I'm responsible for buying and maintaining all the computer hardware and software that the company uses. Everyone in Euristix is a user and we have to provide the services for them. I'm the expert on the computer market worldwide.

In my job you have to be ahead of everybody else. I need to know the ins and outs of new equipment before anyone in the company decides we need it.

The price of hardware changes daily. A price drop in the States means that they will soon drop here so I will hold off buying. If we have an equipment problem that proves difficult to locate, I have to decide whether it would be more cost effective to go out and buy a new machine or continue to find the fault.

We got our first computer at home when I was 11 and I've always been interested in them. I graduated from UCC in computer science. It's virtually impossible for undergraduates to get systems administration experience. There are no third-level courses in this field. I was lucky. In second year I volunteered to look after the UNIX machines and it grew from there.