AI-native.
Datadog-first.
Critical Cloud is a Datadog-powered cloud managed service provider for tech-led SMBs on AWS and Azure. We are the world's first "Powered by Datadog" accredited MSP, an independent designation awarded by Datadog after formal engineering review.
Critical Cloud is a AI and Datadog-native business built for the next-gneration of cloud operations, where observability, AI, and operational discipline are the product.
- Datadog-native MSP, Powered by Datadog is the operational backbone, not a monitoring add-on.
- AI-native operations, Bits AI SRE, Watchdog, and Datadog's AI capabilities built into how we run.
- Founder-led, the same people who built and exited a managed service business before are doing it again, with more depth.
- Customer data, customer control, you keep full access to your Datadog environment, always.
Our Datadog credentials →
Independently verified, not self-declared
Every credential below is awarded or audited by the organisation named, not a badge we printed ourselves.
The team
Founder-led from day one. The same people who sold services, built the technical platform, and managed the customer relationships before are doing it again, with the benefit of having done it once.
James Smith
Founder · CEO · Cardiff
- Petrol head and start-up junkie. Started as an engineer at Dell, built Pizza Hut's first UK online ordering system, then founded and scaled a cloud services company to 100+ people over a decade before selling it. Then started Critical Cloud. Some people learn when to stop.
- Director of the Year (SME) and Technology Leader of the Year. Happiest either underneath an engine or in front of a whiteboard. Both involve understanding how complex systems actually work.
Andrew Phillips
COO · Cardiff
- The person who makes sure Critical Cloud actually delivers what it promises. 25+ years in managed services across digital agencies, cloud delivery, and technology consulting means Andrew has seen every way a service can go wrong and quietly makes sure it doesn't. He holds Azure, AWS, Agile and DevOps certifications because he actually uses them.
- Golfer and lifelong Everton FC fan, which means exceptional patience, a high tolerance for adversity, and an unshakeable belief that things will eventually come good.
Chris Webb
CRO · London
- 25+ years selling complex technical services to people who are very good at spotting nonsense. Has joined early-stage cloud and managed services businesses, built the commercial function, and seen them through to successful exits. Datadog Sales Specialist certified.
- Card magician and pétanque world champion. If you've ever wanted to watch a CRO make a deal disappear and then reappear exactly where you needed it, you're in the right place.
The founding SRE team
The team that keeps customers' platforms running. Collectively they have decades of cloud engineering experience operating real production environments across AWS and Azure, and they're all certified in Datadog, AWS and Microsoft Azure. This is the team you'd actually be working with.
Linsey Rimmer
Senior Site Reliability Engineer · Cardiff
- Our Datadog whisperer. When a dashboard is noisy, an alert is misfiring, or Datadog needs to actually tell you something useful, Linsey's the one who makes it happen.
- Triathlete off the clock, which explains a lot about the stamina and the refusal to leave a problem half-solved.
- MSc Computer Science, Cardiff University.
Jamie Ward
Senior Site Reliability Engineer · Cardiff
- Our AWS guru. Multi-account architectures, landing zones, the full Well-Architected stack - Jamie's the one you want when the platform needs to be done properly, not just done quickly.
- Drummer when not debugging. The combination of precision and rhythm probably explains why his runbooks always make sense.
- MSc Software Engineering + BSc Physics, Cardiff and Bristol.
Matt Dibble
Senior Site Reliability Engineer · Cardiff
- Our Azure specialist. AKS, Azure DevOps, complex enterprise environments - Matt builds things on Azure that hold together under pressure.
- Carpenter and welder outside work. There's a theme here: someone who builds things properly, whether it's infrastructure or furniture, and doesn't cut corners.
Dafydd Jones
Senior Site Reliability Engineer · Cardiff
- Can do it all. AWS, Azure, Datadog, infrastructure, security, whatever the customer needs - Dafydd's the person you put on the hardest problems because he'll figure it out.
- Genuinely calm when things are on fire, which is the energy you want on-call at 3am. Native Welsh speaker, and arguably the most versatile engineer on the team.
William Sawtell
Associate AI & Data Engineer · Cardiff
- Building the AI tooling that makes the rest of the team faster: applications that connect cloud infrastructure, automation and observability in ways that actually work in production.
- Music lover with an ML and reinforcement learning background. Probably the only person on the team who thinks about algorithms and chord progressions with equal enthusiasm.
- BSc Computer Science, Cardiff University.
See yourself being part of our team?
We're a small, tight-knit group and we hire carefully. If this is the kind of team you want to work with, take a look at what we're building.
View open roles →Cardiff. London. Dublin.
The people above are the founding team. Behind them is a growing group of engineers, delivery managers, commercial and operations people spread across three offices. Cardiff is the engineering and operations hub. London runs commercial and enterprise relationships. Dublin is where we deliver for Ireland and EMEA customers.
Engineering & Operations
The SRE team, technical delivery, and platform operations are all based in Cardiff. This is where the on-call function lives and where the majority of hands-on engineering work happens. Cloud engineering, AI tooling, and infrastructure work all run from here.
Commercial & Partnerships
Sales, client management, and strategic partnerships are run from London. This is where enterprise and financial services relationships are managed and where we engage with Datadog, AWS, and Microsoft at a commercial level. Delivery management for UK enterprise accounts also sits here.
Ireland & EMEA Delivery
Our Dublin presence covers Ireland-based customers and acts as the delivery hub for EMEA engagements. Client-facing account management, service delivery and commercial relationships for Irish and European customers are managed from here, close to where those customers operate.
We're growing. The team is expanding across all three locations.
Cloud engineering, delivery management, and commercial roles. If you want to build something serious, take a look at what we're hiring for.
Eight principles, one operating model
These aren't values on a wall. They're the criteria we use to make decisions and the criteria we'd ask anyone joining the team to hold themselves to.
Customer First
Every decision starts with what's right for the customer, not what's convenient internally. If the customer doesn't feel the benefit, it doesn't count.
Own the Problem
We take problems to resolution. We don't hand them off and hope. When something breaks, one person owns it through to the postmortem.
Engineer Simplicity
The best solution is the one that doesn't need maintaining. Build for the on-call engineer at 3am who has no context, not for the engineer who built it.
Stay Curious
The people who grow fastest here ask why about every system they touch. Curiosity about infrastructure, customers, and the business is what turns operators into engineers.
Operate at Scale
We run multiple customer environments simultaneously. Everything we build, runbooks, standards, automation, has to work without us in the room.
Move with Urgency
Speed of communication is a service quality metric. Slow responses compound. Even "we're looking at it" is better than silence.
Be Resourceful
Use what's available, improvise where needed, ask for help when stuck. The constraint that stops most teams doesn't have to stop us, it's usually a process problem, not a skills problem.
Earn Trust by Delivering
Consistency is the only currency that matters. Every stable environment, resolved incident, and clean service review is how we earn the right to the next one.
Work with us, or join us.
Talk to the team about your cloud and Datadog challenges or read the job specs if you want to be part of building it.