The reseller as teacher

When I began my editorial career I was tutored and encouraged to think that ICT was able to improve things in general. Well I went along with that idea and, on the whole, I firmly believe that ICT is excellent when applied appropriately and correctly.

So, as I looked on more kinds of technology and solutions than I care to remember over the years, I also saw Europes industries flittering away money and  opportunities to improve their lot. This as we all know resulted in industry moving further afield and we saw our heritage as manufacturing nations going down the toilet. Even call centres, a primary employer these days have been disappearing for cheaper pastures new, but the reduction in costs initially looks great on the balance sheet for many companies

I think the IT reseller has an important role to play here in stopping the rot. Those who are talented communicators will get the ear of the influentialthat is get the attention of those people within organisations that have the ability to make their senior managers look beyond their spreadsheets and see what is going on at operational level. This is where real opportunities exist for gaining benefits and the IT reseller is the person who can show how it can be done.

Moreover, these senior managers should be helped to ask questions. Do we use a standardised and benchmarked process to measure performance between sites? How do we capture and record data across all of our operations? Can we communicate this information without having to write it down? How do we protect our information; do we really have the level of security we really need? If we were faced with having to close down one of our operations how can we be certain that we close the right one? What will happen to me if I screw it up? That last question is probably the one that keeps most boardroom members awake at night.

I can hear people saying I am an idealist and I suppose I am. But when we read in the financial papers that chief executives pay has been allowed to rise 168 per cent in the last five years you have to query what is going on particularly while we experience a downturn in the economy and a demand from shareholders for senior management to be more responsible.

Iestyn Armstrong-Smith
Editor