28/09/09 – 02/10/09, What a Week! (Part 2)…Tech Leaders!
Monday, October 5th, 2009In part one, I talked about the second Sales Leadership Ireland meet up on Monday and the wonderful dialogue that resulted…….So on to Tuesday.
Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies.
These were two events (morning and afternoon) organised by myself, Donagh Kiernan of Maidsfield Associates and Dave Brock of Partners of Excellence to kick off our three-way International Partnership.
First up on the day was Kevin O Leary, CEO of QUMAS, an Irish company that provides compliance management software to the world’s leading blue chip companies. Kevin is an inspiring and charismatic presenter, and his story is one of continued success.
As part of his unique and engaging presentation, Kevin waked us through the actual pipeline of the business. He talked about why hiring a capable and analytical sales manager was a critical component of their success.
QUMAS have grown their business substantially in a very short space of time through strategic global partnerships. It’s a wonderful success story and Kevin was very kind in sharing his insights and learning with us, an entirely captivated audience throughout.
Next up was Donagh Kiernan who has worked closely with Kevin over the years in identifying the right fit International partners. Taking us through his step by step process, he talked about how he researches and creates the ecosystem of the particular market. While Donagh’s methods may be scientific, he stressed why instinct is still an important factor in arriving at a decision. It was an insightful presentation from Donagh that complimented Kevin’s earlier delivery.
Our third and final presentation was from Dave Brock, this would be Dave’s second of three presentations in only two days. Dave brought a truly global perspective, his IBM background, his experience as an investor in software companies and his huge consulting experience with his firm Partners in Excellence.
Dave has worked with the virtually every player of the global tech landscape, his experience shining through as he talked about the different strategies he implemented over the years. He talked about how it is possible for a big company to love a smaller one to death, the pesky details that can wreck International relationships and which strategy you employ really depends on a great many factors.
All three presentations were interoperable in nature and the questions and dialogue from those that attended was intelligent and though provoking. The Irish tech sector appears to me to be in many good hands.
Because of the level of interest in this event, we had to run an additional session in the afternoon. This proved equally engaging but more on that in part three.
