Yacer Sellam was born in Whitechapel and grew up in Brixton, Bow and Bethnal Green. After a false start as a graphic designer, at just 17, he became an Intersys apprentice. He quickly flourished in what he described as a ‘people-focused culture’ and is now Head of IT Infrastructure, working out of our City of London office. When not meeting clients’ needs, he’s fulfilling every whim of his three precious cats.
Yacer, let’s start with the basics. What is ‘IT infrastructure’?
It’s everything behind the scenes! The hardware, software, networks and cloud services that keep an organisation connected and able to access IT.
And what does your role involve?
I steer clients in decisions about their infrastructure. This can vary from routine approaches to unique setups. On one occasion, I might work on a multinational project merging several infrastructures together. On another, it could be redesigning an infrastructure for compliance needs.
So, what are you working on today?
I’m setting up a backup infrastructure in Azure for a client who is spending too much on their Azure hosting. It’s a project that will save them thousands per month on fees.
What got you into IT? Was it your manifest destiny?
No, I wanted to be a pilot! My uncle was an airline pilot for Khalifa Airways, and he was the first to fly a 737, I think, into Africa. I looked up to him. But then I would watch my dad tinker – opening up computers and looking at motherboards – and I used to say the motherboard looks like a city with roads. It must have fired up my imagination.
What was being an apprentice at Intersys like?
When I first joined, I was immediately involved in a project deploying hundreds of computers around schools. Yes, there was routine work like moving computers around, but I was in the same room as people talking about huge projects, hearing conversations and learning. I absorbed concepts about high-end infrastructure very early on. It was like winning the lottery.
Tell us about some of your greatest IT triumphs for clients.
I did an Intune cloud project for a non-profit with over 100 employees. It was probably my first big job, coordinating with people and making decisions that can affect 100-plus people. I’m proud of how smoothly it went.
Additionally, during Covid, I undertook a parallel Intune/SharePoint deployment for a school and council, both of which were really successful.
You’ve been at Intersys for 11 years now. What’s your take on its company culture?
Intersys is a very people-focused company and close-knit. They take the time to understand you. They teach you, promote learning and really give anyone who wants it an avenue for growth.
For instance, Technical Director Richard was the person who saw the most potential in me – despite the fact I fell below expectations early on. Fast forward a few years and for my 10-year anniversary, we went on a PalmerSport Day – he knew I liked cars and racing. That experience was incredible.
And what’s the outside-of-work culture like at Intersys?
Great! We’ve been go-karting, visited escape rooms, had bowling and VR days out, as well as trips to museums. This can involve coordinating almost 50 people and sometimes their partners and children, so it’s quite a feat!
It’s thanks to Intersys I made two best mates. The three of us realised early on we loved games and, in the early days, we would stay up late constantly playing GTA V online.
Is there a ‘first principle’ of great IT infrastructure?
I don’t think there is one principle that works for every organisation. It is about tailoring infrastructure to their actual needs. I try to make changes that get you 90% of the way there in efficiency and resilience, instead of disrupting things for a small 5% gain. That said, if I had to choose one, I would go with robust, immutable backups so you can recover even if ransomware hits. So many organisations today are getting burned by it.
We’ve heard you’re a fellow cat lover. Asking for a friend – from an IT point of view, is it okay for ours to be walking over the keyboard in the home office?
Ha ha! I have three cats, so there’s triple the probability of cats running over my keyboards! One of mine once changed a script, locked my computer and turned on Windows narrator all in one stroll across the keys. Cats are great, though. They take you out of the most stressful moments and make you feel okay.
What do you love to do outside of work?
I spend time with my fiancé, play video games and read. I recently finished an excellent book about IT operations and DevOps called The Phoenix Project. Oh, and I’m part way through 1984, which is eerie, but great.
Also, I’m teaching myself to play the piano. It’s hard… but I’m getting there.