CHANNEL CHIEF
Building SonicWall
from ground zero
Shahnawaz Sheikh joined SonicWall 13 years ago and has
built up its business since then. By Arun Shankar.
Shahnawaz Sheikh is
Sales and Channel
Director META and
Eastern Europe
at SonicWall.
A
s the Sales and Channel Director
at SonicWall, Shahnawaz Sheikh
manages distribution and the
channel in addition to sales and pre-sales
teams from emerging countries. His current
role includes bringing SonicWall into the
next phase of growth through his baseline
of experience and success. His present goal
demands the best areas of execution so that
results are positive and rapid.
The parts that give him the best job
satisfaction are ensuring consistent and
streamlined run-rate business growth,
quarter-on-quarter, coupled with
successful closure of projects every month.
“Maintaining consistency and clarity of
messaging to channel partners, across a
huge multicultural, multilingual region, is
a challenge I relish,” he says.
Sheikh’s first big move into the
regional IT industry was in 2001, when
he joined the online division of Westcon
Distribution. He joined SonicWall in 2004
and has built its business from ground zero
into its 14th year running. Looking back
at his career, Sheikh sees many successes,
challenges and missed opportunities that
he encountered.
But if he was to pick one singular
memorable moment on which to reflect,
it was at the very beginning of his career
with SonicWall, when he had to establish
and build the foundations for SonicWall in
the region. Some 13 years later, he feels the
efforts and passion that he put in at that
time are still paying off today.
Sheikh started his career in information
technology after graduating in electronics
and completing a higher diploma in
software engineering. His first career
step was to be a programmer in Cobol,
Clipper and Foxpro. Now well embedded
in mainstream technology and the regional
IT industry, Sheikh believes the technology
hot spot across 2017 is ransomware,
Maintaining
consistency
and clarity of
messaging to
channel partners
is a challenge
that I relish.
and how to save the organisation from
sophisticated zero-day threats.
Sheikh uses a focused management
style in everything he does, but is not
inclined to micromanagement. He
believes in giving freedom and space for
his team to perform, building mutual
respect, alignment and accountability. As
a team leader, his management style is to
lead by encouragement, motivation and
collaboration, sharing his experiences
and knowledge with them. “My inclusive
approach towards every challenge or
opportunity has comforted the team,
so that they know they are not alone to
tackle and overcome the difficult steps,”
he explains.
With regards to de-stressing, Sheikh
points out, “Our industry has always and
will continue to be stressful. The best
solution to this never-ending challenge
is to manage the inevitable stress to an
acceptable level.” Leaving the phone buried
in the car seat, while taking out a few hours
to watch a movie with the family is a good
stress buster for him.
Sheikh also believes he has been able
to achieve a good balance between work
and personal life, taking time out for his
parents, wife and children, and friends.
“The evergreen child in me makes me not
only behave like a child but also indulge
in activities with kids, family and friends,
creating a laugh riot and fun for the day,”
he explains colourfully.
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