A Day in the Life of...


expertise that many clients don’t get to see up close.


My day usually starts with ticket checks from the


Tom Lagan, Head of IT Development for CJ Services takes on our Day in the Life challenge…


previous day. These might


consist of general maintenance issues through to requests from clients for specific


reports on a current project. Then it’s down to checking systems have started and


overnight files have been correctly processed. I’ll then spend time checking my ‘To Do’ list for the day ahead.


As Head of IT Development I’m setting out to deliver real IT innovation that supports more effective decision­making and the best measurement of retail marketing execution for our clients. In a nutshell, that means I’m responsible for the development of everything from management information and project management systems to adding value through more efficient processes in areas such as warehouse and distribution. It’s all about delivering quality data at speed.


When you talk about technology and in­store POS people automatically think about how innovations are changing the way brands deliver their shopping experience, especially with the adoption of augmented


reality, QR codes and mobile marketing. But technology is also at the heart of successful POS campaigns delivered into stores – it’s just an area of


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As a team we’re focused on core business challenges, working directly with clients to understand their needs and designing solutions that bring new thinking and insight to how POS implementation is measured and making our own business more agile. I always say that there are no bad decisions, only uninformed ones. Effective information given to people at the right time, that adds value, will result in good choices being made. It’s at the heart of everything we do as a business.


We’re a big in­house development team for this industry, and a diverse one at that. There are the conventional programming career backgrounds you would expect to find in an IT team, but there’s also someone with a physics background and another that was originally from the banking sector. The projects I’m involved in are equally varied. From ongoing development of our POPsysPRO™ reporting system to PDA software updates, migrating old technology into new internal systems or dealing with client portal updates or new feature requests. One morning, for example, we had a request to enhance a client’s ability to download photographs. I reviewed the request with the team, decided it was


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