Chief executive, Technology Associates (also IAMCP board member positions at IAMCP International, IAMCP EMEA, IAMCP UK), executive director & strategic business advisor at Talent Management Group
What achievement are you most proud of?
My daughter. I am so proud of her - she has overcome immense challenges to get where she is today. I think we inspire each other. I am proud of what I have achieved at Technology Associates. Taking the business to new heights with a revised online product strategy and the provision of a new support and consulting venture working closely with LARs and learning providers has been hard work but very rewarding.
What has been the biggest change in the channel since you started working in it?
The delivery of cloud-based solutions - traditional business models have to be replaced with new ones and compensating the sales force in a different way has been a challenge. I am delighted to have been in a position to have been at the forefront of adopting that strategy in our own business, but also that I have been honoured to act in an advisory position to many other businesses in the IT sector.
What three things could you not live without?
1. My phone - it's the one communication device that I can rely on and I can do most things on it these days. 2. My laptop - the most essential piece of kit I need to get things done. Reliability and flexibility is key when you are a road warrior. 3. My car - a Mercedes CLS AMG. It's also my guilty pleasure. I love my car and it has the added benefit of getting me from A to B.
What has been your most embarrassing moment so far?
Well, if there have been any, they were probably the result of a little too much good wine! So as a consequence I wouldn't remember them.
What do your family think you do all day?
Mostly I think they believe I swan off to expensive lunches, play games on the computer and fly first-class everywhere (I once took my daughter to New York and used up some Air Miles to fly first-class, so now she thinks that's how I travel all the time). And when I travel to conferences in the US or elsewhere, she thinks that I'm going on some sort of secret holiday. I wish!
Who is your ultimate celeb crush?
Erm, are you trying to get me into trouble?
What is your guilty pleasure?
Probably the one guilty pleasure is holidays. I find it hard to switch off. It takes me a few days to wind down and start enjoying a holiday properly.
What would be your first act if you were made Prime Minister?
I prefer to be in a position where I can make "real" changes. The PM is a figurehead but let's be clear - it's not the PM that has the real power in the UK! I might appoint myself head of MI5 then quit as PM.
Has 2015 been a good, bad or ugly year?
2015 has been an awesome year for many reasons. We have expanded, changed our business delivery model and I have been able to pursue other opportunities that have come along, which is great. The business has won several awards, and I won the IT Business CEO of the Year Award 2015, of which I am very proud.
If you didn't work in the IT channel, what would you do?
Probably I'd be a scuba instructor. But I would get bored too easily. It might be nice for a short time though!
What major issues will the channel face in 2016?
I can see larger vendors such as Apple, Google and Microsoft develop their online services into a fully baked self-service model and providing direct support. That will be a threat to partners in the channel that rely on services for their revenue. Also, I see video communications taking off as the bandwidth and maturity of connectivity becomes more available and faster. Plus VDI will finally come of age - device-independent loading of your remote desktop with unlimited storage and available to you on any device will become available as a mainstream service. And of course IoT will mature in 2016. Monitored services will become automated and people will come to accept complete connectivity between all devices, home and work as commonplace. Delivering services to companies that take advantage of those opportunities will be a challenge for partners but also an opportunity.
