Channel Awards: Q&A with David Watts at TD SYNNEX

SVP and regional managing director for the UK and Ireland tells CRN about his company's proudest achievement

Why do you think awards like the Channel Awards matter? What would winning this award mean to your company?

The awards process forces - in the most positive way - organisations to reflect on the achievements of the last year. It is all too easy to reflect in the short-term and then forget what you've achieved and move on. The awards provide a platform to shout about everything you've done over the year. When you're shortlisted, and if you're lucky enough to win, it provides a great opportunity to remind your co-workers of their collective achievements, to recognise them, and to create a sense of pride within the organisation.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

Receiving the Great Place to Work accreditation is something we are very proud of achieving this year. That's something we'll continue to try to be in every way we can.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2023 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

The whole channel has been challenged by the combined forces of inflation, product shortages, a decline in PC demand, skill shortages and the unpredictability of the market growth. We have overcome those challenges by remaining focused on our strategic priorities but recognising the need to also be flexible and adopt a different approach when its required.

How do you think the channel has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

The channel continues to become more socially conscious - accelerating efforts in DEI and the focus on sustainability. At the same time, as technology become more complex and customers become more demanding of IT, we see the pursuance of more and more partnerships within the channel and enabling partners to ensure great service and the right solution for their customers.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the channel in the coming year? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

We expect to see continued growth in cloud and in security and in areas such as hybrid propositions that offer the best of both cloud and on-premises consumption models. AI is obviously going to be a big area of activity over the coming year as well. We'll continue to champion sustainability and DEI in our own business and across the channel. Underpinning all of that, we remain focused on our co-workers and on delivering a great service to all our customers.