Mark Armstrong
Vice president sales, HPE
What was your dream career as a child?
A spy. I still have my Warlord "Sir Peter Flint" spy case - spy glasses included, if MI6 are recruiting.
What has been your personal highlight of 2019?
Competing my 50 half marathons before 50 challenge.
Which famous person deserves a (gentle) slap?
Jeremy Corbyn - why not? He is intent on destroying business in this country.
What two things (apart from family) would you grab if your house was on fire?
My external hard drive with all family photos from the last 20 years on it, and my running medals.
Which of your 2019 predictions have come to pass?
I predicted that Brexit would be delayed.
What TV show have you binge watched this year?
Peaky Blinders.
How has 2019 been from a business perspective?
It's been a great year. We've moved our business towards hybrid-private and managed Datacentre-as-a-Service and it's really resonating with customers. Meanwhile, our Aruba team continue to deliver real innovation for its customers, allowing data to be captured and used in ways never previously possible at the Edge.
What annoys you most about your commute?
Coughers and splutterers.
If you could witness one past event, what would it be?
The first moon landing.
How do you explain the channel to people?
The channel offers customers real value by taking best-of-breed technologies, software and service, putting them together and delivering them as true solutions and delivering huge value. To suppliers they offer the ability to reach markets at scale far quicker and more efficiently then with a direct salesforce alone.
What have been your favourite and least favourite partner conference destinations?
Miami Beach - perfect; Disneyland Paris in November - dismal.
What is the biggest challenge facing the channel in 2020?
Keeping up with the pace of change from both vendors and customer, and having to be more and more discretionary about which investments to take to stay at the forefront.
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