Viva Las Vegas

Nevada's capital is party town but the best way to arrive is by motorbike, according to Fiona McCormick

What was your first job, and how did you get into IT?
Sales administrator at Commodore Business Machines. Who remembers the PET and the Commodore 64? (Oh dear, I am getting old!)

Planes, trains or automobiles?
Can I have a custom motorbike, please. Wind in your hair, bugs in your teeth, and the look on the guys' faces when you pull up on a big chopper!

What could prompt you to give it all up and join the revolution?
Not a lot right now. As a friend often said, with a Scottish accent: "The things you see when you havnae a gun."

What is your favourite joke or the one you heard most recently?
Just too disgusting to share, sorry.

What was your best business trip or junket ever?
Oh, it has got to be Las Vegas, two days after I joined the company. Never been before, flew in at night which is spectacular, and then just had great fun as you do in Las Vegas!

What was the best holiday you ever went on?
Safari to the Kruger. I saw all the Big Five and had the best guide, just like the guy out of Daktari. Yes, I'm showing my age again.

If you had a week to live, how would you fill it?
I would like to gather all my friends together on the island of Skiathos and have a big party on the Bourtzi. I think it would be fascinating to see how they all get along. Should be about five of them on a good day!

"I never..." ... did it.

"I always..."
...try to do my best, and ask myself, ‘in any given situation would I want this done to me?'.

Will we see businesses take green ICT more seriously this year?
No, they know they should but they are so rammed with other projects. Unless the government puts a serious charge on they will just keep letting it slip.

Will the economic recovery continue?
What economic recovery? I believe that the economic recovery will falter over the next year or so as the new government gets to grips with what the outgoing government did not tackle.

What does the channel most need to learn to succeed and grow this year?
For the channel to be truly successful it needs to become more proactive in its approach. As corporations continue to suffer staff cut-backs, and spending freezes, it is going to be essential for sales people to learn how to cross-sell and up-sell -- and not just by selling the products of the Tier One vendors. If they don't adapt we will likely see many resellers go to the wall.

Fiona McCormick is UK channel sales manager at Abbyy