Channel Q&A: Andrew Burgess, MD, JMC IT

What has been your journey to MD of JMC?

I started my career in IT sales at 18, after receiving mediocre A-levels. I had a number of roles before joining JM Computers, as it was known back in October 1989. My first job there was as a salesman selling Tetra accounts software, before I moved up through department manager roles to sales manager. In 1999 I was made a sales director before my title changed to sales and marketing director. I led a management buyout in 2003 and subsequently became managing director of JMC.

What has been your best moment in business?

I’ve had many rewarding moments during my career at JMC, but leading the management buyout was the realisation of a lifetime ambition. I’m most proud of having created and maintained a great working environment through my role as MD.

What was your biggest regret?

Having to let people go during the recession was an extremely painful process. We’re a very close team at JMC, as the average employee has been with us for more than 11 years, so we really do see each other as friends as well as colleagues.

What is the best business advice you have ever been given?

A simple bit of advice from my dad: “Don’t owe money”.

Which company (other than yours) do you admire the most and why?

Amazon is a real success story as a business and I admire the way the company has grown in such a relatively short space of time. They really have changed the retail world forever.

Which other CEO do you believe has done an outstanding job? Why?

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has managed to create a company that is admired by its staff, customers and shareholders alike. That’s a very difficult thing to achieve.

What is the single biggest issue facing the channel in 2014?

I think cloud computing will continue to pose certain challenges for the IT industry in 2014. Of course it also brings with it many benefits, but value-added resellers need to be cautious about how they choose to use the cloud. There’s a lot of hype around it, which could lead to certain providers following a trend without fully understanding how this fits into their business models. This could have vast implications for cash flow and profitability.

What’s next for JMC IT?

We’re in a rich vein of form at the moment, experiencing fantastic growth and excellent financial results. We have the infrastructure, management and workforce to expand even further, so we’re on the lookout to make an acquisition. This needs to be a complementary businesses that would either increase our volume of work in target sectors or add further lines of business; both of which are exciting prospects for JMC.