What was your first job:
My first job, I worked as a trader in the markets of the South of France. More than a great summer job, it taught me the basics of how to build a business from scratch and gave me the confidence and passion for working in sales.
How did you get into Channel marketing:
My first job in IT was back in 2003 at McAfee, and pretty much all my experiences after that were involved working through distributors and Value Added Resellers.
Best day on the job ever:
The beginning of a partner relationship. The first presentation to prospective partners where you communicate your vision, plan, and enthusiasm and see this enthusiasm being shared and ideas formed. It’s all a promise at first, full of possibilities and when we finally execute our first wins and develop the relationship into a prosperous one, these moments become truly special and form great memories.
Biggest thing that’s changed in the industry since you started:
From a technological standpoint, the cloud and consumerisation of IT, which encompasses all of the trends that first emerged in the consumer market, and that are now considerably impacting customers and users’ expectations. It gave rise to the low-code no-code trends that we see in the market and a much bigger emphasis on products centred around the user experience in the enterprise. In the same way, with the wealth of information now accessible, customers are far more knowledgeable about product features. They are looking to vendors and channel providers to understand their unique objectives, challenge their assumptions, and become more of a long-term trusted partner and advisor.
Best ever deal:
Shouldn’t it always be the last one?
Tomorrow’s world: your prediction:
Accelerated by the Covid crisis, the workplace is now more digital than ever and, despite a slow return to the office for many of us, this trend will only grow stronger. Dispersed workforces and hybrid working are here to stay. The emphasis will be on creating sustainable solutions that empower remote workers in their daily tasks and take into account employee’s well-being and voice. I’m excited that we’re at the heart of this digital workplace revolution at Powell Software, delivering collaboration tools that bring employees together and improve their experience, while enabling organisations to write their own “future of work” by leveraging the talent of their entire workforce.
It’s also well reported that remote workers often feel disconnected or work much longer hours than required. To combat this, we’ll continue to see technology evolve that puts employee wellbeing at the heart of the digital workplace, for example a virtual coffee machine app which we recently developed within Teams for our remote workers, ensures that employees take regular breaks and stay socially connected.
Then and now- the one thing you wish you knew back then:
No one is ever really interested in your company, its history or even your products. All they want to hear from you is how you’re going to solve their unique problems. The same applies to channel partners’ expectations; they want to know how we fit their business model and plans. As channel and salespeople, we could all do more with listening and understanding our customers’ businesses to provide value in a unique manner and perhaps less on our “story”.
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Philippe has extensive experience with Office 365 in the world of employee collaboration and process. Coming from five years at Nintex, he has always worked with Microsoft tools. After helping establish the workflow company in France, he made the move to Powell Software to boost employee collaboration with a product offering he really believes in.
Visit Philippe’s LinkedIn profile here
