'Why I've been in the channel for 27 years'

Channel executive unveils what has kept him in the industry for nearly three decades as he takes on new role

Channel veteran Sean Fane has claimed that the channel's fast-paced nature compared with other industries has kept him deeply engaged for years as he assumes a new role at solutions provider M-Tech.

With 27 years of sales and business experience in the channel, Fane now joins M-Tech as non-executive director, a role he will fulfil alongside consulting work for channel firms.

Formerly managing director of Citrix distributor IQ-Sys, which was acquired by SCH and later sold to Tech Data, Fane hopes his channel background can now assist M-Tech.

"The channel is such a fast-moving industry," he told CRN. "After you have been in the IT industry and understand the product life cycles, you see companies flex to the demands of the times, which might be around security, storage or computing.

"When you are in the channel and you are running along at this pace, helping to solve problems and implement the best solutions, it feels like that's what the whole world is like. It is only when you step out of that, do you realise the industry is uniquely fast paced and deeply interesting."

Fane said the IT channel suits people who have a hunger for knowledge and are energetic, restless people looking to "provide the best in something".

"I have consulted for firms in other industries and those industries are so slow and pedestrian compared with the IT industry," he said.

"This is particularly true if you work at a reseller or distributor, where one minute you could be providing a legacy storage application and the next minute something new comes along and you need to figure out how to become involved."

Fane said he has learned a great deal about the challenges channel organisations face after his lengthy career in the industry.

"I ran IQ-Sys for 14 years, from when it was a £400,000-a-year firm and built it to be the largest and most successful Citrix distributor in EMEA. We did that through developing solutions and working very closely with a set of resellers," he said.

"Along the way I have worked with them through the ups and downs of being a reseller, how they optimised their professional services revenue, and how they made sure they are relevant in today's market," said Fane.

"So this has become something I know quite well and I have seen so many resellers go through these growth stages, so when the M-Tech role came along, I knew I had this accumulative experience about the channel to offer."

Fane, who started working at a London-based reseller when he was 22, has recently been working as a channel consultant too, assisting distributors and vendors in optimising their routes to market.