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From dot matrix printer ribbons to datacentres, Galtec Solutions’ MD Mark Adams has seen it all. We ask him how he stays one step ahead – and why indie PC retailers need to be offering cloud services.
Tell us about your background…
I started my own business as a 20-year-old and built up a telesales team when the industry was in its infancy. The products around at the time were very large floppy diskettes, dot matrix printer ribbons and typewriter ribbons. Now they’ve died a death, haven’t they?
It’s obviously evolved so much since then, but from setting up a business that was a reseller to other businesses around the country, it then developed into an IT-focused business with Windows for Workgroups, and I got involved in retail and started a PC assembly business off the back of that. And things then grew into a service offering i.e. configuration and build. So from those humble beginnings we developed into what we are now – a full service provider.
What services do you offer?
Services in and around the datacentre, such as professional services around VMware, Microsoft, virtualisation and migration, disaster recovery (DR), business continuity etc. I’m also heavily involved with client services, such as installation, config on site, IT equipment disposal and lifecycle management.
Some indie retailers aren’t embracing the cloud…
My suggestion to those guys is that the smaller end of clients are really open to cloud, so if you have five to 15 user businesses, then cloud suits them so much. And it’s important to put a service wraparound there, to make sure there’s a return to the service provider, whether it’s a service contract or managed services or all the renewals that may go with that, such as connectivity or anti-virus.
In the mid-market space – predominantly where Galtec works – we’ve seen a shift towards hybrid. That’s an on- premise or a local datacentre with a cloud element of DR. That seems to be the flavour of the moment.
You attended our PCR Boot Camp North 2015 event. How did you find it?
It was really good – I enjoyed it! I had a chat with some of the vendors and met some of the TERRA guys on their stand. I made a few appointments off the back of it – I met the Brigantia guys and made new contacts with M2M Direct. I may be able to put some business their way and save us some money.
What’s next for Galtec?
The adaption of the Internet of Things is here and now, and that’s only going to grow. I also think security is a very interesting proposition. I think the renewals side of security is appealing to me because it brings annuity within the income stream that can be added to any service provision offering. I think 2016 is going to be a great year for the industry. I feel we didn’t get the surge we expected in 2015 on the back of Windows Server 2003 going end of life. But I feel we might catch some of the wind in the sails this year.
Mark Adams is MD at Galtec Solutions.
www.galtec.com
