SECRETS OF MY SUCCESS
Ian McEwan Vice president EMEA, FrontRange Solutions
VitAL: Name, company and job title please? Married? Kids? Ian McEwan: Ian McEwan, vice president, EMEA for FrontRange Solutions. I’m married to Jane and have four boys aged from nine to 19 years old.
VitAL: What got you started in IT? IM: It was an accident. I wasn’t enjoying being in the family business. Engineering didn’t inspire me. So I went off to do rock climbing and skiing. Then I realised that one day I’d have to be sensible and grow up so I started in pre-sales at Magic Solutions, supporting their Helpdesk offering.
VitAL: Was there any one person or organisation that was your inspiration? IM: It’s hard to choose just one. When I was at Remedy Corporation, two people infl uenced me, Larry Garlick, the CEO and Dick Cahill who was the VP for international sales and marketing. Larry showed me the importance of having a simple vision with good products, and Dick had a focus on coaching and development; I learned the ropes through him. I attribute much of my success to them both.
VitAL: What was your fi rst IT job, what was your fi rst major IT triumph? IM: Although my fi rst IT job was at Magic Solutions, I think that it was at Remedy that I learned the satisfaction of providing real business value. I convinced a customer to re-evaluate his current solution by talking his language – really getting to the core of his organisation’s challenges – and he chose our solution. I never looked back after that. Of course, it’s always good to close a big monetary value deal too. There was a government organisation which spent a seven-fi gure sum with me.
VitAL: Did you ever make any embarrassing mistakes? What did you learn from them? IM: I remember once trying to position a solution with a customer and it soon became obvious that they knew far more about what I was telling them than I did. I realised then the importance of aligning technology with business challenges, and immersed myself in ITIL and cloud principles. I expect the same of others around me in my organisation.
VitAL: What do you like best about your job? IM: The thing I like best about my job is re-engineering the business around the customer. A good day for me is spent with customers.
VitAL: What is your biggest ambition? IM: Apart from skiing for Great Britain, I aim to strike a balance between work and family life. I try to encourage my children to fulfi l their potential.
VitAL: What are your hobbies or interests? IM: Apart from music, hill walking and ski coaching, I am passionate about rock climbing – mostly in Ireland and Scotland. In my younger years, I climbed five new routes that no-one had succeeded at before. Every now and again I see if I can still make it up them.
Oh, and I have an 81-year old mistress called Zero who’s made from mahogany and is based at Runnymede. She’s a motor launch.
VitAL: What is the secret of your success? IM: Hiring good people and setting realistic expectations with both customers and staff.
VitAL: Ian McEwan, thank you very much.
I remember once trying to position a solution with a customer and it soon became obvious that they knew far more about what I was telling them than I did. I realised then the importance of aligning technology with business challenges, and immersed myself in ITIL and cloud principles. I expect the same of others around me in my organisation.
64 VitAL : March / April 2012
www.vital-mag.net
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