Drew, Kevin

A-List 2006

Job title: Managing director.

Company: Triangle.

Year of birth: 1959.

Place of birth: Helston, Cornwall.

Career outline: As of September this year, I’ve been in IT for 30 years. This includes 13 years on the customer side, employed by customers, and 17 years in the support and services channel.

What motivates you every morning to get up and work in the channel? One day, possibly, with luck and a following wind, to make some money so that I can clothe and feed my family better. I lie of course; to ‘serve’ our customers and, most importantly, our business partners.

What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years? Linux.

What will be the most underrated technology in the next five years? Business mobile working, not tunes and pop videos.

Which technology would you most like to have invented? Anything that reduces wasted time, especially travel. Star Trek got it spot on with their teleporter. Seriously, we do not need any more technology, we just need to employ and deploy it better.

Do you have any regrets from your time in the industry? Being too naive, getting carried away with the ‘hype’ of the industry, chasing too many rainbows, not using technology to change the way in which we do business.

If you could swap places with anyone in the industry, who would it be? Anyone who achieves the work/life balance in the right way. In reality, probably no one, as the bigger the job the more ‘government health warnings’ it should contain.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced in your career? Survival.

What is the biggest success of your career? Survival.

What piece of technology could you not live without? Mobile phones and PDAs.

What would be your advice to anyone starting a career in IT? Understand what the industry truly wants, get experience as quickly as possible, realise that IT is pervasive and by default it is harder and harder to make money.

What would you like for Christmas if you could have anything? A season in an F1 racing car.

What is your favourite karaoke song? Every one I sing well, which has never happened.

What would be the title of your autobiography? Strived, But Never Quite Made It.

Do you have any phobias? Yes. Work.

How many beers before you fall over? 1.

Number of staff you manage? 150.

What is your golf handicap? 99.

What car do you drive? BMW M5.

Number of air miles you have? 15,000.