Channel Awards 2024: Q&A with Mark McCormack, Academia

Mark McCormack discusses Academia’s nomination at this year’s Channel Awards

Mark McCormack, managing director at Academia, has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry and has been instrumental in driving Academia's growth since joining the company in 2005.

He has built and maintained strong relationships in the channel, becoming a key figure within the organisation.

In this Q&A, he discusses the importance of industry recognition through events like the CRN Channel Awards and how these accolades affirm Academia’s business strategy and team efforts.

He also highlights the company’s achievements over the past year, including gaining Great Place to Work status and expanding their services in various sectors. McCormack addresses the challenges of 2024, such as supply chain issues and digital transformation, and explains how strong partnerships and a focus on employee development have helped Academia navigate these obstacles.

Why do you think events like the Channel Awards matter? What would winning this award mean to your company?

The CRN awards add credibility to Academia as it is one of the most prestigious awards for us to win. To be recognised by your peers is the ultimate accolade – and given our success in last years’ awards, we are hungry to taste victory again!

There is no better way for us to validate that our approach works and that our pride is equally shared by every member of the Academia team.

Winning any award also exhibits our commitment to delivering innovative services and solutions by setting new standards for client success and satisfaction which is key to Academia.

What would you say is your company’s proudest achievement over the past year?

We’ve had many successes and firsts over the past year but a major accomplishment at the start of the year was achieving the Great Place to Work status, which demonstrates our commitment to continuously improve our company culture. To know that our staff feel so positively about working at Academia is the ultimate testament.

I’m also elated by some major wins for our white-glove and managed services offerings in the HE, Public Sector and Commercial space. I’m also delighted with progress on an internal vision we had 1 year ago, when we set ourselves a goal to form three staff lead committees who focus on matters such as Health and Wellbeing, Sustainability, Fundraising and Woman in Tech.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2024 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

We have experienced issues in the uncertainty of supply chain management but thanks to the strength of our distribution partnerships, we were able to tackle these to achieve positive outcomes. Part of this has been the pressures of the ongoing digital transformation approach we have been asked to undertake – whilst supporting the change, it hasn't come without some pain points. Once again, thanks to the strength of our partnerships, as well as the incredible and agile team we have at Academia, we feel we have mitigated the hurdles and are positive about negating the impact on our business.

I’m sure we will not be the only company still dealing with the fallout of the changes to our working environment, following the pandemic and a declining economy. Our goal to maintain flexibility with a healthy work/life balance is key for us when we think about talent retention and acquisition. A big part of this is supporting our team to develop their skills portfolio, allowing us to meet our growth goals in a highly competitive environment. ‘Value add’ almost feels like an old-fashioned term but to us, it is our mission to genuinely add value with every customer interaction – and of course, adding value to our strategic partners too.