Internode’s inaugural Chief Information Officer is Mike Damms, a technical team builder who has worked for the world’s top telecommunication companies after 15 years in the Royal Navy.

With a CV that includes roles at Vodafone UK, Avaya, Lucent and Motorola, Mike was attracted to the CIO role with Internode by the opportunity to work with “a company that has a very good reputation as a market leader in the Internet space”. “Internode is extremely innovative,” said Mike.

“This job is a chance to help take an organisation that has grown to a significant size to the next level by evolving its corporate structure while keeping its excellent culture.”

Internode announced in August that it planned to appoint its first CIO as part of a management restructure that saw Patrick Tapper appointed CEO, working alongside managing director Simon Hackett.

Patrick Tapper said Mike Damms provided an independent perspective to oversee information systems that had evolved as Internode had grown to its current size. “We are pleased to welcome Mike as a key member of the team that is preparing Internode to maintain its growth rate,” he said.

“Mike provides a fresh set of eyes and a technology understanding developed during more than two decades working in very large organisations. He also has a personal commitment to maintaining the culture that makes Internode so popular with its customers.”

Mike Damms began his working life in the UK when he joined the Royal Navy in 1984. As a Senior Air Engineering Manager, he led the effort for frontline helicopter maintenance, managing a multi-disciplinary team of about 150 engineers. After the navy, Mike’s roles included three years as an account director with Siemens Mobile and two years as Head of Operations at Cable & Wireless, overseeing its broadband, voice and IPTV customer base.

Mike moved to Australia in early 2007 so he and his young family could take advantage of the relaxed lifestyle he had observed during business visits here.

Mike said his role as CIO was to break down silos between technology areas by applying standardisation across product lines. ”I plan to put in place a structure that gives people more predictable outcomes for both their external and internal customers,” he said.

“Internode has real technical excellence in its people, but as the company has grown, they are working on so many different initiatives that priorities can be a challenge. With the right systems in place, that technical excellence and a real can-do attitude, there’s no limitation to what they can achieve.

‘Internode delivers an outstanding customer experience today. Our goal is to maintain this experience while delivering even greater value to our customers with market-leading solutions.”

Mike said an important part of his role was to foster new leaders to ensure that expansion in the future could happen seamlessly. “That’s something I bring from the Navy, which is all about team culture,” he said.  “The forces had a requirement to teach other people to do your job because you might not be there tomorrow – for obvious reasons.

“If I have got anywhere in the world, it’s because I’ve been part of a team. I’m looking forward to playing my part in the team at Internode.”

About Internode www.internode.on.net

Internode is a first tier IP carrier committed to using broadband technology to redefine the national telecommunications environment. The Australian-owned company is a trailblazer that delivers broadband services to individuals and businesses throughout Australia.

Internode PR for media assistance: Impress Media Australia www.impress.com.au

Call John Harris on (08) 8431 4000 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .