From life as a pre-sales engineer working with Ethernet and Token Ring to his current role as VP EMEA for Opengear, a provider of secure, resilient access and automation to critical IT infrastructure, Alan Stewart-Brown, VP EMEA at Opengear has held numerous sales and business development roles. Throughout his three decades working in the telecoms industry he has never lost his passion for networking, his belief that respect matters but has to be earned and his drive to be continually moving forward.
VanillaPlus: What was your first job?
Alan Stewart-Brown: My first job in IT was as a pre-sales engineer at Delta Data Systems who were a UK-based networking and server manufacturer. This was back in the 1980s during, the early days of LANs, Ethernet (delivered via Coax Cable) and Token Ring. It was around then that IEEE began its 802 project and Ethernet became the de facto standard from about 1984. Speeds of 10Mbps seemed incredible at the time.
LAN technology was almost purely hardware based in the 1980s and ’90s and there was literally no concept of Software Defined Networks (SDN) that we so rely on today. If only I had been more perceptive and prescient back then, I could have retired years ago!
My earliest field sales position, also in the 80s, was at Samsung UK, selling early Intel-based PC hardware to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and systems integrator clients within the UK.
VanillaPlus: What led you into a career in technology?
AS-B: I have always had an interest in technology from as long as I can remember. I knew that was the career path that I wanted to pursue and that belief crystalised for me at Imperial College in London in the early 80s where I gained a BSc in Electrical Engineering.
I have held roles in multiple technology verticals with a variety of hardware and software vendors over the past 30 years, but the past 12 years has been spent in the IT Networking space. My first telecoms experience was with NBI back in the late 80s as they were a major supplier to BT and this was my first real sales job having transitioned from more technical pre-sales roles.
Moving from a pure technical to sales role really put me out of my comfort zone. I thought it would be so easy, but the reality was somewhat different. Learning to deal with rejection was an important lesson, as was ensuring that I asked the right questions to get to the truth when trying to decide if a deal was really likely to close. Not to mention the complexities of accurate forecasting! It was a baptism of fire, but I loved it and knew at once that I had made the right move.
VanillaPlus: Without naming and shaming, tell us about your worst ever boss?
AS-B: I once worked for a very combative manager (bully) who had no clue about the business he was managing and who tried to manage his team entirely by fear. It was a horrible, toxic environment to work in, so much so that I chose to leave what was a great company. I promised myself that I would never become like that and would always strive to ‘lead by example’ if I ever moved to a management role. I try never to forget that respect always has to be earned.
VanillaPlus: What has been your most memorable business travel experience?
AS-B: Without a doubt, it was flying on Concorde to do business in New York back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Leaving Heathrow on BA001 at 11am and arriving in downtown Manhattan before 9am local time the same day ready to start work was an extraordinary experience. I was working in a senior management role for a US-based Software start-up back in the early dotcom bubble days when travel expenses were not even a consideration. Those days are now long gone!
‘…Back in the early dotcom bubble days when travel expenses were not even a consideration.’
VanillaPlus: What business or life lesson would you share with your younger self?
AS-B: For me, the big one is don’t waste time! Life is too short to stand still or be stuck in a job you don’t like. If your current role is unfulfilling or not rewarding, don’t hesitate, move on. Never settle for second best, and never go backwards.
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