About Us
Starfish vLabs is technology services business focused on the design and building enterprise class networks using the latest technologies. Operating across all major network domains including campus, data centre and WAN, we work with the leading industry vendors such as Cisco, Juniper and VMware.
We believe in the Starfish Principle; we know that we cannot fix all of the world’s problems, but we can make a significant positive impact on the people and organisations that we do work with. To achieve this, we place a focus on outcomes, which we deliver through a culture of focus, integrity, openness and continuous technical development.
AN INFINITE ORGANISATION
At Starfish vLabs we aim to be an infinite organisation. This means that we are focused on our long-term mission to develop technical expertise and share it openly for the benefit of the community, over short-term profit and the distraction of competition.
To achieve this, we believe in investing time in the development of our technical skills, we operate with honesty and integrity at the most challenging times, we focus on collaboration rather than competition and we put people (employees, partners and customers) at the centre of everything we do. Only then, can we provide succeed in our mission.
About Us
Starfish vLabs is technology services business focused on the design and building enterprise class networks using the latest technologies. Operating across all major network domains including campus, data centre and WAN, we work with the leading industry vendors such as Cisco, Juniper and VMware.
We believe in the Starfish Principle; we know that we cannot fix all of the world’s problems, but we can make a significant positive impact on the people and organisations that we do work with. To achieve this, we place a focus on outcomes, which we deliver through a culture of focus, integrity, openness and continuous technical development
AN INFINITE ORGANISATION
At Starfish vLabs we aim to be an infinite organisation. This means that we are focused on our long-term mission to develop technical expertise and share it openly for the benefit of the community, over short-term profit and the distraction of competition.
To achieve this, we believe in investing time in the development of our technical skills, we operate with honesty and integrity at the most challenging times, we focus on collaboration rather than competition and we put people (employees, partners and customers) at the centre of everything we do. Only then, can we provide succeed in our mission.
MEET THE TEAM
Small but perfectly formed, the Starfish team has grown from one member of staff in November 2020 to seven in January 2021
Stephen Hampton: Network Architect and Director
Role: Stephen Hampton is a Network Architect and founders of Starfish Virtual Labs. He is focused on consultancy and design and takes ultimate responsibility for the delivery of outcomes to our customers. Stephen is also responsibility for the day to day running of the business and development of new projects.
Experience: With almost 25 years in the technology industry, Stephen has been focused on networking for 17 years and has held a CCIE certification since 2008. Over these years he has held roles ranging from Network Engineer, through to Network Architect and CTO, across a range of industries including Banking, Finance, Insurance, Service Provide, Higher Education and technology reseller.
Portfolio: Throughout his time in the industry Stephen has led and been part of several significant projects, including but not limited to the following.
– Data centre network transformation for a large insurer
– Data centre migration for the NHS
– Greenfield MPLS L3 VPN design and deployment for a higher education organisation
– Development and rollout of a public IaaS platform
– Campus network migration for a major UK airport
– Architecture, HLD and procurement for a 4000-site network transformation
– Data centra migration of a large local authority
– SD-WAN design and deployment for a building services company
Melody Hampton: HR and Director
Role: Melody is responsible for administration within the Starfish business including finance, HR and the well-being of the Starfish team.
Experience: Melody is a trained Montessori School Teacher with experience in administration and HR. Melody is responsible for the wellbeing of the Starfish Team and all HR activities.
Adam Ratcliffe: Senior Network Engineer
Role: Adam Ratcliffe is a Senior Network Engineer at Starfish Virtual Labs. He is focused on the configuration and implementation of networks aiding in the completion of customer projects. Adam also creates labs and documentation to help in the transfer of knowledge to customers, project stakeholders and the wider Starfish team.
Experience: 11 years working with network technologies, Adam has experience around the world within the service provider and data centre areas of networking, as well as experience with various vendors. Having held multiple CCNA’s since 2016 and some CCNP Modules. Over this period he has held multiple private and public sector roles across various industries including Defence, Service Provider, Intellectual Property and Local Government.
Portfolio: Adam’s career has taken him through the army (Royal Signals), multiple roles at high security organisations like MoD and NATO, as well as service providers. During this time Throughout his career Adam has been a part of multiple large-scale projects, including but not limited to:
Data centre migration of a large local authority
– Multiple Service provider HLD, LLD and Core network upgrades
– Campus network upgrades and relocation for the MOD
– Multiple upgrades and migrations with a global technology leader within the defence industry for NATO
– Supported Core device upgrades for one of the two main international organisations within the Intellectual Property industry
Kyle Cinquina: Senior Network Engineer
Role: Kyle Cinquina is a Senior Network Engineer and joined the Starfish team in January 2022. Kyle will be working on the design, deployment and testing of Network solutions ensuring the best possible outcomes for customers.
Experience: Kyle has worked in many different networking environments which include military, large enterprise, and ISPs. During this time, Kyle has attained certification in both Juniper and Cisco, as well as experience in many other technologies.
Portfolio: During his career, Kyle has worked on a number of critical and challenging projects including the following.
– Assisted in the deployment, integration, and migration of the Australian Defence Force strategic networks to a new platform.
– Deployment of new core switching infrastructure for a large enterprise organisation across multiple sites with zero downtime.
– Deployed new BGP routing to an internal ISP network.
Wiktor Fajfer: Network Engineer
Role: Wiktor is a network engineer working at Starfish Virtual Labs responsible design, implementation, and support of network solutions. Wiktor covers Enterprise and Data Centre networks but has a particular focus on WAN and Service Provider technologies.
Experience: In 2020 Wiktor graduated with a degree in Cyber Security and Networking. Before joining Starfish in November 2021, Wiktor held positions including Technical Support and Layer 2 and Layer 3 Network Engineer.
Portfolio: In a relatively short period of time, Wiktor has built up a strong portfolio of projects including the following.
– Creation of a Network HLD for a small Service Provider.
– Creation of a HLD and LLD design for hospitality organization.
– Monitoring and testing a newly deployed network environment.
– Redesign of a Service Provider customer edge.
– Deployment of a VeloCloud SD-WAN PoC.
– Deployment of Next Generation Firewalls.