Our people are what makes Transparity special. So, we’d like to introduce you to some of our team so you can get to know the people who make it all happen. Introducing Martyn Coupland, Head of DevOps.
Martyn’s Background
Martyn has worked in IT for 13 years, he started off working for Hull City Council as a Web Developer before working for a local telecoms company in support roles. In 2012, Martyn started as a consultant with Inframon, specialising in System Center Configuration Manager before progressing to have a breadth of knowledge over the System Center Suite.
Martyn enjoyed roles at businesses including Ensono and lead DevOps transformation at Virgin Atlantic, before joining Transparity in March 2021 as Head of DevOps.
Outside of Transparity, Martyn is a Microsoft MVP and Ambassador for the DevOps Institute as well as a member of the board of advisors for Tech Week Humber and a non-executive CTO for a local skills and enterprise hub.
1. What are your career highlights so far on your journey to Head of DevOps?
I’m a huge fan of aviation so getting to work for Virgin Atlantic was a real experience for me which was sadly cut short by the pandemic. Specifically around DevOps though, my journey started like most people, right at the beginning. It takes a while to develop and nurture the soft skills required to be successful in DevOps but having a background in both operations and development roles as really helped me.
In DevOps, we talk a lot about continuous everything, integration, deployment, improvement, feedback, and I would include learning. I am constantly learning from my peers and industry experts which helps shape my views of DevOps. If you asked me today and even five years ago what DevOps meant to me, I would almost certainly give different answers.
2. What does a typical day look like for you and what are you working on at the moment?
I often start the morning at the gym, I find not just physically, but mentally, that helps me a lot. After that I get ready for the day, the first job (after making coffee!) is to have a daily stand up with my team. We try and keep it informal, which really helps our team culture, and breadth of knowledge of what others are doing. After that, it’s into the day!
Currently, I am working on our Cloud Management Platform, as well as leading the team which are focused on our internal and customer improvements using automation to help make our business processes and customer experience slicker.
It’s a varied role which requires me to execute skills in software engineering, planning, product delivery, automation, and people management.
3. What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
I have a huge passion for cricket and I am a qualified umpire in the Yorkshire Premier League. Standing in the middle, since I stopped playing, helps me keep involved in a game which I hold close to me.
4. What is your favourite part of your day?
I love Fridays, but not for the reason you’re thinking! This is usually when we ship code we’ve written in our Cloud Management Platform. So, Friday is an important day as we push it through our various environments and do tests before releasing it to our customers.
5. If you could switch jobs with someone, who would it be?
Honestly, anyone. I love getting the opportunity to see what others do and how they operate. In my role it helps me visualise the impact of changes we make in the Cloud Management Platform but it also allows me to identify opportunities where we can make their role more efficient through the use of technology.
6. If you didn’t work in IT, what would you be doing?
In the absence of my cricket career taking off for Yorkshire and England, given my passion for aviation, I would have to say I would be a commercial pilot.
7. What is your motto or personal mantra?
In aviation, we say… “Keep the blue side up”, which refers to the horizontal horizon instrument in the cockpit. It basically means keep the sky above you and the ground below you. I find it applies to lots of situations!
8. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Aside from umpiring in the summer, I love playing guitar. I have a small selection of five sat in my office and like nothing better than playing out some tunes.
9. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Resilience, I do see myself as quite a resilient person, like many over the past few years, life has been really tough, given all that’s happened. I would love to see what might have happened with a resilience superpower!
10. What is the best part of working at Transparity?
This is a really difficult question to answer and single one thing out, there are so many great things about working here. If I had to pick one thing I would say the culture of the organisation, despite our huge growth in personnel, this is something which has stayed and is evident in so many things which happen day to day, conversations with peers, leadership, open communication, and sense of belonging.
