CHANNEL CHIEF
For LISA STRYDOM , Channel Manager Lead for Africa at Veeam,
achieving the milestones that have been set and demonstrating the
results, is what gives her satisfaction in her job. She adds that she has
high standards and her the team understands her expectations.
D
Describe your current job role
and the parts that are
somewhat challenging?
What made you think of a career
in technology?
I joined Veeam over five years ago and look
after a number of distribution channels
and partner relationships. I was recently
promoted to Manager of Channels for
Africa, overseeing the strategy for the Africa
channel from on-premises solutions to the
cloud offerings in our portfolio.
The Veeam channel team collaborates
with our distributors to drive our products
and services to new and existing partners
and ensure that each is enabled through
appropriate training and support. We do this
in a number of ways via online training, face-
to-face forums, or individual training and
support. I prefer to use a white board rather
than traditional PowerPoint as this makes
the sessions more interactive and allows us
to collaborate.
I see daily challenges as opportunities.
Working for a global brand while delivering
in an underperforming economy (with a
challenging exchange rate) can be tough, but
I work with a professional team who goes
the extra mile to deliver what we promised.
When you look back at your career
what has been the most memorable
achievement?
A real career highlight was when I won the
Veeam EMEA Channel Manager Award at the
end of 2017. It’s a prestigious annual award
and I was up against numerous colleagues
from around the world, so this made it even
more special that I won.
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
INTELLIGENT
INTELLIGENT
TECH CHANNELS
CHANNELS
TECH
Issue 25
Lisa Strydom, Channel Manager Lead for
Africa at Veeam
I enjoy working in IT because it’s exciting
and always changing – I never get bored.
I started in IT recruitment and was soon
offered an IT role at Citrix. Seeing Veeam
grow each year makes me very proud.
What style of management
philosophy do you employ at your
current position?
My management style is to not micromanage
people. I have high standards; the team
understands my expectations and does what
they need to do. Veeam is also an awesome
workplace, so this makes a big difference.
Our core values such as our speed, our team,
our passion and our enthusiasm reflect the
personality of Veeam, our business approach
and corporate team spirit.
What is your style as a
team leader?
I believe that we are all adults, it’s a very
mature culture. We work very hard, but also
have fun. I also believe that I have the right
people in the team, we all enjoy working
together and go out of our way to support
each other.
What do you think will be the hot
technology talking point of 2019?
Data breaches, attacks, ransomware
incidents, and so on are a daily threat and
continue to make headline news. The reality
is that these attacks can happen against any
business, in any industry, at any geographic
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