Sonru.com

Although HeadRec is normally our series of interviews with gurus, opinion leaders and innovators within the recruitment industry both in Ireland and abroad, we've decided to shake it up a bit this month. Instead, this issue we talk to Chris Horan, Sonru's very own CTO who has recently been shortlisted for a Net Visionary Award. Chris has been 01010101010'ing for some time so pick his brains by reading the transcript below.

Please introduce yourself and explain to us how you got into technology?
I think I was one of those geeky kids that enjoyed technology; I liked science in school, and physics in particular, and so pretty early on in life I was spending time around computers. When it came to choosing a college course, a degree Physics and Computer Science seemed to be designed for me. My first job was a software engineer in the Telecoms industry and I've pretty much stayed there. Most of my work has been in either Telcoms or the Banking sectors, building Enterprise level web based applications.

What do you enjoy about technology and who's your biggest hero?
Its ability to benefit us and to make us re-think current processes or practices, only when it's well implemented (of course). Heroes? For sheer technical engineering prowess, I'd have to say Steve Wozniak, the other Steve at Apple in the early days, his work probably inspired the home computing revelotion in the late 70s. Of course, where would we be without Microsoft  : - )

How did it all start for Sonru? Please explain a brief journey of how you joined Sonru?
I meet Ed on the SEEPP course in Waterford Institute of Technology back in 2007. Ed's idea was still in its very early stages, the concept of automated video interviewing hadn't really come into being just then, he had a notion of using video in the recruitment process and it evolved over the course of that year. I joined Ed very early in the product concept developing the first prototype, the rest they say is history.

What were your biggest challenges in terms of developing the technology?
In development you always seek to minimize the risk, when Ed came to me with the idea of using online video, there were a number of areas we needed to look at as a priority. Just being able to record the video piece given the variation in cameras and internet connection speeds was one.

Sonru has won many awards and received many accolades for its product design, this being your area of expertise - what do you think has been the key to its success?
At Sonru, we use Agile Methodology and Component Based Design to develop a  product that caters to the demands and needs of our stakeholders. Customer and user input is core to our development and feeds our product roadmap, we continuously work hand in hand with our stakeholders to shape the product. That's all very well, but none of this could have been done without the team here in Sonru - it's a pleasure to work with such committed passionate professionals - makes coming into work every day much easier.
 
What is in store for Sonru in terms of technical development?
We constantly seek to improve the quality of video recording and playback, as well as expending technical effort to improve the user experience. We're also looking at innovation in the social space - more on that in the weeks ahead... oops who said that?  

If you had to come up with a one-line prediction for the software industry by December 2011 what would it be?
That’s a tough one, I think we'll see greater acceptance of the cloud computing model in 2011, this mixed with the growth of apps and tablet computing in social and corporate settings, we'll see greater ubiquity, (but people always say stuff like that... the real answer .. who knows?)

What’s the best tip you could offer technical graduates seeking work?
If you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll always enjoy your work and I think that's key. Never stop learning, and not just new technologies, but business domain knowledge also.

What do you do in your spare time?
I like any activity which brings me close to the sea. I’ve also recently rediscovered my love of video games.

About Chris Horan
Chris has worked as a Senior Developer, Systems Architect, Project Manager and Technical Sales Consultant in the software industry for over 10 years.He has significant architectural experience in designing and delivering large scale integrated systems and in the design, development and deployment of Internet based n-Tier and Client/Server systems in a number of industry sectors most notably financial and telecoms. Chris has worked on projects for KPN telecom and KPN Research, Logica, EDS (UK), Fidelity, Rabobank, ORBISM, BearingPoint, and Cape Technologies. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin and also graduated from the South East Enterprise Platform Programme in 2008 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Enterprise Development. Chris has recently been shortlisted for Best Cloud Service at the Net Visionary Awards, you can vote for Chris here.