Sharon James

I work with enterprise customers to secure, modernise, and optimise their collaboration platforms & help orgs build compliant, scalable, and user-friendly digital workplaces. - Collaboration SME across Microsoft and HCL ecosystems with Service adoption strategies to drive real user engagement - Mail migrations, from legacy platforms to cloud and hybrid environments - Deliver service adoption &change enablement - Creation and delivery of technical documentation, training materials, and customer workshops

ICON UK brought together practitioners, architects, and specialists across the IBM Collaboration ecosystem, providing a platform for knowledge sharing, community learning, and technical discussion. - Assisted with the organisation and support of ICON UK user group activities - Supported the IBM Collaboration Solutions community, sharing experience and practical insight - Engaged with fellow practitioners around: IBM Domino, IBM Notes, IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS)

Founded and ran Cube Soft, an independent IT consultancy specialising in IBM Collaboration and WebSphere-based technologies, supporting a global customer base through remote delivery. Cube Soft provided end-to-end consultancy services, from architecture and infrastructure planning through to implementation, customisation, and ongoing support — helping organisations build scalable, reliable collaboration platforms tailored to their needs.

Worked as a Senior IBM Connections Engineer, delivering and supporting IBM Connections collaboration platforms across the full project lifecycle — from early pilot initiatives through to enterprise deployment, migration, and ongoing support. Managed IBM Connections environments across multiple customer engagements. Led build and deployment activities, ensuring stable, scalable platform implementations and migrations. Acted as a trusted technical specialist for IBM Connections delivery and operations

Worked as part of a large enterprise engagement delivering a full IBM collaboration platform implementation, covering design, deployment, configuration, and customisation across multiple IBM technologies. Recognised as an IBM Collaboration (Lotus) Champion, with a particular passion for IBM Connections and social business platforms.

Worked as a Social Business Architect delivering and supporting IBM Connections–based collaboration platforms, with a strong focus on architecture, upgrades, migrations, and operational stability across enterprise environments. Recognised as an IBM Collaboration (Lotus) Champion, with a particular passion for IBM Connections and social business platforms.

Worked as a Business Consultant specialising in IBM Collaboration and WebSphere-based solutions, combining hands-on technical delivery with architecture, advocacy, and community leadership. This role blended technical delivery, architecture, advocacy, and community engagement, reinforcing my position as both a trusted consultant and a recognised voice within the IBM Collaboration ecosystem.

Member of the University’s Middleware Team, responsible for application development, integration & ownership of IBM/Lotus estate across the institution. Held primary responsibility for the design, operation, support, and lifecycle management of IBM platforms used by staff, students, and central services across the University. This role required deep platform expertise, strong ownership, and operational accountability, supporting mission-critical services in a large and diverse enterprise environment.

Worked as part of a specialist team delivering and supporting IBM WebSphere Commerce solutions, with a particular focus on iSeries / AS400-based environments. Provided hands-on exposure across infrastructure, development systems, hosted platforms, customer support, & consultancy, supporting a range of enterprise customers. Developed a strong foundation in enterprise commerce platforms, IBM middleware, hosted environments & customer support, shaping my long-term focus on IBM and collaboration technologies.

Worked in a broad, hands-on technical role covering network support, desktop support, collaboration platforms, CRM systems & customer support, with responsibility spanning both internal systems and customer-facing services. This role required versatility, strong troubleshooting skills, and a willingness to take ownership of anything technical — from enterprise applications to end-user issues. Took responsibility for a wide range of general IT and systems tasks, often described as “anything with a plug”

Worked as a Network & Systems Administrator supporting core IT infrastructure and business systems within a manufacturing and distribution environment. Held responsibility for end-user computing, servers, enterprise applications, and email systems, alongside involvement in major platform migrations. Assisted with a major infrastructure and collaboration migration, including: Migration from Novell NetWare to Windows NT domain services, Transition from legacy groupware email systems to Lotus Domino