Kevin Sparks

Director, UK/I channel and national service providers, Dell EMC

What is your greatest career move to date?

Moving to EMC to build the national service provider business, and securing the channel lead role.

What has changed most since you started working in the channel?

Cloud, the opportunity for clients to change their IT spend from capex to opex, and flexibly consume IT on demand. Changing the client behaviour around ‘investment' in technology versus ‘cost' of technology.

How do you think Brexit is going to affect the channel?

There will be impact, based mainly on currency. Selling on an international basis could challenge some, and the input costs may vary depending on origin of manufactured equipment.

What is your least favourite task during the working day?

My commute, unless it's in the car and I can sing along to Radio 2's 1980s and 90s classics.

If you were an animal, what would you be?

A tiger. They are steely and patient, but can move at pace depending on the situation in hand.

If you won the big one on EuroMillions, what would you do?

Speak to my wife, pack our bags and go straight to the airport for a round-the-world trip.

What is your worst habit?

Using multiple coffee cups and forgetting where I have put them.

How has 2016 been for you?

A good year overall. Many of our partners have continued to be extremely loyal to EMC and help drive incremental partner found business. We are on plan, which is great. The creation of Dell Technologies and the role EMC plays within that has brought a lot of excitement, even greater technology and a great future ahead for IT transformation, helping our client modernise IT delivery. Meanwhile we still see great traction across all verticals in private/hybrid cloud.

If you didn't work in the IT channel, what would be your dream career?

Restoring heritage property for the next generation. Too many beautiful buildings are being destroyed; we need to maintain architecture as a fabric of society.

What major issues will the channel face in 2017?

Profit, ensuring that they deliver ‘value' in the eyes of the customer. Partners who play the agnostic card too often will fail to inspire confidence in customers who need to make changes to their IT. Cloud, and making sure that the channel ‘completes' the solution, not deliver part of the solution and let the customer sort out the rest.

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