As a 100 % channel organisation , our partners are the lifeblood of our business .
In parallel , hybrid cloud will emerge as the standard operating model endusers seek to adopt . This is largely due to a maturation in the thinking and strategy underlying cloud adoption where customers understand some applications and workloads are suited to public cloud , while others are more suited to private or onpremise deployments .
What is your management philosophy ?
Perhaps the best way to describe my management style is the ‘ Ted Lasso ’ approach to management . If you ’ ve never watched the series – which I highly recommend – Lasso ’ s approach can be summed up in three ways . The first is to lead with empathy . I always seek to put myself in other people ’ s shoes so I can understand their challenges and their goals from their standpoint . With that understanding , we can work together towards a common goal as partners .
The second is related to the first , and that is the idea of a flat hierarchy . In my eyes , everyone brings their own unique experience to the table and these experiences should all be considered with the same weight . And finally , I seek to empower those I work with to achieve their best . I ’ m not a micromanager and nor do I enjoy being micromanaged myself . By empowering partners and colleagues to achieve their best , in their own way , we collectively achieve far more than if I were to dictate how things should be done .
When you look back at your career , what has been the most memorable achievement ?
One common thread throughout my IT career is that I ’ ve always been passionate about building things : whether that ’ s a team , a process , or a vendor ’ s presence in a new market . A few highlights that stand out for me where I ’ ve been able to build on what was there before me include my first leadership role at Express Data where I led the NSW sales team and had the opportunity to mentor a new generation of people starting their IT careers .
Lastly , joining the team at Rubrik is a highlight as I ’ m leading the Australia and New Zealand channel programme and have the ability to take all I ’ ve learned throughout my career and build a channel programme that truly puts partners centre stage .
What made you think of a career in technology ?
A lot of people who work in IT talk about how they fell into the industry by accident , but for me , technology has always been my passion .
This started from the moment I first typed the command “ LOAD “*”, 8,1 ” into my Commodore 64 . From then on , I knew this was the industry for me .
One of the best things about a career in technology is that no day is the same as the last .
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2022 ?
In one word : ransomware . Over the past 18 months we ’ ve seen ransomware attacks grow with no end in sight and a litany of headlines from across the globe drive home how critical the threat is almost every single week . Across the industry , there ’ s an understanding dawning those thick walls of perimeter defences are failing . The focus is now shifting to ensuring operations and business-critical data can be rapidly recovered from immutable backups following an attack . Underpinning this understanding is the shift towards zero-trust models of data management .
What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work ?
Outside of work , my greatest achievement is raising four children . This is where you ’ ll find me when I ’ m not working . When I ’ m not entertaining – or being entertained by – my children , I ’ m passionate about the latest in consumer technology , particularly home automation .
I currently have almost 50 automated home devices , everything from smart lights , blinds , awnings , robot vacuum cleaners , speakers , cameras and irrigation systems hooked into my home environment .
I ’ m always looking for the next thing to integrate , and one day we ’ ll finally achieve a level of home automation akin to The
Jetsons – which will then give me even more time to spend with my family . •
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