Finding balance in a fast-changing world of technology

Aongus Hegarty has a lot on his plate. The Irish executive took over as president of Dell’s international markets only a few months before Covid-19 shut the world down. Since then he has had to deal with a global chip shortage, the pandemic and then the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Now, with energy costs spiralling and inflation following suit, he is facing a global downturn and a potentially serious impact on the tech sector. Facebook and Twitter have already announced global job cuts, as have Intel, Salesforce and Zendesk. Hiring freezes are in place at Amazon and others. The once-buoyant tech sector has finally been hobbled.

But this is not Hegarty’s first tech downturn. He has spent more than 20 years at the company, joining in 1999 as general manager of its UK & Ireland small and medium business division. That was just before the dot-com bubble burst and the tech sector saw a shift in gear. After moving to Amsterdam to run Dell’s Netherlands and Belgium business, he oversaw the EMEA sales division, before ultimately heading up the consumer and SME business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Originally from Limerick, the decision by Dell in 2009 to close the company’s manufacturing operation there cut close to the bone for Hegarty. But he has always remained appropriately stoic and positive about the company’s operations in Ireland. Although Dell cut 1,900 jobs over the course of a year, the company and its workforce bounced back.

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Before the loss of the manufacturing jobs Dell employed 4,500 people in Ireland at its height; these days more than 5,000 people are employed at the company across three sites in Dublin, Limerick and Cork, and Ireland is considered a global hub for the company’s sales, centres of excellence solutions development, manufacturing, supply chain operations, engineering, IT and finance.

On Monday Dell announced it had invested €2 million in a redeveloped customer solution centre at its Cork campus. It will provide “proof-of-concept” testing for businesses and organisations worldwide to evaluate new technologies and solutions, along with hands-on demonstrations of complex IT solutions that can be implemented within an organisation. It is one of 15 centres globally and strengthens Ireland’s position in Dell’s strategic infrastructure.

But what now for the tech company in the face of another tech slide?

Dell’s business was, like so many tech companies, boosted by Covid-19. Investment in digital transformation has seen the company’s finances strengthen. Strong demand for PCs and laptops in the early days of Covid boosted growth in devices. Although that surge has subsided, Dell’s second-quarter results showed continued growth at the company, 9 per cent year-on-year.

“We’re certainly seeing strong growth in the infrastructure space. Our own server and networking business grew about 16 per cent and storage about 6 per cent,” he says. “The number of PC units has clearly come down over the last quarter or two from a market demand point of view, but what we have to realise is that is off a significant peak increase over the prior 18 months. So if you look at the pre-pandemic level of PC spend and investment, now it’s a significantly larger market.”

Hegarty’s new role, which covers all Dell’s business outside the US and Canada, began just before Covid. That meant attending meetings virtually. Like many other long-time frequent flyers, months after the restrictions were lifted he still has not returned to the previous level of travel.

“I’ve pivoted to probably doing about 50 per cent of the travel I was doing physically and then continuing the other 50 per cent virtually, which is working well,” he says. Among key destinations for him in recent weeks have been Korea, Japan, Mexico and Brazil. “I’ve picked very specific locations that are sizeable from a market perspective of business importance to Dell.”

That flexible way of working is continuing at Dell even as some companies row back on the remote and hybrid working arrangements for staff. Pre-Covid there was already flexible work for some teams, but the pandemic forced the company to shut down offices almost overnight and shift to remote working.

Hegarty says it works for the company and its staff – and customers, who may not have the time or spare money to spend on travel expenses. Using technology to eliminate travel can allow companies to be more deliberate about where they are investing their money, he says, giving bigger impact. There is, of course, the potential upside for Dell if they decide technology is the place to put their money.

“Most companies, even in public sector, have identified that they can work in this way, with higher productivity. And certainly as we move it’s very much to a hybrid way of working. It’s a choice for our team members, and flexibility,” he says.

“We do have three locations [in Ireland], but we’re operating in all the counties of Ireland. When we bring people together it’s to collaborate, to work together and to engage. It’s important to have that flexibility of how people want to work. Measure the output, measure the productivity, measure the results, measure the innovation.”

But as with all new technology and systems there are the downsides in the form of greater risks and potential for a cyber security incident or data breach. It is something that all companies must be aware of, he says, regardless of size. The idea that you are too small to become a target is no longer valid, with small companies finding themselves caught in the net of cyber criminals.

“The vast majority of attacks are on small and medium sized enterprises,” says Hegarty. “The ransom requests that are paid, I think the average is about $20,000 versus the millions we hear about. The reality is that all companies have to look at that and in Ireland nine out of 10 companies are now working on a structured approach to their cyber security.”

Cyber security and risk was a big theme at Dell’s Technology Forum held in Dublin in September. Hegarty says the tech giant is trying to encourage companies to take a holistic approach of their environment, build a strategy and plan, build the right foundation and ensure they have a recovery strategy, and be especially wary if they have already fallen victim once.

“It doesn’t mean there can’t be another attack tomorrow. They’ve got to go and ensure their environment is secure and that they have a recovery strategy as well.”

Balance is something that Hegarty feels strongly about. Aside from his day job at Dell, he also co-chairs the Balance for Better Business group, an independent business-led review group established by the Government to improve gender balance in senior leadership in Ireland.

“Through B4BB we examine the gender mix at the highest levels of business and have set out actions for organisations to take to increase the percentage of women on corporate boards and in senior management positions,” Hegarty says. “With my co-chair Julie Sinnamon our goal is to build on the progress achieved to date by accelerating cultural change within Ireland’s business community.”

Since its establishment in 2018, the average female representation at board level in Iseq 20 companies has risen from 18 per cent to 32 per cent. Leadership teams in the Iseq 20 now average 26 per cent female representation. The latest report from the group, the fifth instalment, is due any day. “Early signs show us that companies are continuing to reach their targets with, of course, some areas still requiring more focus,” says Hegarty.

Throughout the pandemic there was much focus on work-life balance. As the office and the home became intertwined, employees found it harder and harder to switch off. Burn-out became a real risk for employees at all levels. For Hegarty the key way to tackle this is leading by example. On a recent family holiday he switched off all devices and left his wife Martina’s number in case of dire emergency.

“It’ll never be in balance all the time. When we came back from pandemic and I started to travel, I did a lot of travel in the first quarter. But that was because I was leaning into it, getting out there. It’s about having it in balance in the medium term, ongoing. If you start a new role you may have to lean in a little more into it but you’ve got to get it in balance because I think one of the things that pandemic has taught us – one of many things – is to mind the mental health side of things as well,” he says.

“Leadership needs to walk the talk. They need to set the example so that others see it. But at the end of the day you have to own it yourself.

“The company should put in place the policies, lead by example, but at the end of the day it’s up to the individual. You have to decide to close that laptop. You have to decide to put that out-of-office on, you have to decide to turn off and empower your team and your organisation. Give them the opportunity to do your role for a period of time to gain that experience and trust in doing that.”