COO, TSG (Technology Services Group)
What achievement are you most proud of?
For my most recent family holiday I promised myself I wouldn’t look at my emails once. I actually managed it… that’s a big achievement for me.
What has been the biggest change in the channel since you started working in it?
The vendors have become service providers by building their own clouds. It’s become cloud as a service as opposed to just being all about the products. How people access technology and what will make them more productive has become increasingly important.
What three things could you not live without?
I constantly have to be connected so I’ll go for my iPhone, my Surface Pro and the internet. What else are you supposed to do with your time?
What has been your most embarrassing moment so far?
It was this year – I was due to give a speech at Zen’s partner conference and I managed to leave my suit in a taxi. I couldn’t get it back in time so I was left with no choice but to try and pull off ‘geek chic’ in jeans and a jumper. I did not succeed.
What do your family think you do all day?
My youngest daughter thinks I fix people’s computers. While I don’t work on the support desk anymore, I do miss it from time to time!
Who is your ultimate celeb crush?
Pamela Anderson.
What is your guilty pleasure?
The fact that I still have a crush on Pamela Anderson.
What would be your first act if you were made Prime Minister?
Make 4G available in every area of the country.
Has 2015 been a good, bad or ugly year?
Mostly good. For TSG we’ve delivered some truly outstanding projects that have massively improved efficiencies for our customers and I’ve been really proud of that. The ugliness has been the large increase in cybercrime and people/businesses having their data hacked. We’ve got to hone in on the people/policies side of IT security just as much as the technical side.
If you didn’t work in the IT channel, what would you do?
I like a good debate so I think I’d train to become a barrister. It was always my dream to be a Formula 1 driver but I might have to finally admit I’m not going to make it now.
What major issues will the channel face in 2016?
There’s two for me – the Internet of Things is going to keep gathering momentum, and while there will be a lot of positive benefits to having more ‘smart’ objects, we need to be mindful of the security implications. The second is an issue we’ve had for a while, but we still haven’t got it quite right yet! It’s the ability to translate the simple and impressive benefits of a modern technology environment for our customers – we need help them make the right decisions and part of that means eliminating the jargon.
