What the CIO of Williams F1 team seeks in his suppliers

Graeme Hackland opens up on how IT suppliers can win him over

What does your company do, and what is your role there?

Williams is both a Formula 1 team and an Advanced Engineering company - applying F1 derived technology to a wide range of the world's toughest problems.

I am Graeme Hackland, Group Chief Information Office.

What traits do you seek in your IT suppliers?

True partnership (not just lip service) is the most important trait! Suppliers who have a vested interest in my success make the best partners.

What are your main dos and don'ts for resellers and other IT suppliers when they are selling to you?

PLEASE stop cold-calling me - I have over 60 approaches a day from suppliers who want to sell to me - phone calls, emails and various social platforms are used to bring me their "must have" service/technology to my attention.

When we are looking for a new partner, we use our Peer Networks (every CIO I talk to does this!); Analysts and journalists and then finally the pre-existing relationships within the supplier community.

How can IT suppliers best influence you early in the sales cycle?

Timing is everything, being chased by suppliers when I am not in the market for their services/solutions is time-wasting.

Can you give an example of a project where an IT supplier has really impressed you? What did they get right?

In 2014, Williams were hit by two malware attacks (one in the network and one on a single laptop) - we went to the market to ensure any future attack couldn't get to our backups.

We looked at four different vendors' solutions but quickly identified Acronis as meeting all of our technical requirements - we then engage their sales teams to get the right deal.

Technical fit is always the most important criteria, but boy it makes life easier when you're dealing with like-minded people!

Do you generally prefer to procure as many IT goods and services as possible from a single supplier, or work with multiple specialists?

Williams tend to work with multiple suppliers who can bring us world class solutions in the ultra-competitive timeframes in both Formula 1 and our Advanced Engineering customer-led projects.