By Insight UK / 12 Nov 2019
1. Can you give us a bit of background on yourself and what you do at Insight?
I joined Insight in 1996 as an External Account Manager. I remained in a direct sales role for 18 years and loved every minute. Eventually it was time for me to look to share my knowledge and I became a Sales Manager for Insight’s Global and Enterprise business.
Within 12 months I was fortunate enough to pass the rigorous interview process to be promoted into a Sales Director role for the same area. I also led the Corporate South sales business and then the Strategic Sales business as part of Insight’s Next Generation Sales Structure. All of this was incredibly exciting, but when an opportunity came up to do something completely different, I was really motivated to see whether it was possible to transition from Sales into Operations. After four interviews I was successful and transitioned into the role of EMEA Director of Operations, a post which I have now held for 16 months. An incredible journey for me within a fantastically exciting industry and a really supportive company.
2. What tech industry trends do you predict for the next decade?
I predict the Polymorphic Simplification of Data, the Acceleration of App Inter-operability, Automation Everywhere, and Augmented Reality to become trends over the next decade.
Polymorphic Simplification of Data is ultimately an oxymoron. Data is becoming less and less simple, yet expectations are that it is more easily accessible, reportable and dynamically interrogatable to provide tangible business value. I am fascinated by seeing how organisations are starting to use data to power their processes, decisions and their client/ shareholder return.
Acceleration of App Inter-operability stems from how we work today. We no longer have one business system to do all our transactions, nor one way of doing the best thing most accurately. We are all very used to using applications in our personal lives and many of them, this fluidity is translating very rapidly into business. Connections between applications to provide seamless inter-operability and ultimately create a most efficient supply chain, data chain and client experience are critical to the success of most organisations.
Automation everywhere builds on the point above. Once a process is streamlined, the ability to remove manual intervention to provide robustness with minimal error and to allow the intelligence of our teammates to concentrate on the more complex needs of clients rather than undertake the manual, transactional procedural tasks.
3. What’s the most frustrating thing about the tech industry?
The tech industry can often come across as arrogant which perhaps gives the wrong impression – not to mention the many acronyms you need to remember.
4. What’s your earliest tech memory?
After my 1980’s Portable Pacman, it is the SLT 286 from Compaq, see image below. I fondly called it “the luggable” as you can see there is a slide out metal handle for lugging it around.
5. How would your best friend describe you in 3 words?
The three F’s of course - Focused, Funny, Fabulous
6. What one piece of tech could you not live without?
Google Search Engine – It’s not the tech that delivers it, it is the information I can have access to. I love being able to get the answer to almost anything instantly.
7. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I can teach tap dancing. I qualified in my late teens and have used this for many amateur dramatic productions where I have performed and/or choreographed.
8. What do you need to be successful in the tech industry?
You need a sense of humour, resilience, the “can do” attitude and an inquisitive
nature.
Look out for the next instalment in this series on Insight’s nominees for the Women in IT Excellence Awards
