We first got wind of Doug Woolley, GM and vice-president sales Southern Africa at Dell, leaving the company at the end of February via one of our reliable little tweeters but, being sworn to secrecy and still an old-school firm believer in those sacrosanct words “off the record”, Deep Throat never breathed a word of it.
Our little tweeter was also adamant that Doug was headed to a lucrative job at Alviva as a designated “troubleshooter” stepping in at any of the various group companies when required. It made sense: Doug has personal history with the Alviva group having headed up AxizWorkgroup for some years, and he still had many friends at the company.
So, it came as a bit of a surprise a couple of weeks later when another of our stalwart twitterers told us that Doug was, in fact, heading to an executive position at Altron. But this made sense too. We wondered if Stewart van Graan, industry doyen and now chairman of Altron, had managed to influence and coax Doug to, once again, join him in a new adventure. Stewart had been instrumental in hiring Doug at Dell and had mentored him before he stepped aside and Doug, ultimately, assumed his role as GM. Interestingly, Stewart had also mentored Doug’s “boss of bosses” – Michael Collins, president & GM of Global Consumer and Small Business at Dell – back in the 1990s when he headed up IBM’s PC division.
Then, at the beginning of May, Doug broke cover – and caught us by surprise still sitting on the scoop (as so often happens, you fool! -Ed) – and posted news of his resignation on LinkedIn (with, we suspect, a hint of AI – Ed).
“After an incredible decade at Dell Technologies South Africa, the time has come for me to step away from what has truly been a second family,” Doug said in his post. “Reflecting on my journey, I feel a deep sense of pride. I had the privilege of witnessing and contributing to the merger of two technology giants – Dell and EMC – two extraordinary teams coming together and taking the business to new heights. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and one I’ll always treasure.
“Resigning from Dell has been one of the most difficult decisions of my career,” he continued. “Three years ago, my family and I made the decision to relocate to the Cape for personal reasons. Since then, I’ve been commuting weekly to Johannesburg, and although I embraced the challenge, the constant travel eventually took its toll. After a lot of thought (and emotion), it became clear that it was time to put my family first.”
He then went on to thank various colleagues at Dell … Michael Collins, Aongus Hegarty, Mohammed Amin and Vangelis Lagousakos … his CEEMETA colleagues … the local team at Dell … before moving on to the reseller community which, let’s be honest, would have been unheard of a good few years ago as founder Michael Dell faithfully stuck to his direct sales model … until he couldn’t.
“A heartfelt thank you to all our reseller partners, who were true partners in every sense of the word – and who gave me the nickname Dougie Direct!” Doug stated. “Not nice guys😂”
In all fairness – and to put Doug’s mind at ease – Deep Throat can attest that the above moniker was never, ever mentioned (or published) with malice.
After thanking customers and, most importantly, his family, Doug ended his post with a sentence we feel he may one day regret: “And for all my international & South African Dell friends – you now have a quasi-AirB&B available at our house in the beautiful Cape Winelands! (First glass of wine is on me.)🍷”
Doug! You know what the channel can be like!
Anyhoo … a couple of days later, Doug finally confirmed that our second little tweeter had been right all along. Obviously dispensing with AI this time round, he simply stated: “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as sales director at Altron Digital Business!”
It may not be the scoop we intended it to be … but, hey, it’s still a decent story …
Doug, Deep Throat swallows … loadsa beer … and wishes you every success in your new venture! And we look forward to that long-postponed catch-up when next you’re in town!
One short of a four-ball: Michael Collins, Doug Woolley, and Stewart van Graan
Pic of the Month: Friendly rivalry … for generations
Everyone in the local distribution channel knows just how competitive the environment is. When it comes to business, there’s often no love lost between competing distributors or resellers and, while it’s an open secret that rival distributors regularly touch base and compare notes on various issues with each other, when it comes to orders, it’s no holds barred.
Those passionate and fierce battles, though, are usually confined to the working week. But for Mustek CEO, Hein Engelbrecht and Carlos Ferreira, CEO of DCC Technologies the rivalry sometimes spills into the weekend – in a different way. Their two sons (apologies, we never got their names! – Ed) are top waterpolo players at their respective schools – Hein’s son at Affies and Carlos’ son at St David’s Marist.
As Hein explains: “We’re not only competing Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, it carries on to the weekend when our boys are playing waterpolo. This was at the recent St Stithians tournament where Affies faced St David’s Marist. Final score 8-10 in favour of St David’s.”
Thanks for this month’s contribution, Hein, but we just have to ask … did Carlos make you his ATM for the weekend? Regardless, we’re sure there were a few cold ones consumed and lots of banter at Higher Ground afterwards.
