Ann Keefe

Regional director - UK & Ireland, Kingston Technology

Career so far

I've been at Kingston for 17 years. Before that I was in sales at Datrontech, AST and Compaq.

What was your first job and were you any good at it?

I had a Saturday job in Dolcis and yes, I sold lots of shoes. Perhaps I should have stayed in the footwear industry - with the staff discount I could have saved a small fortune on my shoe collection.

My colleagues won't know this about me but...

I'm just about to invest in a camper van.

What is your favourite snack?

All food is good - especially at the moment as I'm on a diet to ensure that I fit into my dress for the Channel Awards.

What has been your career high point to date?

Being invited to join the CRN A-List, of course!

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?

A bit of each really. There have been a lot of challenges along the way for the whole industry but we have launched several new programmes investing with our channel partners this year which have succeeded in bringing us all new business.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living? It depends who is asking. I'm usually vague and say that I work in IT sales.

If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... o

On a road trip in my camper van.

What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014?

Power consumption is an issue that is increasingly in the spotlight. One way that an organisation can achieve energy efficiency is by correctly configuring their server environment. At Kingston we have the tools available to help address the issues of power saving. By engaging with us at an early stage our channel partners can help their customers to overcome this challenge - to make them more efficient and ultimately save them money.