‘We’re A £100bn Industry Nobody’s Heard Of’ – Oxygen Influencers Contemplate IT Channel’s Anonymity Issue

How to attract more young people into an IT channel “nobody’s heard of” was the key discussion topic at yesterday’s inaugural Oxygen Influencers VIP Lunch.

The event saw 16 of the 25 individuals highlighted in the inaugural Oxygen Influencers report break bread together at Ivy Asia St Pauls.

All have demonstrated their ability to drive positive change in the industry, but from outside the boardroom.

Read the report, which was compiled in association with Nebula Global Services, here, and view some of the best images from the event here.

Those in attendance yesterday included a former PE teacher who is now closing seven-figure IT infrastructure deals, the winner of the IT channel’s first reality TV show, rising stars being tipped as tomorrow’s leaders, and representatives of non-profits and CICs such as the Tech Channel Ambassadors, TC4RE and The Channel Community (see bottom for full line up).

“If we go and show it to them, we can change their lives”

If you were drawing up a list of people who can inspire the next generation of industry talent, this inaugural batch of Oxygen Influencers would all feature highly.

So what do you they themselves think about the IT channel’s mixed track record of attracting school leavers and those from outside the industry – particularly those from diverse backgrounds?

Ian Kilpatrick at the Oxygen Influencers Lunch — Ian Kilpatrick

Ian Kilpatrick, who last year founded Tech Channel Ambassadors, called on everyone in the room to visit their local schools to promote the industry.

“The people we need to make this a more diverse industry, we’re losing them because we’re not communicating to them that we want them. They’ve already selected themselves out at aged 12 or 13,” he said.

“We’re a £100bn industry nobody’s heard of.

“The view you have of your career is determined by what’s shown to you, and if we go and show it to them, we can change their lives.

“We need ambassadors from your companies to go into schools, say ‘this is the IT channel; this is my story; you’ve never heard of it but it’s a lot of fun; it’s continually changing; and you can make good money and a career out of it’.”

Elsa Nightingale, Canalys, at Oxygen Influencers Lunch — Elsa Nightingale

Elsa Nightingale, Principal ESG Analyst at Canalys, said channel firms serious about attracting staff from more diverse socio-economic backgrounds must consider whether the pathways into their organisations are really open to all.

Unpaid internships are a “big no no” on this front, she said.

“The problem is that you lose this massive funnel of people,” Nightingale said.

“It might not be economically, it might be that they’re caring for someone in their family. So my call to action is for us as businesses to ask ourselves what’s the pathway in. Are we giving them a living wage? And if we’re training them for six months we have to make sure that, if nothing else, it’s economically possible.”

“Just do it”

Dr Colin Williams, CTO, Cybersecurity at Computacenter, urged companies to “just do it”.

“My only ask is please don’t overcomplicate it,” he said after detailing how he had spoken at both an inner city Manchester academy and Birmingham City University in recent months.

“Every school, college or university would welcome you in – every single one. It doesn’t require a lot of rigour or structure. My one thing is: just get on with it.”

Dr Colin Williams, Computacenter, at Oxygen Influencers Lunch — Dr Colin Williams

Andy Readman, Senior Manager of Strategic Consulting at Pax8, agreed that there is “not enough awareness of the opportunities in the channel, especially in diverse backgrounds”.

“One question I like to ask the audience on stage is to put up their hands if they dreamed of doing what they’re doing now. I’d love to ask for a show of hands round this table,” he said – to which just one person raised their hand.

“A really small amount of people see these jobs when they’re young.”

Williams said that he was “proud to be one of the oldies” in a room that included up and coming sales staff and leaders in their 20s and 30s.

“The reason I’m pleased is that when I started, the industry didn’t do this. It didn’t care about this; it didn’t care about looking at people who weren’t inherently white, middle-class males from Surrey. I’m over the moon to be here just to see people round the table like this, because this wasn’t the IT industry I used to see.”

Ross Teague, Nebula Global Services, at Oxygen Influencers Lunch — Ross Teague

Ross Teague, CEO of Nebula Global Services, agreed.

“What we’re trying to do here is really important to us, and to the industry, I’m here today just to support that,” he said.

Talking after the event, Nebula Global Services CMO Richard Eglon said:

“It has been an absolute privilege supporting IT Channel Oxygen with this inaugural Oxygen Influencers imitative. As our industry continues to evolve, we at Nebula believe it is important to recognise the talented individuals who are making a positive impact in their respective fields. Providing a platform such as the Oxygen Influencers will hopefully broadcast their collective mission to a wider audience, which in turn inspires others to drive positive change across our industry.”