Calvin Goom says he is “back into my wheelhouse” after landing a top role at Trustmarque as it pivots to more of a services-led business.
Former Dimension Data and Computacenter exec Goom was this morning unveiled as the York-based Microsoft partner’s Chief Revenue Officer.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen, Goom said the appointment means he is “really back into my wheelhouse, working for a big organisation that’s looking to drive change and transformation”.
“This organisation has to pivot from being a product-led business to a services-led business,” he said.
“And from what I understand, the whole reason [Trustmarque CEO] Simon [Williams] brought me on board is because I’ve done that before with my time at Dimension Data.”
“Can we get to £2bn?”
Having headed up Dimension Data’s UK&I business between 2003 and 2016, Goom spent the intervening seven years working for BMC, setting up his own recruitment business and consulting.
His arrival comes after the exit of previous CRO Donavan Hutchinson in March.
One Equity-backed, York-based Trustmarque ranked ninth in IT Channel Oxygen’s recent Oxygen 250 thanks to calendar 2022 invoiced sales of £499m.
But Goom said Trustmarque has an intent to scale well beyond its current size.
“I think we’re number nine from a size perspective in terms of the traditional VAR community. How do we become a £1bn business? How do we become a £2bn business? What are the markets we have to address? What are we going to be famous for?
“These are all questions that the leadership team are asking, and they’ve got absolute passion around their ability to get there.
“The team Simon has built around him, and with Simon’s energy and drive and vision, I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get in the way of that, if I’m honest.”
Microsoft outage an “opportunity to delight”
A Microsoft outage that caused havoc across industries including aviation and banking will form the backdrop for Goom’s first week.
The incident has Microsoft partners scrabbling to pick up the pieces, with Trustmarque rival Bytes putting up a live blog to support impacted customers (see above).
Although Goom said the incident will have a “significant negative impact on many of our customers”, he also said it could represent a chance for partners to prove their worth.
“I’ve always found the best opportunity you ever get to delight your clients is in moments of adversity,” Goom said.
“That’s when the great organisations step up to the plate and deliver help and support.”
Pouncing in public sector
So how has the nature of a big role at a top channel partner changed since Goom exited Dimension Data?
“Technology has moved on massively, so from that perspective it’s going to be a fantastic challenge,” Goom responded.
“However, the basic principles around creating value for a customer is the same now as it’s always been.
“If you look at the public sector, that contributes a significant part of Trustmarque’s income stream, but we still has less than 4% marketshare. The challenges some of the more traditional public sector players have had in the last 12-18 months is all public knowledge.
“That creates an opportunity, and we’ve just got to make sure we focus on the client and value creation efforts of us as a business.”
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
