VIEW FROM THE CHANNEL 01732 759725 32 With Justin Harling, CEO, CAE Technology Services Ltd (CAE) the company has annual sales of more than £130 million, employs 350 people across seven UK offices and works with customers on three continents – Europe, North America and Asia. Here, Justin Harling gives his view from the channel. Technology Reseller (TR): How’s business? Better or worse than 12 months ago? And how confident are you about the future? Justin Harling (JH): Fundamentally better – different in some respects, but definitely better. Global factors continue to throw up challenges, but none of these is dampening the demand for IT solutions that transform businesses. This is what underpins my optimism and gets me excited about the opportunities to come. We’ve been through enough recessionary environments to know that good companies grow in difficult times. The reaction to many of the events of the past three years has been to remind us that, for all the good technology does, there is a human factor that can never be discounted. Seeing the development of our people, how they connect with customers and the difference this makes remains a source of inspiration and contributes to my positive outlook. TR: In what areas are you experiencing strongest demand? JH: The network continues to be core to a lot of IT strategies, with pervasive wireless an essential, and security has taken on a different dimension because of the level of threat and the dispersed nature of today’s workforce. Recent research undertaken by us highlights the pressure security teams are under. Just 7% of UK IT professionals believe security is at the forefront of their organisation's thinking, despite 62% saying that security risks and pressures from their employers have increased. Plus, 40% of IT professionals believe that there is insufficient training and resources available to support them on a daily basis. Anything we can do to help them have more good days is something I feel passionate about. TR: What recent wins are you most proud of? JH: All those that demonstrate how innovative we can be, particularly in the adoption of automation. The speed with which software and app development has become a significant factor in our business continues to astound me. What started out as a science project has rapidly grown into a key source of differentiation that is now included in everything good we do. Our recently launched in-house software development practice, CAE Labs, has developed into a key problem-solving methodology for customers and is allowing our internal teams to get their creative thinking hats on and change the way we approach customer conversations. The fact that this has driven growth and was recognised by Cisco in announcing us as their UK&I Partner of the Year has been a moment to enjoy and a major impetus to drive us forward. TR: Where is business proving most difficult? JH:Managing customer expectations in the face of stock shortages and supply chain disruption continues to be difficult. Although lead times have been improving, the overall level of predictability hasn’t and this makes managing projects extremely challenging. The area that will remain most difficult and could affect growth more than any other is recruitment. Quality people are always in demand and the market has been driven to unsustainable levels by a frenzy of activity across the industry. That said, we are seeing evidence that reckless short-term decisions have huge impacts on individuals and that it is better to consider long-term prospects when choosing a company to join. I am hoping that sanity returns and that our focus on people development means we continue to grow in the right way. TR: How have you changed/are you changing business operations to exploit new opportunities? JH: Software development is a whole new Established in 1992, CAE Technology Services Ltd (CAE) has been a trusted technology partner to businesses for more than 30 years, helping customers secure and transform their operations through the provision of industry-leading solutions and services covering networking, connectivity, cloud, data centre, workplace and security. CAE prides itself on delivering solutions chosen and optimised for each customer’s specific needs and last year took this to the next level with the launch of its own software development practice, CAE Labs. Enabling CAE developers to pool knowledge gained in different technology areas and collaborate with partners and customers, this new resource will enhance the company’s integration capabilities and accelerate the development of new products and solutions that have applications across its customer base. CAE is led by CEO and business owner Justin Harling, who joined CAE as Managing Director in 2000 before leading a management buy-out in 2004. Today, View from the Channel Justin Harling
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