Singh Phull, Balvinder
A-LIST 2005
Company: D-Link
Job title: Marketing communications manager.
Place of birth: UK.
Year of birth: 1972.
Marital status: Married.
Career highlights: Account management at Avnet Distribution, where I led a successful account portfolio of major accounts to hit sales targets. Product marketing specialist at Arrow Distribution. I led two key franchise lines to marketing success and helped launch a web portal to support existing marketing tools.
What do you love most about the IT industry? It's a fast and dynamic industry with a lot of challenges and fierce competition.
Which company do you most admire or respect in the IT business? Apple. It consistently seems to develop so many slick products and takes a bite out of its competition with every new release.
Which individual do you most admire or respect in the IT business? Steve Jobs of Apple. Here's a guy who has managed to make technology functional, fashionable, affordable and truly innovative, all at the same time. Apple customers seem to just love Apple.
What is the biggest technology trend you anticipate in the next 12 months? We are going to see broadband become more or less ubiquitous. ISP bit rates will continue to increase, prompting users and providers alike to consider ways of getting more value from their connections. A big driver for this will be voice over IP entering the mainstream.
What is the one thing working in the technology industry has taught you? That this industry changes quickly. Working in technology for as long as I have has also taught me that Gigabit switching isn't necessarily the best choice for dinner party chit-chat.
Where do you think the channel will be in five years time? More focused, better skilled and more highly differentiated. I wouldn't be surprised to see more vendors adopting a 100 per cent channel model either, or more consolidation among the larger distributors and resellers. The channel has become far clearer in presenting benefits derived from the implementation of technology, particularly customer return on investment.
Which do you think is the most influential vendor in the UK? It would have to be Microsoft in terms of its application development and web services. The .Net framework is testament to this.
Which do you think is the most influential ISV in the UK? It depends what you mean by ISV. SAP continues to have an enormous grip on IT managers and how they orchestrate business processes. Smaller operators such as FrontRange (Goldmine) have great niche applications that everyone uses, but do they have SAP's kind of influence?
Which vendor's technology do you think has changed the face of IT? Skype has enabled users to make voice calls over broadband. Net calling is transforming the comms and IT industry and how people in the business and consumer world communicate.
How do you unwind or spend your spare time? I play music, but when I'm told to shut up I listen to it instead.
Where is your favourite place to eat? Nothing beats a home cooked dinner, especially after all those hotel meals I have to endure.
What is your favourite drink? A visit to the Latin Quarter and throw in a slice of lemon on ice.
What is your favourite TV programme or film? The Godfather Parts I and II. From the direction, to the acting and the storyline, The Godfather has the word 'classic' written all over it.
Who is your favourite musician, band, artist or genre? Sting. He's an artist who has changed with the times.
What is your favourite book? Remember Me by Christopher Pike.
What career would you have pursued if you hadn't worked in the channel? I'd probably have taken up law. It is a great field for people who like to read, write and talk - and get paid plenty for it.
What has been your greatest business achievement? Developing the D-Link brand to become more recognised in the UK and Ireland market.
What is your personal ambition? To run my own full marketing solutions agency, providing a breadth of creative solutions to the SME area.