{"id":10098,"date":"2021-11-25T09:28:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T09:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/?p=10098"},"modified":"2021-12-01T11:59:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T11:59:05","slug":"get-to-know-marcus-mcnamara-head-of-apac-of-sana-commerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/2021\/11\/25\/get-to-know-marcus-mcnamara-head-of-apac-of-sana-commerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know: Marcus McNamara, Head of APAC of Sana Commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the lighter side of things, we ask Marcus McNamara, Head of APAC at Sana Commerce,  what makes him tick.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marcus McNamara, Head of APAC at Sana Commerce<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working in the Software-as-a-Service industry on five continents is up there. I\u2019m an Aussie who\u2019s spent two years in Europe, a year in North America and stretches in South East Asia and South Africa. Nothing\u2019s come up in Antarctica yet but when we start selling software to penguins, I\u2019m there! Having done business successfully all over the world – interacting with people professionally and navigating the various different cultures – is definitely something I\u2019m proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What first made you think of a career in technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in school, I was very passionate about computers and certain I wanted to become a software developer. I studied all the IT subjects, then did a Bachelor of Information Systems at university. It wasn\u2019t until I graduated and got my first job that I discovered I wasn\u2019t actually very good at developing software, even though I quite liked it. Despite that belated revelation, my technical background has served me immensely well over the years. I found my niche translating technical requirements to the rest of the business and that experience led me down the solutions consulting and pre-sales path. From there, I was able to move into sales and sales management, then on to regional leadership roles. Not quite the CIO career track I imagined I\u2019d be on as a younger person, but it\u2019s proved a better journey for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been an advocate for openness and transparency and strive to maintain a highly communicative style, open door style of management. \u2018Managerial mystique\u2019 and keeping employees in the dark has never been my way; I\u2019d rather involve my team in the decision-making process, whenever I can. That\u2019s not always possible but I\u2019m certainly not a dictator and have no aspirations to be one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think is the current hot technology talking point?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practical use of Artificial Intelligence has come very much to the fore in recent times. The term AI is a buzz word that doesn\u2019t really convey a lot of meaning; it\u2019s more meaningful to talk in terms of highly complex algorithms that enable you to undertake predictive analytics that can be used to drive decision making. We\u2019re seeing this technology being incorporated into SaaS products across the board. It\u2019s exciting to observe the routine, real world application of a concept that was highly theoretical for such a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My two biggest hobbies \u2013 snow skiing in winter and scuba diving in summer \u2013 have been very rudely interrupted for the last couple of years. In lieu of pursuing them, I\u2019ve gotten into keeping a very large tank of tropical fish at home: Nemo, Dory and the rest of the shoal! As a Melburnian, I could get out there in Port Phillip Bay on the weekend \u2013 there\u2019s a couple of reefs and some really good diving \u2013 but you\u2019ve got to be impervious to the cold water, or wear a super thick wetsuit. That\u2019s not my idea of a great time \u2013 I much prefer it when the water is more like a bath! Aside from that, I have been known to play the odd computer game and I enjoy going to the movies and eating out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, I wouldn\u2019t change anything because I\u2019ve come to learn that, in the long run, adversity can be the precursor to opportunity. Constant success doesn\u2019t necessarily lead to growth and if I\u2019d practised \u2018perfect\u2019 decision making all the way through my career I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be where I am today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the SaaS world, globalization of product suites is a major focus. Companies like Sana have solutions that tend to be born out of a particular region or geography. Expanding internationally necessitates adapting those solutions to meet the needs of new markets and their various different ways of working. Being dynamic and responsive is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the region specific challenges when implementing new technologies in APAC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICT landscape here is very fragmented. Major vendors don\u2019t necessarily dominate the market, as they do in other parts of the world. There are lots of small to medium sized players and it\u2019s far less common for organizations to have an ICT strategy that\u2019s centered around a single vendor or solution. Best of breed approaches are more the norm and that means having to work with multiple third parties and ensure your solutions can integrate with theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving from another SaaS company to Sana in October 2021 was a massive change! My remit is to build a team and grow our capability in APAC. Prior to my joining, Sana had a couple of individual contributors whose success on the sales front was the catalyst for the company committing to invest heavily in the region. I came on as employee number three and I\u2019m expecting there\u2019ll be at least 12 of us by mid-2022. We\u2019ll be developing support, implementation, marketing and specialized consulting functions over the next year \u2013 lots to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you offer to someone aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You shouldn\u2019t aspire to become a C-level executive just because it seems like a good idea to get to the top of the tree; don\u2019t make that, in itself, your goal. Throughout your career, continue to validate that it\u2019s the right choice for you because it does come at a price.
As you climb higher up the ladder, your responsibility and stress levels will increase and work life balance becomes harder to achieve, so it\u2019s got to be something that gives you professional and personal satisfaction. Re-evaluate each time you take a step up, rather than pushing blindly ahead; that way you can manage your career in a healthy way and take it in a direction that will provide you with genuine fulfillment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the lighter side of things, we ask Marcus McNamara, Head of APAC at Sana Commerce,  what makes him tick. What would you describe as your most memorable achievement? Working in the Software-as-a-Service industry on five continents is up there. I\u2019m an Aussie who\u2019s spent two years in Europe, a year in North America and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":10100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,51,55,40,44,54],"tags":[2733,2730,2731,91,2732],"class_list":["post-10098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-get-to-know","category-intelligent-technology-newsletter","category-oceania","category-software","category-top-stories","category-used","tag-marcus-mcnamara","tag-sana","tag-sana-commerce","tag-software","tag-software-as-a-service"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10098"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10251,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10098\/revisions\/10251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}