Channel Awards: Q&A with Softcat CEO Graham Charlton

The reseller chief exec tells CRN about his biggest challenges of 2023

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

CRN's heritage, and the fact that these awards are judged by people who know the Channel inside out, mean these awards are the Oscars of our industry. Therefore winning means so much to the organisation but, more importantly, to our people. It is recognition that they have done an outstanding job against terrific competition.

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

Continuing to grow and take share in an at times difficult market and against a host of new and innovative competitors too. Most importantly, we've done it through a focus, as always, on our culture and by putting our people first.

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

Making hybrid working deliver a best of both worlds outcome for our people and the company was always going to a be a big test. The attitude our people have taken towards that and found the right balance has been great to see.

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

There's lots going on under the bonnet - things like the advent of marketplaces and the rise of consumption-based models are changing the operating model. It's also been great to see the drive towards a more inclusive employment environment get real traction. We've a lot more to do on that front as well but I can certainly see great traction within Softcat there and indeed more broadly.

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

AI will be a big theme and it will have an effect far beyond the application layer - stretching into security, client devices and the datacentre. We've build a proposition that covers all of those areas and I believe is as broad and deep as any in our market - that's massively exciting.