Darren Grasby
Career so far I've so far spent more than 20 years in the PC component business. I joined AMD in 2007, heading up graphics strategy in EMEA, then EMEA partner and channel/component sales strategy, and now worldwide channel/component sales.
If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? Given my worldwide role, maybe Richard Branson so I could have my own airline, both to save time at airports and for a nice holiday on my very own private island for the week.
Cloud - friend or foe? Cloud computing is driving a fundamental shift in the datacentre. It is a huge opportunity and therefore a definite friend in this exciting phase for any company playing in the server space. Industry analysts predict that the technology will generate huge revenues in years to come, and offer plenty of opportunities for businesses.
For AMD in particular, this is an exciting time as we recently announced we are shipping our 16-core Interlagos processors. This is a monumental moment for the industry as this first ‘Bulldozer' core represents the beginning of unprecedented performance scaling for x86 CPUs. The flexible new architecture will give web and datacentre customers the scalability they need to handle emerging cloud and virtualisation workloads.
Has 2011 been as bad as everyone said it would be? While the past year has had its fair share of challenges, for those channel partners who have ‘seized the day' and taken advantage of opportunities, there have been a number of successes. For example, we launched our first Fusion APUs which received a great response and have continued to be a great success throughout 2011. Although I would not want to under-play the difficulties of the last year, we've come through tougher times.
What would you have as your last meal? A really good steak and an expensive bottle of red wine never fail.
Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with? Given the dismal performance of the England rugby team, maybe a quick tactics discussion with Martin Johnson and a couple of dwarfs to take notes.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? At the beginning of the year, I predicted that 2011 would be a challenge due to economic uncertainty that was continuing at the end of last year, with particular focus on currency fluctuations. These have almost become part of daily life in channel management for our partners.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2012? Honestly I see similar challenges this year as predicted last year. Currency and economic woes unfortunately will still be there. Channel partners will have some bumpy roads ahead. Here at AMD we, through innovation, are delivering on our promises of solid products and effective programs to help the channel through these uncertain times.
What is the best part of your day? My two boys have now hit secondary school so they seem to have a lot more homework that I try and help them with in the evenings. It keeps me on my toes as I don't always have the answers, but it's fun exploring with them and a good refresher for me. For those of you who have not looked at Year 10 maths recently, it's an eye opener.