IT Life: NetSuite Asks ‘Why Not Cloud?’

Tell us about your company and your areas of expertise?

NetSuite is the leading provider of cloud-based business management application suites for businesses of all sizes. NetSuite provides a comprehensive suite of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and ecommerce capabilities that enables businesses to run their mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. NetSuite serves as a single system for running core business operations and is targeted at businesses of all sizes. As a cloud-based, enterprise-ready business management suite, today, tens of thousands of mid-sized companies  run their business on NetSuite.

I started in the IT industry in sales and whilst I’ve had different roles over the years, the core competency which makes me successful (I believe), is my ability to listen, identify the issue, then build a plan and deliver on it. I am a very direct, transparent individual that just wants to get things “done”.

What’s the favourite IT project that you’ve ever worked on?

I don’t think I have a single favourite project – I enjoy projects where the vendor partner and customer work collaboratively as opposed to in a combative fashion, and have had the good fortune to work on many.

What technologies were you involved with 10 years ago?

Ten years ago would have been the time in which business intelligence and enterprise performance management were really starting to emerge as the tools in which people could start to really “run” their business.

What do you expect to be using in 10 years’ time?

A set of golf clubs hopefully!

What do you think is the greatest challenge for an IT company or department today?

We are going through a significant evolution – it’s becoming a “why not cloud” environment. The biggest challenge is defining the role of an IT Department in business today. The opportunity of course, is to deliver very real and measurable business value – without having to worry about who is keeping the lights on.

To cloud or not to cloud?

I actually think that the answer no longer makes any sense – from major multinational companies, and government agencies, to shopkeepers, they are all now running on the cloud. The question isn’t should you? It’s why aren’t you?

Who is your tech hero?
My tech hero really has to be Bill Gates on many levels but predominantly because he allowed me to move out of the scary world of MS/DOS into the world of point and click.

What’s your favourite device ever made and what do you use the most?

The iPhone! I am constantly moving, always connected and most importantly I am mad about music – the iPhone gives me everything I need to stay on top of my job and my music.

Apart from your own, which company do you admire the most and why?

I admire Apple, the way in which they turned around their business and created such an enormous market for themselves was phenomenal.

What did you want to be when you were a child?
A professional footballer – unfortunately I wasn’t any good!

Find out more about NetSuite here!