Chief executive officer, Hardware Group
What achievement are you most proud of?
The transition from Hardware.com to the Hardware Group; its strategic divisions - HardwareSolutions, HardwareServices, HardwareLifecycle and HardwareCloud - and the new Hardware.com E-Procurement Platform.
What has been the biggest change in the channel since you started working in it?
There has been a definitive shift from commodity "box shifting" to the provision of end-to-end multi-vendor solutions, preferably from a consolidated supply chain. With the transition to a Software Defined Datacentre, channel partners will need to innovate and support customers' business transformation. This will require a flexible business model and investment in engineering resource.
What has been your most embarrassing moment so far?
There are far too many to shortlist! What do your family think you do all day? Our Group HQ is on an airfield, and I travel regularly to our other offices, so I'm pretty certain my two young boys think I'm an airline pilot.
Who is your ultimate celeb crush?
I've never really had a "celeb crush" but I've always respected serial entrepreneurs who have been prepared to take qualified risks and swim against the tide.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Wine.
What would be your first act if you were made Prime Minister?
Resign.
Has 2015 been a good, bad or ugly year?
All of the above: we've enjoyed year-on-year growth, and a successful transformation to Hardware Group and the new divisional restructure. However, we've also had 18 months of business transformation, which is a challenging time for any business, especially when across three continents!
If you didn't work in the IT channel, what would you do?
Go back to the mountains.
What major issues will the channel face in 2016?
Some potentially blurred lines regarding the optimum channel model needed to drive (and support) end-user adoption of Hybrid Cloud Solutions; VAR, SI, MSP, vendor or distributor? Related issues may be further enhanced by a lack of skilled resource that is capable of delivering "channel-centric" end-to-end networking solution architectures.
This resource deficit will potentially expose "farmers" (riding on reputation or "house accounts"), and transfer focus to specialists players who can innovate, design and deliver.
