Novia Works LtdSimon Hudson is an entrepreneur and health sector specialist. He formed Cloud2 in 2008 following a rich career in the international medical device industry and the IT industry. Simon’s background encompasses quality assurance, medical device development, international training, business intelligence and international marketing and health related information and technology.
Simon’s career has spanned both the UK and the international health industry, with roles that have included quality system auditing, medical device development, international training (advanced wound management) and international marketing. In 2000 he co-founded a software-based Clinical Outcomes measurement start-up in the US. Upon joining ioko in 2004 he created the Carelink division and, as General Manager, drove it to become a multi-million pound business in its own right.
In 2008, Simon founded Cloud2 in response to a need for a new way of delivering successful projects based on Microsoft SharePoint. This created the first commercial ‘Intranet in a Box’ solution and kickstarted a new industry. He exited that business in 2019, which has continued to grow as a leading provider of Power BI and analytics solutions.
In 2016, he co-founded Kinata Ltd. to enable effective Advice and Guidance in the NHS and is currently guiding the business beyond its NHS roots to address needs in Her Majesty’s Prisons and in Australasia.
In 2021, Simon founded Novia Works Ltd.
In 2021 he was invited to become Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Hull.
In 2022 he was recognised as a Microsoft MVP.
In 2025 he founded Sustainable Ferriby CIC, a community energy not-for-profit to develop energy generation, energy & carbon reduction, and broader sustainability & NetZero projects in the West Hull villages.
Simon has had articles and editorials published in a variety of technology, knowledge management, clinical benchmarking and health journals, including being a regular contributor to PC Pro, as well as a presenter at conferences. He publishes a blog on areas of interest at noviaworks.co.uk. He is a co-facilitator of the M365 North User Group. He is a lead author and facilitator on the Maturity Model for Microsoft 365. He is the author of two patents relating to medical devices. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physical Science and a PGCE in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Hull.
Simon is passionate about rather too many things, including science, music (he plays guitar and octave mandola), skiing, classic cars, narrowboats, the health sector, sustainability, information technology and, by no means least, his family.
Microsoft’s Knowledge Agent rollout promises smarter content discovery across SharePoint. But for many SharePoint admins, the setup hits unexpected snags, especially if you’re strong in SharePoint but less familiar with PowerShell’s quirks. It would be handy to know where the troubles are and how to work around them.
Add shortcut to OneDrive seems like such a nice idea; a useful alternative to the oft-maligned Sync function for those needing desktop access to their files.
But all is not well in Wonderland
To build a great content management solution in SharePoint you should use Content Types. Simon Hudson and Mats Warnolf tell you how and why.
I use Microsoft Planner and To Do for lightweight project management, preferring its simplicity. The announcement of a unified Planner experience merging Planner, To Do, and Project, had me spooked.
This blog unpicks the impacts for the ordinary user.
The Blucalm INSIGHT 50 positions itself as a professional-grade headset for conferencing and extended wear. While it doesn’t aim for audiophile territory, its strengths lie in comfort, clarity, and design customisation. I have been using a Blucalm headset for the last year; the impressive UCH30. When I reviewed them I was blown away by their […]
I was recently asked, how can I evangelise NetZero & sustainability yet be happy to use AI (mostly Copilot) many times per day given that data centres use above 2% -3% of the world’s electricity? While asked in jest, it’s a valid question, so Copilot and I did the maths… Energy use per query A […]
AI has become great at many things; it can even transform terrible handwriting into typewritten text. I share the journey of discovery from scrawl to near perfect transcription.
There’s a need for Human In The Loop (HITL) when using AI Agents, but also consider the role of AIITL when people need supervision.
This blog describes a method for separating ‘proper’ templates from ‘kind-of’ templates in SharePoint libraries, using the file extension and some nifty column formatting courtesy of Microsoft Copilot.
You want to open PDFs into Acrobat so you can sign them, add comments etc.
Your browser wants to open them in its PDF viewer which can’t do that.
This blog tells you how to be the victor in this mighty battle.
The SharePoint Brand Centre (or Center if you must) started appearing throughout September 2024, following announcements the previous year. It offers organisations a central place to manage and internally promote their brand, while also enabling brand fonts and themes to be applied throughout SharePoint and Viva Connections.
This article explores it in more depth; helps you get up and running and talks about what it can, and currently cannot do.
Some individuals prefer video content for learning, while others find written text more efficient. This blog details a quest to convert a messy video transcript into readable text using AI tools. Various attempts with Copilot and ChatGPT are explored, highlighting the potential for AI to transform video and audio content into professional written material.
Novia Works Ltd 