26 WORKPLACE 01732 759725 want efficiency and having to manage fewer relationships helps in that regard. TR: Are there lessons you've learned in the last three years that are now influencing your European expansion? CB: Yes. It is all about winning the hearts and minds of the MFP account managers to get them to open up their clients to the IT service side of the business. I think the other thing is to make it clear that IT services is not an initiative that's going to go away. IT services is here to stay. Sharp, being a technology business, not just a print business, is here to stay. TR: Are you talking to your customers about print? CB: Yes, we are cross-selling print services and visual solutions to our existing IT support clients, though the cross-sell the other way is the real focus. TR: The thing you often hear from the print side is that because they regularly go onto their customers’ premises, they have a closer connection with them than perhaps some of the IT providers do. CB: I would say it’s almost the other way around actually. On the relationship side, I think an SME business wants to see their IT company more and have a closer, much deeper relationship than they do with their print provider. TR: What advice would you give technology resellers in 2023? CB: As we enter a potentially difficult economic climate, it is important to focus on upselling the value that you deliver as an IT partner for the client. A lot of IT businesses fail to do that. The client thinks ‘everything's working, so what are they doing?’. Everything’s working because the MSP is doing thousands of things behind the scenes that the client’s unaware of. My advice is to back-sell the value you offer and never sell the technology, always sell the business benefit of the technology. The commercial part is going to continue to be important – even more so in an economically difficult time. continued... I couldn’t do my job without... 3 My Surface Pro In my line of work I have to be flexible, which is why I love the weight and size of my Surface Pro and Microsoft Mouse. They’re easy to fit into a bag when I’m on the move, but equally great plugged into a bigger screen when I need to hunker down in the office. They allow me to remain connected to my team and productive wherever I am. 4 The Microsoft Suite How did I cope without the productivity suite of M365 and Teams? I often wonder because I certainly couldn’t do without it today! It’s an excellent collaboration tool and perfectly complements my day-to-day meetings with employees and customers. 5 My Dog, Ralph Going for a good walk with Ralph is how I prepare for the day ahead and then wind down when I return home. When I’m working from home on my Surface Pro, I’m sure he wonders why we don’t spend more time outside! Hannah Birch is the recently appointed Managing Director for Digital at cloud managed services provider Node4. In her new role, she will focus on expanding Node4’s digital business, strengthening its strategic relationship with Microsoft and driving client value with the integration of acquisitions, risual, TNP and Tisski. Hannah started her career at Oil and Gas giant BP and later held leadership positions at Fujitsu Services UK, Computacenter and Accenture, where she spent 11 years leading the company’s UK Technology Business for Insurance and was also a member of the Technology Leadership Team for the UK & Ireland. Here are five things she couldn’t do her job without. 1 My Team at Node4 First and foremost, my team and all my colleagues. At Node4 we are a people business – that is the heart of our ethos – and without our whole group of employees, neither the company nor I could function. 2 Coffee I am a total coffee addict – I am fuelled by it – so it has to be near the top of my ‘cannot do without’ list! That said, since I joined Node4, people keep asking me ‘would you like a brew?’. So, tea is now joining the party. Hannah Birch Ralph https://node4.co.uk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=