Channel Chief of the Year: Who are you backing?

Pure Storage's Gary Matson, HP's Neil Sawyer and Dell's Rob Tomlin in three-way tussle for CRN Channel Awards' only people's choice category

A top channel chief can make the difference between success and failure for their partners, acting as their advocate, fixing any issues they encounter, connecting them with other partners and stakeholders, and generally helping them grow and prosper in any way they can.

In light of this, the UK channel chief who has made the biggest impact among their partner base over the last 12 months will be honoured at this year's CRN Channel Awards.

And it's down to you, our audience, to determine who wins.

Email [email protected] and [email protected] to cast your vote on which of our three shortlisted finalists should lift the trophy at Battersea Park on 14 November (you must be a partner, not a vendor employee, for your vote to count).

The Channel Chief of the Year Award is the only ‘people's choice' award at the Channel Awards.

Although a wide variety of names were put forward for the award during the nomination phase, this trio were singled out repeatedly.

The winner will be determined based on a mixture of your testimonies, and your votes leading up to the Channel Awards.

The rest of the Channel Awards shortlist will be announced on 23 August.

Snippets from just some of the testimonials received during the nomination phase have been reproduced below with the nominee's permission.

Meet the three finalists

1) Gary Matson, director, Channel Sales EMEA Core Markets, Pure Storage

Partner testimonials:

Leigh Bialik, London Enterprise managing director, Natilik:

Gary is a hugely positive force, and an excellent ambassador for Pure Storage and the overall channel ecosystem.

Gary's understanding of our organisation and his engagement levels were prominent from our very first engagement. That was the shining light for me. Most channel executives are all about the numbers, but Gary knows building relationships is the key to success.

The entire sales force is personally connected to Gary; he's taken the time to get to know them each individually. I've never had my team so positive about an all-day training session - it actually delivers value!

Andy Emmett, UK vendor manager, Proact IT:

He embodies what Pure Storage is trying to take to its partners: he wants to be in a successful partnership, and he wants the best for us as an organisation, which is very reassuring.

Bill McGloin, chief technologist, Computacenter:

Gary is very good at engaging with partner channels, and not just Computacenter but the wider partner community too. He encourages his team to be active in partner events, including some of my more informal gatherings, which he knows suit our community best and work well. He's also directly involved himself, and key in enabling Pure Storage to cultivate sustainable relationships.

A refreshing aspect of Gary's professionalism is that he does what he says he'll do. Any time I've asked him for anything, he follows up on it.

Tim Jeans, head of specialist sales, Softcat:

I believe Gary represents a new breed of channel managers; understands the idiosyncrasies of different partners, makes time to ensure a shared understanding of how partner and vendor priorities align, and takes a flexible approach to maximising opportunity.

When we recently struggled with a lack of bandwidth to maximise an opportunity we saw in the market, Gary managed to find the budget and resources we needed.

By that same token he does push back where necessary, especially when he thinks that a deal or project is not in our best interests.

2) Neil Sawyer: commercial channel director, HP Inc, UK&I

Partner testimonials:

John Bland, MD UK sales, SCC:

While Neil would never ordinarily be seen as your conventional channel chief, his work ethic and personable approach are always welcomed by me and the whole team at SCC. He is a huge supporter and defender of the channel business in the UK and always willing to lend a hand or share an opinion on key issues and topics.

Graeme Watt, CEO, Softcat:

Neil does an incredible job in selling HP's proposition and more importantly supporting people like Softcat to deliver on that proposition. He has an amazing ability to relate to everyone I come across no matter their position or seniority. He is one of those people who always has time for his partners, on top of which he devotes a considerable amount of energy to CSR-related topics - most notably gender diversity, environmental and various charitable causes.

His manner is always cheerful and considered - he is an outstanding champion for the channel and within the channel and I can't speak highly enough of the positive impact he has on the UK technology industry.

Mark Symth, COO, Apogee:

Before Neil Sawyer was in post, we viewed HP in a very different way than we do today: a little stand-offish and a little arrogant and not too willing to get in the trenches with us and fight to win business. Since Neil's appointment the whole dynamic of HP has changed completely, and we love it.

Under Neil's leadership the organisation has become much more human, open and willing to listen - and more importantly to help, honest and enthusiastic. During our quarterly business reviews at which Neil is is always in attendance (doesn't happen everywhere) he always offers up ideas and initiatives that we perhaps hadn't thought of that more often than not turn out to be an idea we implement.

Simon Harbridge, CEO, Stone:

Neil's personal involvement and his undoubted passion and energy for our business demonstrates to me his genuine investment in helping us reach our goals together and I have full confidence in his personal integrity and long-term commitment to our partnership. His intelligent leadership style and vision has been key in us building such a solid relationship between our two organisations based on openness and trust.

Stuart Dean, sales director, Servium:

Neil has a really positive, can-do attitude and is always genuinely interested in your business and how HP can help support your growth. He attends all the QBRs and gives his considered opinion on how we can continue to grow in collaboration. Neil is a real asset to the channel. I'm sure there are other vendor channel bosses who could learn a lot from his approach to partners.

3) Rob Tomlin: vice president UK & Ireland channel, Dell Technologies

Partner testimonials:

Andy Carty, head of public sector sales, Nviron:

Rob had a hard job from the start, following Sarah Shields into the UK role after Sarah's trailblazing success in leading the channel from strength to strength in Dell UK. Thankfully for Nviron, Rob has been a fantastic supporter of our business from the start after recognising the potential for Nviron to be further developed from Platinum Partner to Titanium Partner.

Paul Cameron, sales director, Tectrade:

Nobody gets the role of channel more than he does; he leads from the front and inspires people to collaborate, innovate and transform. No problem is too small for him to personally take ownership of, despite the size of the business he leads.

He's a straight talker, but fair, and is willing to go the extra mile to make sure the team (and I include myself as being part of his team despite working for a different organisation) is clear on direction and strategy. He also injects a sense of fun and humanity into the role which some people forget as they rise through the ranks. Frankly there's nobody else I know better placed to win this award.

Zalika Miller, EMEA partner manager, WWT:

WWT have worked with Rob Tomlin as a partner for the last six years, while at Tech Data and now more recently at Dell Technologies. In both roles Rob has made a huge impact to the growth of our business.

Graeme Watt, CEO, Softcat

Rob is a brave executive - never afraid to take a risk or put a ton of energy behind a new initiative. He gets stuff done and doesn't let dreary people stop him from making progress. In a short time his impact at Dell has been profound and I expect him to have a bright and impressive career with Dell after years of success in distribution.

John Armstrong, group managing director, Computerworld:

Given Dell's channel strategy it was particularly pleasing that they chose to hire someone who was fully conversant and immersed within the typical challenges a channel partner has to tackle on a frequent basis.

The wealth of experience Rob has gained operating within the reseller/MSP channel gave us the immediate confidence that he would transition into his new role smoothly and without a prolonged settling-in period. This confidence was well placed on our part as within weeks, rather than months, Rob was fully up to speed in terms of helping support both the reactive challenges that required executive involvement within Dell, as well as building on the pro-active channel development strategy that really helps differentiate our business.