Director, channel sales EMEA core, Pure Storage
What was your dream career as a child?
To play football for England and Tottenham - I was obsessed as a kid. These days I consider myself at least still part child and the dream is now to become a rock star - which is equally as unlikely, unfortunately.
What has been your personal highlight of 2019?
Spurs making the Champions League final was a highlight; the result was not! My son's first hat-trick, my daughter's first word. Can I say my nomination for CRN Channel Chief? Get your votes in please!
Which famous person deserves a (gentle) slap?
No need for violence, hugs all round.
What two things (apart from family) would you grab if your house was on fire?
BPO (a meerkat dressed like BB8 from Star Wars) and Monkey, my kids' go-to soft toys. Everything else can be replaced.
Which of your 2019 predictions have come to pass?
The global macro-economic environment is becoming increasingly challenging but this in turn presents an opportunity where we see truly differentiated, modern propositions like Pure's succeed and displace legacy technology even more rapidly.
What TV show have you binge watched this year?
I was late to the party with Stranger Things on Netflix - I'm now into series three and loving it!
How has 2019 been from a business perspective?
Pure continues to disrupt the data industry in 2019 with innovative technology and consumption models that customers love. We are helping organisations unlock the power of their data and that's driving 10x better growth than our nearest competitor.
What annoys you most about your commute?
My commute is pretty varied because I travel a lot, so in general it's the time away from family, the time lost in queues or on planes without Wi-Fi… oh, and the people who still haven't figured out what you can and can't take through airport security and that you need to empty your pockets!
If you could witness one past event, what would it be?
The start of the universe - it's the ultimate historical event, isn't it?
How do you explain the channel to people?
If somebody had no idea you would have to strip it down to the basics: the channel is the supply chain from manufacturer/vendor through to consumer and everything in between. In our world that usually includes a distributor and a solution provider (reseller/GSI/MSP). The channel can only survive so long as the ecosystem is adding value.
What have been your favourite and least favourite partner conference destinations?
The destination is often largely irrelevant as you rarely get to see the place you're staying in! I would probably go for Venice as the favourite and Coventry the least favourite.
What is the biggest challenge facing the channel in 2020?
The biggest challenge is to embrace disruptive technologies, platforms and consumption models that will help end users to realise far better business outcomes. Organisations want to be able to focus on innovation and the power of IT to support their business objectives and they want to do it with flexible financial models.
