A DAY IN THE LIFE
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On the lighter side of things, we ask the industryexperts what makes them tick …
David Whitton, General Manager / MEAF Cluster Manager, Kodak Alaris
What’ s your career history to date? How did you end up working in Dubai? I have worked in document management related businesses since 1989 starting in Document Scanning with Bell + Howell in 1996 covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland. My first encounter with the Middle East was at Fujitsu in 1999 where I increased the focus on KSA and the Gulf dramatically. When offered the chance to run the information management business from Dubai in 2011 after seven years at Kodak I couldn’ t put pen to paper quick enough.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2017? Mobile Capture technology. Mobile devices continue to change the way organisations conduct business – including how we capture and share critical business documents. According to InfoTrends, 68 % of IT decision makers within five scanning-rich vertical markets believe document capture using devices such as smartphones will increase significantly over the next three years. Mobile Capture technology that allows users to capture and index information via smartphones or tablets will undoubtedly capture the imagination in 2017.
What is your proudest career achievement to date? Seeing the Middle East revenue for Kodak Alaris more than double in the last two years.
What is the best piece of advice you have been given? To read“ If—”, a poem by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling
What is the biggest mistake you have ever made since working in the IT market? Some years back I was far too conservative in making some necessary channel changes, but now I’ m never afraid of making mistakes. A good manager probably is one who gets 6 out of 10 decisions right and the important thing is to take the decision and learn from the wrong ones.
Which IT company, other than your own, do you most admire and why? I admire the small guys starting, out struggling to finance their passionate ideas and solutions to slow paying customers. One such company we work with is ESSBC – they will be a force to be reckoned with in time.
What’ s your favourite thing about the company you work for? Our team environment and beating my colleague Elias Mouchantaf at table tennis in the office.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office? I love playing / watching cricket in particular though I follow many sports, seeing the bands I grew up with live in Dubai, walking and any chance to inflict my dubious vocal talent on anyone who’ ll pretend to listen!
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