Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 31 | Page 60

The world has shifted in recent months, and as such, partners’ and customers’ needs have shifted in response to this new environment. shifted in response to this new environment. Partners are looking for value, consolidating vendors and asking how they can simplify their offerings to minimise costs and pass these savings onto their customers. Channel partners want, and need, a vendor who provides a holistic platform of services and can add value and solve for immediate challenges. What is your management philosophy? Fostering an open and fun work environment where people are encouraged to collaborate and work together as a team. I believe the sum of the parts is better than each individual. Being flexible and open-minded is essential and having the confidence to say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I was wrong’ is key to being humble and willing to change. I strive to foster an environment where people enjoy coming to work (which is even more paramount in our new remote work environment) and are respectful of their teammates and our partners – and ultimately want to deliver a quality experience every day. When you look back at your career, what has been the most memorable achievement? I have been fortunate to have worked through several disruptive periods – during the dot.com boom, I worked in the gaming industry when console games outsold cinema blockbusters. Then during the cloud transformation era (which continues), These defining events set the stage for my career and helped me adapt to working in ambiguous environments and embracing change. helping partners adapt from an on-prem world to a cloud-first world. These defining events set the stage for my career and helped me adapt to working in ambiguous environments and embracing change. What made you think of a career in technology? In all truth, I fell into the IT industry when a friend of mine encouraged me to apply for a role at their company. It was a lucky event, as I have been fortunate to have had amazing experiences working across four continents – Australia, Latin America, Asia and now Europe. The IT industry is a global and progressive landscape that has taken me outside of my comfort zone and allowed me to learn and work with channel partners all over the globe. What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2020? How COVID-19 has affected the world we work in and how MSPs and IT companies adapted to an immediate and changing environment. The cloud enabled customers to be productive overnight and reminded us all about the importance of being connected, while teaching us new and improved ways to collaborate and communicate through these challenging times. What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work? In a pre-COVID world, I liked to spend time travelling, exploring the world and the cities around me, as well as swimming and spending time with friends and family. Right now, reading and jigsaw puzzles have been thrown into the mix. • 60