2020: A year of unprecedented change – but tech and Tiger have adapted well
2020: A year of unprecedented change – but tech and Tiger have adapted well
Having arrived as Tiger’s new CEO just prior to the UK lockdown, this year has been nothing like I’ve experienced before. It’s never easy taking on a new CEO role but grabbing hold of the reigns in the midst of a global pandemic is on another level of challenge. I could never have imagined the world events that lay ahead when I joined the business at the end of February, which have had major personal and economic consequences everywhere in the world.
We’ve all read over the last few months how companies have had to adapt to new ways of doing business. So, while we faced the remote working and business continuity challenge like everyone else (and passed with flying colours), I simply now just accept, like most people, I will be working in different ways to get things done in the future. And things will probably never go back to the way they were.
Working in technology, we are more accustomed than most to change, due to the constant and continuous evolution in our industry. Given that, our industry was better prepared than most and my overriding experience was that, on the whole, the technology sector adapted well and confronted the challenges dealt to us all by this pandemic.
For many CEOs and business leaders it clearly highlighted (and in some cases exposed) the value of going ‘digital’. As paper and manual processes broke down, it made every business in the world accelerate its thinking. Leaders asked themselves fundamental questions such as “How can I continue to deliver my products and services and how will I do so effectively in the future?”
As organisations and their leaders continue to navigate uncertain times ahead, the tech sector will remain critical to digital-led recovery. We’ll continue to look for innovative solutions to help our customers thrive, not just survive, these unprecedented times.
I joined Tiger after meeting Stephen (Stevie) McCallum back in December last year (2019). The dynamic between us felt right from the outset. We immediately clicked, and got talking over the course of several meetings about Tiger, it’s culture, it’s software and products, and the ideas and experience I could bring into the business to help it scale and grow. From both sides it was clearly a good fit. And six months into my role I think we can still say the same.
I have core values which are the foundations upon which I lead a business. Personally, for me trust, authenticity and people are important. This aligns to the ethos at Tiger and was another contributing factor to me joining the business. I met the rest of the leadership team and in less than three months from our first conversation I was appointed as the new CEO. Stevie has since stepped aside into the Chairman role, giving me full autonomy to execute a new strategy for the business.
I personally believe you can achieve amazing things with great people and attitude is everything. The attitude and work ethic of my new leadership team has been first-class since day one. I believe we have a massive opportunity to build a stronger business that delivers even better solutions and services for our customers – even with the ongoing pandemic.
I say this with confidence, because every day over the last six months whilst managing ourselves through this crisis, we have stayed focused on putting key foundations in place to ensure we are ready to grow the business in 2021 and beyond. Everyone in my team has stepped up to the plate and embraced the challenge of developing and improving the business. We have already started to see the benefits from the work we have done during my first six months, with a healthy increase in EBITDA for the year.
I love my football analogies, so I liken it to trying to take Tiger into the Champions League: making sure we have right players with the correct balance in the squad (skills and capability), refining the on-field formation (team structures), developing a style of play (business processes and culture) which will deliver consistent results and score more goals (great software and new clients). That is where we are focusing our time and will continue to do so into next year.
The experiences I have gained and lessons I have learned from my previous business will obviously stand me in good stead, as we execute on the strategy. Our software is fantastic after being re-engineered over a two-year period. It has new features, capability and increased performance. We also have a collaboration analytics roadmap, which starts with the release of our Microsoft Teams module this month.
So, my initial efforts have focused on ensuring our sales and marketing team is fully enabled to take us to market upon general release of that new software. We have strengthened the team with new recruitment and completed an end-to-end rebrand.
The rebrand, I felt, was a fundamental building block as we look to initiate a phase of strong growth. It was required primarily to ensure Tiger’s value proposition was clearly understood and articulated; we needed to position ourselves as a business intelligence and analytics company for Unified Communications and Collaboration market, moving away from our legacy; and ensure our culture and values were embodied in our new look and feel. We are all delighted and excited by the results and we hope you agree.
If you haven’t already, familiarised yourself with our new look by taking a tour around our website. There’s more on the horizon and we’ll keep you informed with all the latest and greatest on Tiger on this blog and other areas of the site.
Exciting times ahead, and it is good to be back in the game!