Andy Burton

clock

Chairman/chief executive, Cloud Industry Forum and Fasthosts Internet Group

Career so far I have been in technology for the last 25 years; the last 15 have been almost exclusively in the channel with great software companies like Content Technologies (now Clearswift) and Centennial Software (now FrontRange) and most recently in the webhost and cloud service provider market with Fasthosts/Rise. I have also invested time and effort in Industry bodies such as Fast and the Cloud Industry Forum to help set the benchmarks for the industry to progress against.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be? That’s a tough one, but if I had to choose – Edward “Bear” Grylls. He is a great role model for kids, is one of the few adventurers left who gets paid to see the world from an entirely different perspective.

What will next year’s most overhyped industry buzzword be? Federated, as it is becoming as over-used a phrase as cloud or big data. Of course, the related challenges and opportunities of managing identity, content, applications and so on across infrastructures, devices and networks is a worthy one, but getting to an agreement as to how to best solve it opens a Pandora’s Box and will drive as much FUD as hype.

Has 2012 been a good, bad or ugly year? 2012 has been a challenging year on many fronts. Growth is out there but it’s been harder fought for against a backdrop of FUD around cloud security and the macro economic uncertainties that have sapped confidence in some quarters. That said, over the last nine months the UK cloud market has bucked the trend with 15 per cent growth in new users, which itself is an acceleration on the preceding nine months.

What would you have as your last meal? A freshly barbequed lobster, straight from the sea and ideally on the beach at Anegada where we visited on my honeymoon. Paradise!

What keeps you awake at night? Customer service and experience. It may sound trite but it’s 100 per cent true. I passionately believe in getting what you pay for and that our partners and customer satisfaction is the most important litmus test of success. If you can operate with integrity and transparency, and back that up with a good customer experience, you have a recipe for business that can ride anything thrown at it.

What piece of technology could you not be without? My Windows Phone. It enables me to do everything I need to keep in touch with my business when I am on the move. When my mother-in-law accidentally put my phone in her handbag one day and I had to have the phone wiped as I feared it lost, how I laughed when she later found it!

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Not the lottery ones, unfortunately, but the predictions we made last year as the Cloud Industry Forum in terms of UK cloud service growth and adoption trends were pretty much bang on.

What is the best partner/customer trip you have ever been on? Having grown up in New Zealand, the opportunity to see the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in Auckland last year has to top the bill.

What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2013? The biggest challenge for the channel moving in to 2013 is how to successfully embrace the cloud opportunity. It is a high growth market with sustainable revenue streams but it fundamentally challenges the historical attributes of selling IT.

You may also like

Careers and Skills

clock 21 November 2012 •

Careers and Skills

clock 15 November 2012 •

Careers and Skills

clock 15 November 2012 •

Sign up to our newsletter

The best news, stories, features and photos from the day in one perfectly formed email.

More on Careers and Skills

Coterie unveils education academy as partner marketing falls 'even more under threat'

Coterie unveils education academy as partner marketing falls 'even more under threat'

CEO Jo Dunkley tells CRN she thinks the role is under pressure because of ‘low awareness’ and ‘assumptions’ of the required skills

Kelsey Rees
clock 18 March 2024 • 2 min read
'Feel the fear and do it anyway': Top advice from the Women in Tech Festival 2023

'Feel the fear and do it anyway': Top advice from the Women in Tech Festival 2023

We round up the most essential words of wisdom shared during The Channel Company’s Women in Tech Festival 2023

Andrea Gaini
clock 01 November 2023 • 5 min read
Marketing Minutes: Philips Monitors on the role of channel partners in ensuring ESG is prioritised

Marketing Minutes: Philips Monitors on the role of channel partners in ensuring ESG is prioritised

AOC
clock 23 August 2023 • 1 min read

Highlights

Staff & Salaries 2022

Staff & Salaries 2022

A snapshot of pay and headcount trends in the UK channel

Doug Woodburn
clock 09 March 2022 • 1 min read
Midwich CEO on Nimans acquisition, 2021 results and return to pre-pandemic levels

Midwich CEO on Nimans acquisition, 2021 results and return to pre-pandemic levels

Stephen Fenby talks to CRN after Midwich’s 2021 results in which profitability exceeded pre-pandemic levels

Josh Budd
clock 08 March 2022 • 3 min read
4 more vendors suspend sales in Russia following Ukraine invasion

4 more vendors suspend sales in Russia following Ukraine invasion

IBM and Microsoft are among a number of vendors which have also announced that they will halt sales in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

clock 08 March 2022 • 3 min read