About Us

Alastair Revell is the founder of Revell Research Systems and has been advising organisations on the effective use of management and technology since 1985. As a Chartered IT Professional and Chartered Engineer, as well as a Chartered Manager, he has spent four decades helping organisations improve performance, manage change and realise greater value from technology through independent, impartial and evidence-based advice.

Today, Alastair leads the Consultancy's advisory work, helping organisations make technology count through effective leadership, governance and strategic direction. Drawing on four decades of experience, he works with boards, senior executives and technology leaders to improve organisational performance, manage change and realise greater value from technology by drawing on independent judgement, professional expertise and evidence-based practice.

Throughout his career, Alastair has been guided by a commitment to professionalism, ethical practice and the public interest. These principles continue to shape the work of Revell Research Systems and its mission to make technology count for organisations, so that we all ultimately serve society better.

Born and educated in Exeter, Alastair established Revell Research Systems in 1985 before matriculating at the University of Birmingham to read Mathematics. He graduated with honours in 1988 and has led the Consultancy ever since. He also holds an MBA in Senior Leadership from the University of Exeter.

He is Chairman of the Consultancy's Board of Directors and serves as the practice's Managing Consultant.

Alastair Revell

Alastair Revell established Revell Research Systems in 1985 before he started his BSc (Hons) in Mathematics at the University of Birmingham.

He is a Chartered IT Professional, Chartered Engineer and Chartered Manager, holding an MBA from the University of Exeter.

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Based in Exeter, Devon, Alastair continues to advise organisations throughout the United Kingdom on technology strategy, digital transformation, governance and organisational change. His consulting work is focused on helping boards and senior leaders realise greater value from technology investments while improving governance, leadership and organisational effectiveness.

He is a strategic leader working at a national level within the IT Profession in the United Kingdom in a variety of leading governance and advisory roles, influencing public policy and developing professional standards. He is an experienced business leader and consultant with a 35+ year proven commercial track record in providing independent and impartial advice on management and technology, primarily to professional service firms and smaller corporate bodies.

His professional specialisms include IT strategy development and governance, systems management, network engineering and software development. He has worked in a wide variety of market sectors with clients ranging from those turning over in excess of £500M to small consulting practices.

He is a Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and a Chartered Engineer (CEng). Registration as a Chartered IT Professional is made on the basis of examination and peer review by BCS The Chartered Institute for IT under its 1984 Royal Charter. His registration with the Engineering Council, as a Chartered Engineer (in software engineering), was made after a professional review through the BCS. The Engineering Council regulates the engineering profession in the United Kingdom under its Royal Charter of 1981 and has around 250K registrants. He is also a Chartered Manager (CMgr), which is awarded by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) under its 2002 Royal Charter.

He is a registered European Engineer (EUR ING) through Engineers Europe, formerly the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI), which is a professional engineering qualification formally recognised by governments across Europe.

He is a Chartered Fellow of BCS (FBCS) and a Fellow of the Institution of Analysts and Programmers (FIAP) and of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). He is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI).

Alastair Revell served as the 64th President of BCS, The Chartered Institute of IT (2024-25) and was subsequently Immediate Past President for 2025-26. He sat on the Institute's Trustee Board and served on its Council for eight years until March 2026. He chaired the organisation's Community Board from 2018 to 2024, and was Vice-President for Community between 2018 and 2023, becoming Deputy President in 2024. He has also sat on its Registration and Standards Committee as well as its Best Practice Committee. He has also served as a chartered membership assessor for CITP in the past.

As part of his presidency, he established Chartered Week, an annual national awareness campaign in the United Kingdom that celebrates chartered and professional registrations across all disciplines. It takes place in the last week of February, and in 2026 was supported by over 60 professional bodies representing at least 1.5M practitioners.

He is a Trustee of the UK Engineering Council, which regulates the engineering profession in the United Kingdom, serving on its Finance, Audit and Remuneration Panel. He has served two UK Information Commissioners, sitting for six years as an appointee on their Technology Reference Panel, advising on the opportunities and threats to the privacy and data protection of UK citizens.

He was elected to the governing body of the Institution of Analysts and Programmers in 2009. He was appointed Director General in 2010 and is now responsible for the body's strategic direction and leadership.

Alastair Revell has worked extensively on the development of the cyber security profession in the United Kingdom, being a signatory to the contract with HM Government for the formation of the UK Cyber Security Council. He is a founding committee member of the Cyber Security Alliance, representing the IAP. He is also Chairman of the Trustworthy Software Foundation, which is the successor body to the Trustworthy Software Initiative (TSI) that was funded under the UK Government's National Cyber Security Programme I.

In the past, he has designed and delivered a wide range of Higher Education courses in subjects such as Systems Analysis, Software Development, Networking and Database Methods, which have led to awards from the University of Plymouth. His academic work has included taking a major role in developing the syllabus for a foundation degree (FdSc) programme in Internet Technology with Business, which the University of Plymouth started awarding in 2007.

He has been a member of the University of Plymouth's advisory panel on its relations with the IT profession and the development of its work in computing and information technology after being invited to join the group in 2006.

Alastair Revell has a range of interests outside computing and has been actively involved in a variety of organisations and bodies at both local and national levels over a number of years.

He is a former Devon Vice-Chairman and East Devon Chairman of The Prince's Trust (now The King's Trust), an organisation actively led by the then Prince of Wales, before he became King, which helps disadvantaged young people in a variety of ways. He worked extensively for the trust in a voluntary capacity at a senior level during the 1990s and contributed to the trust's national IT policy on a pro-bono basis. He also helped to establish The Prince's Trust Volunteers programme in Devon.

He enjoys a range of other interests, including a strong interest in English history, particularly in the period from 1066 to 1485. He undertakes a considerable amount of research each year in this field, working extensively with primary source documents at various archives around the country on a regular basis. He reads Medieval Latin, is interested in the period's prosopography, and is reasonably skilled in palaeography.

He also enjoys digital photography, which has moved from just an interest into a passion with the advent of digital SLR technology. He combines this with his love of walking, which often takes him on to both Dartmoor and Exmoor, as well as the coastal paths around the South West. He also ventures into the Pyrenees and Alps when the opportunities present themselves.

He used to cycle competitively at club level, specialising as a hill climber, but has not done so for many years, although he still yearns to get back on his bike.