Mal Woolliams
I started working independently in 2004, and founded Direction Forward in 2015 and vCard Me in 2022. I became a government certified NCSC Cyber Advisor in 2023.Direction Forward is now a digital agency based in the City of London, offering infrastructure, design, development, and consultancy. We work with global clients on how to best leverage digital technologies to deliver maximum value.Read more…
About
I am interested in full stack web development, with an emphasis on good design and usability. I have over 20 years professional experience in development, devops, infrastructure, and cyber security.As Director at Direction Forward I have designed, built, and implemented both business and consumer facing services, including multiple proprietary solutions.Projects include a national online business sales tool for Vodafone, an international development platform for KPMG, food delivery apps integrations for restaurant franchise Crêpeaffaire, an award-winning sales website for the Bedford House scheme in Balham, and design & analytics for the UK Atomic Energy Authority.Direction Forward partners with leading top tier providers including Google, Microsoft, Apple, Stripe, Dell, Dropbox, Mailchimp, and ESET. We offer bespoke cloud solutions as well as popular cloud infrastructure such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).Direction Forward's platforms and infrastructure support over 60,000 endpoints, with annual transactional volumes across our network of £30 million in 2022 and £44 million in 2023.I am also Director at vCard Me – a web-based platform that enables users to create dynamic digital business cards which are always up-to-date. vCard Me integrates personalised QR codes, and instant contact details sharing and saving on any smartphone. The platform is based on eco-friendly principles in reducing wastage of printed business cards, and technologically is carbon neutral today and will be carbon free by 2030.In 2023, I certified as a National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Cyber Advisor. This Government scheme assures compliant cyber security consultancy and support to a broad range of UK organisations. I also became a financial market consultant for one of the USA's largest investment firms, which has over $30 billion of assets under management.My recent work has focused on integrating assistive AI into both my companies' internal systems, and for clients increasing automation to reduce micromanagement. We are helping clients deploy Copilot (as part of Microsoft 365) and Gemini (as part of Google Workspace), and are working on launching AI services based on the OpenAI platform tailored to our clients' needs for both creative and support.
Contact
I'm always interested in hearing about other peoples' projects, pro bono consultancy for nonprofits and other similar opportunities. You can share a message or connect with me via the below.
Malcolm Woolliams:
Direction Forward:
vCard Me: