What I've Done

From concept to conclusion, I offer high level consulting in systems architecture and design. I have a BSc degree from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and have founded multiple technology companies with varying levels of success. I now reside in Cape Town and try and put my acquired experience to work.

I specialise in enterprise grade systems with extensive experience with highly available, high transactional solutions

Mobiflock

Founded in 2009, Mobiflock is a consumer facing business which provides a mobile application which synchronizes with an online service for real time monitoring and security. Mobiflock has established itself as a leader in parental control. I was responsible for all architecture and infrastructure design activities.

Panacea Mobile

Founded in 2010, Panacea provides messaging related technology and services for business. In three years Panacea went from market entrant to dominant player. The key differentiator was the technology platform developed under my guidance. I successfully exited in 2013 to JSE listed Blue Label Telecoms Ltd.

Blue Label Telecoms

In 2013 I joined the JSE listed Blue Label Telecoms group to serve on the board of directors for the mobile group subsidiary. The board oversees the strategy and execution thereof. We have implemented many successful initiatives as well as meeting targets set by Blue Label management.

What People Say

I have worked with Donald over the past couple of years, and found him to be an extremely valuable part of our team from many aspects. He is not only diligent, but has the ability to think out of the box, and is able to find solutions where most see problems.Mark Levy - CEO, Blue Label Telecoms

Donald has the uncanny ability to think out of the box, to get to the root of the problem, and maintain a level head. Donald has a very astute business mind. He understands the customer's requirements and can produce solutions that work in the real world. Patrick Lawson - CTO, Clickatell

Donald's architectural and technical recommendations helped to change the way in which we managed communications and produced a tremendous saving to our organisation.Louis Blom - Business Information Officer, Standard Bank

Donald's experience and technical knowledge in software and mobile development was exceptional especially building reliable complex platforms with high availability. He is one of the most dedicated and reliable people I have worked with in my career.Jacques Swanepoel - MD, Cellfind

What I can do

System Analysis

I can assess and load test your systems from an infrastructure and development perspective to isolate any inefficiencies and provide recommendations to your team. If required implementation of the recommendations can be done.

System Design

I can assist you with designing new systems. From infrastructure, database and code design - I can assist you in making sure your systems are future proof and ready to build a long term sustainable and agile business.

Software Development

Following on from system design, I have the full skill set to take design to implementation. I specialize in open source technology, using GNU C, Java, PHP, MySQL/MariaDB running on top of POSIX.1 compliant (Linux mostly) platforms.

MySQL/MariaDB Tuning

The database is often the core of any application and if not properly configured can be a bottle neck. I can assist your organization by tuning your databases and configuring replicated and fault tolerant environments.

Mobile Applications

Whether it is a simple on device only application or applications which require connection to a background service or API, I can assist you with design, development and implementation on the Android and iOS platforms.

High Availability SaaS

Take your website, database or service restore times from hours to seconds using high availability configuration techniques. I use Master-Master replication, replicated block devices, floating IP addresses and other methods.

3rd party integration

Do you have an existing product or piece of software you need to integrate with another software solution? I can assist you in assessing and implementing any adapters or protocols to communicate with outside applications.

Big Data

Do you have (or forecast) a huge data set or database which you need to optimize and maintain? I can assist you to ensure this data integrity is always kept and performance maintained as your database grows into the billions of rows.

Contact

I am based in the Cape Town area. You can reach me via web@ddj.co.za to setup meetings or discussions. Alternatively, please use the form below.