On the lighter side of things, we ask John Hathaway, Regional Sales Director, BeyondTrust, what makes him tick.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
In a previous role, with a well-established systems integrator, I was tasked with solving the problem of eroding hardware margins. Leveraging my industry experience and strong relationships with vendors and customers, I built a security practice within the organisation from the ground-up. Within just a few months of running at full pace, we built a $5m pipeline and closed over $1m within the first quarter, created a profitable professional service practice and reinvigorated account relationships across the region that had lay dormant for many years.
What first made you think of a career in technology?
I was working in a totally unrelated industry at the start of my career, but wasn’t very happy with the direction I was heading in. After doing my due diligence and evaluating other opportunities, it was obvious that technology was a much better bet – not only was it a rapidly growing industry but I was also able to leverage some of my prior experience. The early years in technology were a bit bumpy but I eventually landed a role with Oracle and haven’t looked back since!
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
Particularly for someone in sales that is responsible for targets, I believe that setting accurate expectations and communicating these expectations, and your broader vision, clearly with both your reports and your managers, is absolutely crucial to success. In parallel, it is important to empower your team and to this end, I firmly believe that the team you’re managing should own the strategy for their targets as it helps foster respect, trust and buy-in.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point in 2017?
Cyber security has been and will continue to be a hot issue in the region, although in my view, we are seeing a small shift from the focus on network security to information security. Given the spate of high profile malware attacks, companies now understand that a simple firewall or IPS solution isn’t going to help them stay one step ahead of the attackers. CIOs are beginning to focus on layered, complicated and challenging approaches to implement security solutions. As such, first generation buyers are budgeting for data loss prevention, encryption, data classification and privileged access management solutions and this trend isn’t slowing down.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office?
My life doesn’t slow down outside of work as I’m a proud father to two small girls! Weekends are all about spending time with the family in a world of Pepper Pig and soft play areas. Socialising is typically with friends who are also parents which means those family friendly brunches is where you’ll find me. When I get a moment to myself, I can be found watching soccer or cricket, reading or indulging in my passion for cooking and perfecting my favourite dish.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
If I could do it all over again, I would have probably made the jump to security sooner. That being said, I believe there is a time and a place for everything. I’ve been lucky with all the decisions I’ve made in my career; every job has helped me hone new skills, given me experiences and allowed me to build and foster relationships that have added value to my career and better prepared me for my next role.
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