Chief executive, Viglen
Career so far I have been with Sir Alan Sugar for 23 years. I set up Amstrad Australia. Within two years of starting the company we became the number one PC vendor in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to that I set up Commodore Computers and Atari in Australia. Before that I had my own dealership, selling in the early days of Commodore Pets. Prior to that I was a techie working on IBM mainframes.
Do you care about green IT? Absolutely, on both a personal and a business level. I think it is important for the future and we have to do our bit - no matter how small or big that "bit" is. It is a social responsibility for both ourselves and our customers.
If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? I would be Anthony from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? The Monaco Grand Prix - I was in Australia at the time and was flown first class by a media company to the UK and we lived on a yacht in Monaco for four days.
Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? Not for us - we have been fortunate. Our year-on-year growth is plus 35 per cent. It has been tight on margins but we are seeing volume growth and huge customer wins. We are looking forward to a good 2010.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? I predicted that if the Viglen team remained positive and got stuck in, then we could beat the tier one players at their own game. And we have.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? I think 2010 has got be about ASP (average selling prices). Trying to maintain margin in this climate. If the channel doesn't watch itself they will cut each other's throat. The channel needs to make sure it is not focusing on tin - it has to focus on adding value. Stick to the knitting. Make sure you get into a battle you can win and survive - there is no point being killed for one deal.
What is the best part of your day? All of it. After 5.30pm when the phones go quiet I can focus on getting the backlog done and going through emails. I can get some yield done and some thinking time. But I also like the cut and thrust of the day - the pace and the speed. It is like the yin and the yang - you need one to appreciate the other.
