lot of respect for him. He gains respect from everyone around him because of his honesty and extreme knowledge in his field. Roderick is someone that you can always trust and turn to and if you need guidance he is the right person to go to.

Marnel de Waal

At MWEB Roderick defined a program that revolutionised the traditional thinking of software in a systematic and accessible way. He broke down walls in software development, aligned the technology with business and opened up the roles to include new disciplines. He took responsibility for critical areas, but also ceded responsibility back to the rightful owner. His interventions ranged from technical, to strategic. This he did in an affable and approachable way, maintaining an unimpeachable level of ethics.

David Hislop

Roderick is a goal-oriented individual, who sets his mind on an objective until it materialises. His people skills are remarkable as he managed to hold a free format group for months until some structure emerged. A pioneer in many respects.

Bolelang Rakeepile

I had the pleasure of working with Roderick and found him to be extremely inventive and dilligent. I have no hesitation in recommending Roderick to any potential employer, in any capacity.”

Brian Townsend

Roderick is a man driven by excellence. Roderick has the ability to motivate and inspire without appearing as such, his knowledge and experience in the IT field makes him an asset to any project, team or company that is lucky enough to have him. Roderick's transparency builds a level of trust and empowerment amongst those that he works with, encouraging others to understand their situation holistically and to enable them to achieve.

Mike Swift

Just a quick note to say thanks for publishing your paper on the web. I am a student of Architectural Technology at Bolton Institute in England, and I found it an invaluable reference source when working on my dissertation. I have not copied any of it, but thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My condolences on the death of your mother and my regards to your family who I know will have sacrificed much for you to complete your paper, in the same way that my family has. Regards and best wishes for your prosperity and future.

Debra Bowden

Roderick was a very successful student of mine while he was studying for his B Com Honours degree. To date, he is the only student to have completed the programme with distinction - an overall mark of 75%. His thesis was extremely challenging and innovative. He compared the history of building architecture with the emerging discipline of information systems architecture in an unusual and very creative way. Throughout his studies, he showed a keen interest in his work and a deep understanding of Information Systems issues. Apart from the excellent thesis work described above, I know that he has been involved in a number of successful commercial research and development projects, generally related to information systems architecture. I have not had direct involvement with any of these projects, but get the sense that they have been well designed and successful from personal discussions.

Throughout his honours programme, he showed a very strong ability to present in public, to design lecture material and to explain complex ideas clearly to his colleagues. I expect that he will be a very competent, if challenging teacher. This can probably be confirmed from other part-time teaching work that he has done at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Since completing his honours degree, Roderick has been assisting the IS department in a number of ways. The one which I have been closely involved in is where he has been successfully and willingly mentoring a number of other honours students. Roderick is extremely intelligent, energetic and academically curious. Throughout his studies he has exhibited strong leadership qualities. As another example of leadership traits, he has been instrumental over the past two years in creating a very successful software architecture forum within South Africa. I have no negative comments to make. Roderick has a naturally academic view, a very sharp mind, and will be a great asset to any academic department.

Keith Mattison

Ricky (Roderick) is probably the only person that I know of who continuously strives to reuse code from a central base for each and every work related problem that he engages in. In my 13 years of IT experience I have met no other person who does this to the extent or dedication that Ricky does. He is not simply an architect. He is also a professional software engineer who can produce good sound, practical software solutions within a variety of environments. This combination produces an individual who can have a phenonenal impact on the work undertaken by a company that is willing to utilises Ricky's wide range of skills and abilities. A terrific asset to anyone.

Adrian Allen