Reader Spotlight: Mark Watson, CDS Office Technologies
Mark Watson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1987 with the knowledge that he would join his father’s company, CDS Office Technologies, which the elder Watson founded in 1971. Watson began his career in the family business as a salesperson. Eventually, he became a branch manager and by 1991, was promoted to vice president of sales, which gave him sales responsibility for all locations. In 2004, Watson was promoted to president, the role he still serves in today. CDS had already grown into a large copier dealer that expanded into computer and word processing sales in the early 1980s. The computer division of the business has continued to grow into a full-service MSP. The integration between the print and copy business and the MSP side, says Watson, “has been a wonderful place to be, as it’s advantageous for one company to be able to provide clients with all those aspects of their business needs.” We caught up with Watson for some deeper insight into his leadership at CDS.
WHAT’S THE BEST SALES OPPORTUNITY ON YOUR 12-18 MONTH HORIZON?
We expect to see growth continuing in the managed services space. As businesses continue to leverage MSPs to handle their IT and IT growth, we’re seeking to help those clients with their IT road mapping and set them up with the right IT environments to support their future plans.
WHAT THREATENS THAT OPPORTUNITY?
There are many people trying to break into the MSP space. However, those emerging companies sometimes lack the capital to invest in software designed to do a better job at providing the necessary security tools to ensure the client will have a much better experience going forward.
WHAT COULD ACCELERATE IT?
Security concerns are at the top of the list for most businesses today, and that in itself will more than likely put us in position to help those businesses.
WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF LEADING AN IT SERVICE PROVISION COMPANY?
Making sure we have the proper support and experienced engineers and techs is one of the things we try to focus on. As an MSP, finding the balance between the personnel count necessary to manage support and the need to be profitable is paramount. This is easier said than done sometimes. Also, ensuring we are staying ahead of technology to the best of our ability so we can consult and support our clients with the latest technology and how those tools will benefit their businesses.
HOW ARE YOU ATTACKING THAT CHALLENGE?
I think you have to have a passion and desire to be the best at what you do. We work very hard at that passion, which starts with me and extends to our entire team at CDS. When you have passion, you have strong desire and are committed to doing a great job. At CDS, we talk about our challenge to be a “world-class services provider,” and that’s what drives us.
IN THE CONTEXT OF RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS, WHAT APPS/TOOLS/UTILITIES COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?
Without getting into specifics, we have a couple of software tools that help give us an edge in ensuring our clients’ network health. However, even with those software tools, it still requires our team at CDS to monitor those tools to take care of our clients and provide the feedback to them.
ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, WHAT WOULD YOU BE HAPPY TO DO WITHOUT?
Technology has its good and bad. We have many alerts through our monitoring software and although we feel they have their place, sometimes that can be overwhelming.
TELL US SOMETHING HUMOROUS OR ENTERTAINING ABOUT YOURSELF.
I love to sing and sometimes make up my own words to existing songs, and I have been told by everyone (mainly my wife), that I am better off humming rather than singing. So in a nutshell, I am awful at singing.
CDS Office Technologies
Springfield, IL
Mark Watson’s LinkedIn profile doesnt read like a typical MSP exec’s. Since leaving college in 1987, he’s worked for precisely one company: CDS Office Technologies, a regional provider of office technology products and managed services.
VERTICALS: state and local government municipalities, public schools, SMB, higher ed
VENDOR PARTNERS: Datto, Autotask, SolarWinds, Lenovo, HP, Panasonic
TECHNOLOGIES: managed IT, networking & communications, copiers / copy & print, management, AV/video surveillance, mobile / ruggedized hardware
