If you want to know about someone, ask the people who've worked with them.
"Simon has provided useful insight on the issues around process and innovation in a way that is particularly relevant to the role of an innovative company. The quality of his research is unquestionable and he is exceptionally thorough. He has a cogent well reasoned basis for everything he says. I would heartily recommend his work to anyone looking at how to ensure that their company is positioned to create equity out of innovation."
Rufus Evison, Strategy Director, dunnhumby
“Simon is a fantastic moderator with a catching way to get the audience cooking and get the most out of the speakers on stage. He is very organized and a great presenter himself. He has gotten a tremendously positive feedback from our audience at Enterprise 2.0 Summit for his speech and his moderation. Personally Simon is great to work with. He has been very helpful also in the preparation stage of the conference and due to good contacts and knowledge he has in the Enterprise 2.0 topic this has been very valuable for the conference success. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity”
Thomas Koch, Managing Director, KongressMedia (organisers of Enterprise 2.0 Summit at CeBIT)
"Simon is a true visionary. His focus in areas of commoditisation, 3D printing and Open Source technologies have had a vast impact in technological transformation within our industry. I found working with Simon, challenging, inspirational and illuminating. A true king amongst pawns."
Brad Rigden, Storage Strategy Manager, Siemens
"Simon is great person to work with/for and on a personal level, a really nice guy to be around. He has a keen appreciation for emerging technology trends and a good understanding of how technology can and will be used for the benefit of both companies and individuals now and in the future. He knows what's important and what's not. I've learnt to listen to him carefully when he talks about what's "just around the corner"… (like 3D printing!) Simon combines this sense of vision with a pragmatic, feet-on-the-ground approach to getting things done and bringing the future that little bit closer. He is extremely supportive of his staff and is able to motivate people to produce some really great work. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Simon to anyone looking for someone who can lead a company/department/team from the front. I certainly look forward to the pleasure of working with him again at some point in the future. (NOTE: yes, we share the same surname, but we're not related - there's no nepotism here!)"
Andy Wardley, Web Researcher, Canon Research Centre Europe
"Simon brought considerable process and direction to a dot com startup that was poorly led and in danger of collapse. Simon's input has such a profound result that the company was able to reposition its business model and complete a number of innovative products which attracted the attention of Canon Europe leading to its eventual take over. After this Simon became effectively the CEO of Fotango and the company won and successfully completed a number of large scale innovative developments for Canon Europe over the coming years. I would whole heartedly recommend Simon, especially when ground breaking innovation is required."
Simon Parker, Business Development Director, Igence Ltd
"I had the distinct pleasure of working with Simon while I was the Regional Finance and HR Systems Manager for Frito-Lay Europe. Simon was the Lead Consultant that worked with me in successfully developing, deploying and maintaining a key European application. We worked together for over 2 years, and his positive outlook and dedicated efforts made the experience a pleasure. Simon has the rare ability to "see both the forest and the trees". He typically views things with a high-level, strategic focus and is extremely good at connecting all the dots. While he always has his eyes on the big picture, he is also quite capable of rolling up his sleeves and getting into the detail when needed."
Rich Keesecker, Region Finance and HR Systems Manager, Frito-Lay Europe
“I worked with Simon from April 2002 to July 2007. During that time Simon demonstrated his ability to adapt to changing environments while maintaining the excellent quality of Fotango’s products and delivering financial results far in excess of expectations. Simon is an eloquent and versatile leader, with excellent business acumen and is passionate about the people he works with and the industry he works in. He has the ability to motivate those around him to achieve fantastic results. Simon has the ability to understand and focus both on the detail of specific activities and the overall strategic direction of the organisation. He has a proven track record of delivering results. He is a dedicated and hardworking individual, passionate about the people he works with, the products created and strives for excellence in all he does. He’s a highly intelligent individual and a visionary with an in depth knowledge of IT and commerce that allows him to understand and discover the links between them to extract value for all parties. Simon fosters an environment where individuals are empowered to share their ideas freely, assess situations and make decisions. Simon is acutely aware of the personal side to managing and I have benefited greatly from working with him.”
Stuart Pryce, Chief Financial Officer, Fotango Ltd*
"Simon is a man with vision. He spends a lot of his time thinking both about the way the industry is moving and what is going to happen next, and what his company needs to get done on a day to day level to take advantage of that. An infectious speaker who has toured the open-source lecture circuit, he's nevertheless someone who believes in listening to those that work for him, trusting them, and acting on what they say. As a manager, it's a pleasure to work for someone who can at the same time envisage the big picture and seamlessly focus on the day to day details. As an employee it's a rare thing to work for someone who genuinely cares about what he's doing and the staff that work under him to such a degree."
Mark Fowler, Systems Architect, PhotoBox
"Simon is one of those characters who inspires trust and confidence. He is a real intellectual and extremely knowledgeable about many fields and especially technology, Open Source and Utility computing. He is very astute, has enormous amounts of energy and belief. He is also a great boss to work for and a decent human being."
Koby Amedume, Chief Marketing Officer, Fotango Ltd