What is your industry background (career path)?
I’ve been in the IT Services Industry for 30 years, firstly (and briefly!) as an engineer, but primarily in customer facing management roles. I realised fairly early on that I was only an adequate technician. My strengths have always been in managing challenges and communicating with people, management seemed the right choice! I have worked in both large Network Integration businesses and smaller, very focused Professional Services organisations, both US and UK based, latterly in roles such as Ops/Services Director, Managing Director and a non-exec for a previous company. I think the diversity has helped me enormously in developing a balanced view of the world, and the markets we serve.
How did you come to join Intact Integrated Services?
I was looking for my next challenge and spoke to a few of my contacts in the industry. I like to work with people I can trust to share my beliefs, and one of my previous bosses had recently joined the Datatec Group. We spoke about his aspirations and the group’s plans, and I was sold.
What are your current impressions of the business?
We have been able to expand our geographic presence markedly over the last couple of years, with Intact now operating in four countries across three continents. With our INspan delivery model now fully proven as the standard setter in global deployment capabilities, we are even more becoming the ideal partner of choice for the channel. Whether the challenges faced by our customers are based on technology, geography, or sheer project complexity, Intact now have answers across the whole project lifecycle.
How would you describe your style of management?
Strong, but open. I am a huge enthusiast for this business, and love to share it, and I recognise that entails listening as well as talking (although I have sometimes been accused of going on a bit…). I am always keen to get feedback from the people I work with, and always try to incorporate that feedback in my decisions. That been said, this isn’t a democracy. The buck stops with me and I have to go with what I believe is the right thing to do. Let’s settle for a benign dictatorship.
How do you communicate with employees, and keep them motivated?
Communication is for me more of a hobby than a duty, and to use a somewhat hackneyed phrase, my door is (almost) always open. We do, however, all need a little process in our lives to ensure that we are consistent. We hold management meetings once a month, and I hold meetings for all employees at least once a quarter. The format is open and very two way. I much prefer communication to be face-to-face, failing that the phone is a good second string, e-mail has to be a very poor third in my book.
What is your biggest challenge at present?
The challenging markets of the last couple of years have presented issues for everyone in the industry. As a channel enablement business we see first-hand impacts that the global financial problems have had right across all industry sectors. These are forcing our customers to seek new efficiencies, new market areas, new technologies. Our challenge is to continue to support them in their own aspirations for change and growth, and even to help drive some of that change.
How is the industry evolving, and how will Intact Integrated Services ensure its success?
Many factors outside of the global financial challenges we all face are driving change in our market. The market relationships amongst our customer base are evolving rapidly, and many who were once collaborators are now fierce competitors. Intact increasingly stands alone as a high quality, high capability, low risk partner to support organisations across the Telco, SI and Outsourcer sectors. We will continue to evolve our service offerings to support our customers in expanding their capabilities and market opportunities. Right services, right price, on time and to the highest quality standards. Easy really!
What are partners looking for when they approach IIS?
Professionalism, quality and results. Although a significant organisation in our own right, we can often exhibit, and deliver, a level of response and flexibility to our Service Integration Solutions that our partners struggle to replicate in-house. We take pride in blending imagination, enthusiasm and passion with our technical competence, and demonstrate that daily to our partners.
What are your personal aspirations for the future?
Intact is by far the most exciting company I have ever had the pleasure to work in. I take enormous pride in leading it, and feel hugely responsible to our employees and partners in continuing to succeed with and for them. I am one of those very lucky individuals who can count many of his colleagues as friends, and working with them to make Intact absolutely pre-eminent in IT Services will do for now.
What are your personal interests / inspirations?
My wife Karen and I love to travel, both with our rather extended family and, when the opportunity arises, on our own. It’s not just the places we visit, but above all the people we meet when we get there, and along the way. The world is a fascinating place, and, if you approach it with an open mind, rewards with untold riches.
