Career so far With a degree in opto-electronics, an MBA from Warwick University, and Chartered Director status, I started life as an aerospace engineer with the romantic notion of designing the next harrier jump jet. As reality set in, my particular jump jet landed in the field of IT.
My first role included selling one of the very first Macs in Europe. Since that time, I have spent most of my career in the channel with significant periods at P&P, Computacenter, Acuma Solutions and SCC, with a brief sojourn in the Middle East selling service contracts on power and desalination plants in Saudi Arabia.
I particularly enjoy growing and transforming businesses and for the last 10 (or is that 15!) years, I seem to have found my niche creating and building teams to sell complex enterprise solutions.
My current role for last three years as managing director of SDG has been focused on building and leading Europe's leading solution distributor.
If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? Jenson Button for very obvious reasons and also to have the Formula 1 car (sorry Mrs E!).
Cloud - friend or foe? The cloud is a friend to IT and the channel. Anything that allows businesses to derive competitive advantage through IT is a good thing for us all.
Has 2011 been as bad as everyone said it would be? No. 2011 has been extremely challenging and is becoming more challenging with the outlook for 2012 looking tougher. However, the capability of IT to transform business creates opportunity even in the most difficult times.
What would you have as your last meal? If the elixir of life was off the menu, tournedos rossini washed down with the most expensive Chateau Margaux I could find.
Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with? It would have been Steve Jobbs or Bill Shankley, but I think it would have to be Nelson Mandela - maybe for human interest, but mainly the chance to meet one of the most unique individuals of our time.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes. Apple continuing to dominate the tablet market, HP questioning the strategic position of PSG and of course, Kenny Dalglish returned as Liverpool manager.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2012? As always, keeping up and meeting its customers' needs, and also how to embrace and profit from the cloud.
What is the best part of your day? Talking to my customers or my children, which I never get enough time to do.
