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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