Where it all began, and what the future holds!

Welcome to Collabco’s face behind the logo series, where we give you an insight into the people behind myday. This time, we sat down with Collabco’s co-founder, Dave. He spoke about the story of the company, his love for working in technology and what he gets up when he gets the chance to switch-off (literally).

We usually ask a question, when did you join Collabco and what attracted you to the company, but for Dave it’s different. Dave started Collabco!

Q – So, Dave, tell us the Collabco story and how myday came about?

A – Well, I had been working with Microsoft Dynamics and SharePoint for a number of years and there was an opportunity in the marketplace to provide solutions around that. Myself and a colleague who had been working for a company in Manchester saw the opportunity to go out on our own.

The initial focus was a bit wider than what it has been for the past 8 years. We were selling into the public sector and commercial companies as well. The thing that really stuck was the education sector. It was what I personally enjoyed working within the most and we saw a real need for providing IT systems to students that were user-friendly and made their experience simpler. The market was full of disparate content that was clunky and didn’t give the students a chance to succeed.

We got a few projects in surrounding the theme of enriching the user experience and engaging students better with the information needed for an institution to get the most out of myday. We had a number of successful implementations, one of them being York St John University and from then it really became a focus on education and developing our strategy to suit institutions around the globe.

Q – What are the biggest changes you have witnessed since the beginning?

A – Our momentum has been growing the whole time. Initially, we had a solution hosted on a number of different mediums which gave us different options but it challenged us with deployment, compared to myday today.

We launched the cloud edition in 2013/14, it was a new product which took time to get going. The likes of Office365 was new within the education market so we were intertwined with pushing that out and gaining advocates for our vision alongside Microsoft.

We have grown to be a much larger organisation now and the company has got a very different feel to it from what it had but more than ever it is a great place to work. We’ve had lots of challenges along the way, but we’ve always come through them stronger than before.

Q – What’s it like working with a bigger and bigger team and having more responsibility year on year?

A – My responsibility has changed over the years but what hasn’t changed is the nature of the people at Collabco. They’ve always been great to work with; we don’t employ anybody who isn’t passionate at what we do. Everyone works hard, we have a laugh together, it’s fun and everyone is bought into the product and also the company.

And even beyond the walls of the company, I think everyone is passionate about making a difference within the education sector and others that are now coming on board. We believe the product has a strong positive impact, we’ve got raving fans of what the product does and we are all determined to build on that and see how far it can go.

Q – What do you find most enjoyable about working for Collabco?

A – As mentioned, I like working within the education sector, I like working in Liverpool, it’s a great place to work and it’s amazing to be part of a smaller company. I’ve worked in large companies and small companies in the past but with Collabco, the pace that we can change direction, can develop ideas and can mold ourselves to be exactly what is needed at any certain point in time is so impressive. It is such a unique experience.

Q – What does the future hold for yourself and what does the future hold for technology as a whole?

A – The future for myself is that I’m not finished yet! There is still a lot of work to do. We’ve obviously got big exciting plans for the product in the years ahead. My role has changed quite a bit, since being with the company from the beginning I have worn a number of different hats, bar maybe finance!

I’ve been involved in sales, marketing, coding, infrastructure, support and even helping customers implement systems. I’ve done it all, but my focus is now very much on envisaging the next wave of myday and what that is going to be about. There is a lot of exciting emerging technologies that we can bring into the sectors in which we work, and it still excites me more than ever!

Q – When you aren’t being a software genius, what do you get up to out of the office to switch off (literally!)

A – I’ve got a son and a wife who I love spending time with, we love going to visit places such as the beach, the countryside, and just general exploring! My son loves his Xbox and football so enjoying time playing that with him.

And also, more recently I’ve made the time to get in the gym, getting in there at 6/6:30am working out because having a healthy body is always going to benefit and constitute towards a healthy mind.

Want to get to know more on myday? Get in contact below!