Watt, Graeme

A-List 2006

Job title: President Europe.

Company: Bell Microproducts.

Year of birth: 1961.

Place of birth: Edinburgh.

Career outline: I had roles at First Software, Frontline Distribution, Computer 2000 and Tech Data UK.

What motivates you every morning to get up and work in the channel? The change, the opportunities, the surprises and the people.

What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years? BlackBerrys and whiteboards.

What will be the most underrated technology in the next five years? Voice over IP.

Which technology would you most like to have invented? The electric pepper mill.

Do you have any regrets from your time in the industry? None.

If you could swap places with anyone in the industry, who would it be? Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple. Cool company, cool products, cool location.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced in your career? Dealing with IT recession in the early 2000s and managing Hewlett-Packard’s rebate changes.

What is the biggest success of your career? Growth and profitability of Computer 2000 in the UK in the late 1990s. More lately, the acquisition and measured integration of OpenPSL into Bell Micro.

What piece of technology could you not live without? Satellite navigation.

What would be your advice to anyone starting a career in IT? Be convinced by the direction the company is going in and be comfortable with the company culture.

What would you like for Christmas if you could have anything? A second home somewhere in rural France.

What is your favorite karaoke song? Yellow Submarine, by the Beatles.

What would be the title of your autobiography? You Watt?

Do you have any phobias? Yes. Anything to do with planes and leaping out of them.

How many beers before you fall over? 6.

Number of staff you manage? 800.

What is your golf handicap? 20.

What car do you drive? Mercedes CLK Cabriolet.

Number of air miles you have? Too many.