Dave Murdoch

Network & Infrastructure Lead, Calgary

How long have you been with Jim Pattison Lease?

I came to Jim Pattison Lease in 1998. This is my second life with the Pattison family; I had initially joined Overwaitea Foods (now Save-On-Foods) back in 1978. Between those two lives, I managed IT at The (BASP) Buy & Sell Press, and served as a member of the FAPIA permanent technical commission, where we pioneered electronically exchanging international free ads, before “The Web” existed.

What do you do at Jim Pattison Lease?

When I first started with Jim Pattison Lease, I handled all systems administration, PC deployments, and server builds. I did some application development and built the first data extractions of our AS400 lease data to MS Access and Excel.

In my first year at JPL, I introduced a national network, connecting all of our offices, and centralized our IT operations in Calgary. I introduced remote network access to Jim Pattison Lease so that users could do work outside of the office. I also unified and standardized the phone systems across all of our offices.

I continue to evaluate and implement new technologies, as well as maintain and upgrade those already in place.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that what I do, empowers the company to do what it does.

Can you share a memory that stands out in all the years?

Memories, oh, I’ve got some doozies, the best ones require an NDA.

I do fondly recall receiving the 2000 Personal Achiever award. My wife, Darleen, and I have wonderful memories of its accompanying limo ride to dinner on Lake Bona Vista, and tour of Calgary. I had never tried ostrich before. Having my own personal parking spot for the year was the icing on the cake. I kept the sign.

What are some of the things you like to do outside of work?

I’m not really sure what “outside of work” means, but when I’m not working my cats get a lot of attention. Darleen and I left our families back in the lower mainland when we relocated to Calgary in 1999; virtually all of our vacations were spent at my dad’s, and visiting relatives. Since my dad’s passing, we’ve discovered Hawaii.

What has helped make you successful at your job?

I credit my dad’s encouragement to not just learn something, but to learn it in detail, and discover more. I tend to overthink because of it, but that’s not a bad thing when dealing with IT infrastructure.

What’s the number one thing you can’t wait to get back to post-quarantine?

Much of what I do happens while the rest of the company sleeps, so isolation is just another day for me. The one thing I’m really looking forward to is hanging up my mask(s)… for good.