I spent 20 years working in the hospitality business firstly at a safari park in the UK and then had the opportunity to relocate to Hong Kong in 1995 to work at Ocean Park for Compass Group PLC. I managed the overall Hong Kong business for Compass for 7 years before being relocated to Singapore. It was during this time in Singapore, when Compass were acquiring a local business that I started using FunctionEight to handle the data security, business continuity and day to day IT support for our administrative office of 40 people.
After leaving Compass in 2009 I had the opportunity to work with FunctionEight to try and develop the Singapore business. After 2 years I took the option to buy a shareholding in the business and the rest as they say, is history. This was something of a change from working for a large multinational company but has proven one of the best decisions of my career. FunctionEight has a team of dedicated people and owners who are passionate about their customers
Most people might baulk at being labelled the ‘missing link’, but FunctionEight Managing Director Martin Abert is comfortable with the description.
“I’m the link between the hardened IT techies and our clients who, like most normal people, are mystified by computers. I translate the client’s needs and wants to the technical staff – which is a link that is missing from most other similar IT solutions providers.”
Being a Land Surveyor by profession with no previous IT training, Martin is in a good position to communicate the benefits of systems/solutions and preventative maintenance in layman’s terms – and as somebody who is passionate about meeting people and talking (in the broadest terms) about how FunctionEight’s services can benefit all businesses, it’s a role he is ideally suited to.
Allo is overall responsible for the IT Operations at FunctionEight in Hong Kong, working closely with the engineering team to cover a wide range of IT Services to clients.
Prior to joining FunctionEight in 2014, Allo was a Project Director in a multi-national IT Service company, a CIO of a listed company in Hong Kong and has over 20 years of experience in IT Consultancy & Project Management in Hong Kong, China and other Asian countries.
Kyle is overall responsible for our Development team, working closely with Digital & Web clients across Asia. With over 10 years of development experience, he is considered an expert in WordPress, PHP, Laravel, and JavaScript libraries such as Vue and React.
Prior to joining FunctionEight in 2015, Kyle was working as a freelance Web Developer working with different clients based in United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.
Alex is overall responsible for the IT Operations at FunctionEight in Singapore, working closely with the engineering team to cover a wide range of IT Services to clients.
Prior to joining FunctionEight in 2014, Alex held various IT roles in different companies and has over 15 years of experience in IT Consultancy, Project Management and Operations in Singapore.
They say I’m the “spider to the web”. I’ve been with the company since 2015, yet it still feels like a honeymoon period over and over again. Coming from the Beauty/Service industry with no previous IT training, it’s definitely a challenge trying to piece all IT terms as a whole. However, it was the challenges that allow me to understand all clients’ needs and grow with their business.
Rachelle manages the overall operations for Singapore, including being involved in all project planning.
“There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking.”