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Meet the Author - Lee Hill #
Lee heads up our Pre-sales Technical Support team and has recently started contributing to our Opinion blog, providing advice and guidance on how to make the most of highly profitable PWAN/IP VPN opportunities, so we thought it was time to get to know him better...
5 December 2017
[caption id="attachment_135" align="alignleft" width="128"]
Lee Hill, Pre-Sales Technical Manager[/caption]
Lee heads up our Pre-sales Technical Support team and has recently started contributing to our Opinion blog, providing advice and guidance on how to make the most of highly profitable PWAN/IP VPN opportunities, so we thought it was time to get to know him better...
How long have you worked at Entanet?
It will be 4 years in January.
What are your key responsibilities within the business and what are your areas of expertise?
My role is to manage the Pre-Sales Technical Support team, who support the main sales team by designing and costing our most complex solutions to help our channel partners to sell bespoke services such as complex IP VPNs. We also work directly with our channel partners, where required, to attend customer meetings, develop presentations and generally help them to bid for and win these types of business.
With regards to opinion, which topics do you usually cover and why?
I usually discuss the growing opportunities for resellers in providing the more complex solutions we offer like PWAN/IP VPNs and in particular how myself and my team can be on hand to provide support, guidance and advice as and when they need it. Many partners don’t realise that this level of support is available - Just call us for a chat (0330 100 3550) and we can see how we can help.
Do you have any specific industry areas of interest that you would like to discuss on opinion or that you particularly follow?
The impact the Internet has on people’s daily lives is something that really interests me. Having been an avid user of both dial up Internet and bulletin boards such as prestel from a young age, the transformation to where we are now is nothing short of astounding. The first time I witnessed streaming HQ audio on a 256K kilostream connection was a real wow moment for me, and in a relatively short space of time we are now in a position where streaming 4K video is accepted as the norm.
As a 'techie' I consider it a privilege to have grown up in an age where I have witnessed so much change in the technology around me and at such a rapid fire pace. I am thankful to work in an industry that is helping to deliver some of that change, and I follow technological advancements with interest, so you’ll probably see me discussing things like that from time to time.
In some of your latest articles for Opinion you have provided essential advice on how to maximise the opportunities from a growing PWAN (or IP VPN) market - what are your key tips for resellers?
It’s not uncommon for a customer to tell you what they think they need or indeed approach you and ask if you can provide a more competitive quote for for a solution from a competitor. But this is where the pre-sales process can really reap rewards. It's not always about offering the best price and it is not uncommon to uncover requirements that your competition may have missed, or that the end user didn't originally specify.
Not only can this approach help you to differentiate yourself from the competition, it removes the need to strip margin from the deal and can help to build trust between you and the end user.
Like I said, my team and I are on hand to help you at every stage, just give us a call.
Related articles:
There is quite a lot of confusion over terminology in the market - what is the difference between a PWAN, IP VPN and MPLS?
PWANs (Private Wide Area Networks) are known throughout the industry under many terms including IP VPNs and even MPLS solutions. The technical truth is that the PWAN or IP VPN (if you prefer) is delivered across an MPLS network rather than being an ‘MPLS’ solution, however the terminology seems to have become somewhat interchangeable. Essentially, the PWAN solution is a complete connectivity network for your customer which can connect multiple sites and offices, include various connectivity technologies such as leased lines, broadband and back-up solutions and additional services such as VoIP, Firewalls and hosting.
They are bespoke solutions created to fit a customer’s specific needs and requirements and are usually fully managed and supported with 100% SLAs.
We actively encourage feedback and interaction from our readers, what would you like to hear about from them?
It’s important not to stand still within our industry and I would welcome any suggestions from our readers in respect to new products / services / solutions that they would like Entanet to offer.
Getting to know Lee
What are your interests/hobbies outside of the office?
I’m a keen pool player and you can often find me on my XBox at home. I’m currently undertaking a project to completely refurb an old arcade machine and I’m also interested in home automation - my type of DIY.
If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?
The power of hair rejuvenation for obvious reasons (see photo).
Who would you like to meet dead or alive and why?
Albert Einstein - Whilst I wouldn’t pretend to understand any of his scientific papers it would be great to be in the presence of a true genius whose theories are still standing true many years after his death.
What are your three favourite things in life?
My family, my friends and my local.
What is your pet hate?
Middle lane drivers and people who litter.
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Lee Hill, Pre-Sales Technical Manager[/caption]
Lee heads up our Pre-sales Technical Support team and has recently started contributing to our Opinion blog, providing advice and guidance on how to make the most of highly profitable PWAN/IP VPN opportunities, so we thought it was time to get to know him better...
How long have you worked at Entanet?
It will be 4 years in January.
What are your key responsibilities within the business and what are your areas of expertise?
My role is to manage the Pre-Sales Technical Support team, who support the main sales team by designing and costing our most complex solutions to help our channel partners to sell bespoke services such as complex IP VPNs. We also work directly with our channel partners, where required, to attend customer meetings, develop presentations and generally help them to bid for and win these types of business.
With regards to opinion, which topics do you usually cover and why?
I usually discuss the growing opportunities for resellers in providing the more complex solutions we offer like PWAN/IP VPNs and in particular how myself and my team can be on hand to provide support, guidance and advice as and when they need it. Many partners don’t realise that this level of support is available - Just call us for a chat (0330 100 3550) and we can see how we can help.
Do you have any specific industry areas of interest that you would like to discuss on opinion or that you particularly follow?
The impact the Internet has on people’s daily lives is something that really interests me. Having been an avid user of both dial up Internet and bulletin boards such as prestel from a young age, the transformation to where we are now is nothing short of astounding. The first time I witnessed streaming HQ audio on a 256K kilostream connection was a real wow moment for me, and in a relatively short space of time we are now in a position where streaming 4K video is accepted as the norm.
As a 'techie' I consider it a privilege to have grown up in an age where I have witnessed so much change in the technology around me and at such a rapid fire pace. I am thankful to work in an industry that is helping to deliver some of that change, and I follow technological advancements with interest, so you’ll probably see me discussing things like that from time to time.
In some of your latest articles for Opinion you have provided essential advice on how to maximise the opportunities from a growing PWAN (or IP VPN) market - what are your key tips for resellers?
It’s not uncommon for a customer to tell you what they think they need or indeed approach you and ask if you can provide a more competitive quote for for a solution from a competitor. But this is where the pre-sales process can really reap rewards. It's not always about offering the best price and it is not uncommon to uncover requirements that your competition may have missed, or that the end user didn't originally specify.
Not only can this approach help you to differentiate yourself from the competition, it removes the need to strip margin from the deal and can help to build trust between you and the end user.
Like I said, my team and I are on hand to help you at every stage, just give us a call.
Related articles:
There is quite a lot of confusion over terminology in the market - what is the difference between a PWAN, IP VPN and MPLS?
PWANs (Private Wide Area Networks) are known throughout the industry under many terms including IP VPNs and even MPLS solutions. The technical truth is that the PWAN or IP VPN (if you prefer) is delivered across an MPLS network rather than being an ‘MPLS’ solution, however the terminology seems to have become somewhat interchangeable. Essentially, the PWAN solution is a complete connectivity network for your customer which can connect multiple sites and offices, include various connectivity technologies such as leased lines, broadband and back-up solutions and additional services such as VoIP, Firewalls and hosting.
They are bespoke solutions created to fit a customer’s specific needs and requirements and are usually fully managed and supported with 100% SLAs.
We actively encourage feedback and interaction from our readers, what would you like to hear about from them?
It’s important not to stand still within our industry and I would welcome any suggestions from our readers in respect to new products / services / solutions that they would like Entanet to offer.
Getting to know Lee
What are your interests/hobbies outside of the office?
I’m a keen pool player and you can often find me on my XBox at home. I’m currently undertaking a project to completely refurb an old arcade machine and I’m also interested in home automation - my type of DIY.
If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?
The power of hair rejuvenation for obvious reasons (see photo).
Who would you like to meet dead or alive and why?
Albert Einstein - Whilst I wouldn’t pretend to understand any of his scientific papers it would be great to be in the presence of a true genius whose theories are still standing true many years after his death.
What are your three favourite things in life?
My family, my friends and my local.
What is your pet hate?
Middle lane drivers and people who litter.
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