At ANS, our partners are at the heart of everything we do. As we continue our partner showcase, Ryan Martin, Indirect Sales Manager at ANS, sat down with Al Stephens, Founder of Darwin Technology, to discuss their company, our partnership, and how we continue to grow together. With that said, let’s get to know Darwin Technology…
First of all, please introduce yourself and the company…
Al Stephens, Founder of Darwin Technology. Darwin helps people get the right technology for their business, running stringent evaluation processes for medium-large businesses who are looking to purchase new technology or renew existing services.
We operate a network of IT vendors, from voice, network and security, through to cloud and VDi, which bid on our customers projects, through our industry-leading process.
What does your company stand for? What are your values?
Real and aware are two of our core values. There is no façade to anyone at Darwin. We’re a straight-talking business that cuts through BS and delivers facts, rather than pitches to our customers. We have to be aware, both of our market and our customers, in every way. Some of these contracts are 7 to 8 figures – it’s high-pressure stuff and Darwin exist to alleviate, not add to that pressure.
Tell us about your proposition, key tech partners, and how you want to work with others…
Darwin runs processes. Our process removes the time, cost, risk, and pain from our enterprise customers’ buying cycle, and gives them the highest chance of picking the right partner for any technology project they undertake. Our vendors are our customers too. We deliver well-qualified projects into their pipeline at a fraction of any alternative cost they incur for qualified lead-gen.
One of our key USPs is that we don’t pick the vendors, our customers do. Our fee is paid by the vendor which the customer chooses to work with, so our process is free of charge to our enterprise customers.
Being the process, rather than the technology, allows us a huge breadth of capability. We have around 200 vendors signed up to our marketplace, which service the main IT pillars; UCaaS and CCaaS, Networking and Connectivity, IT Security, IT Support, Mobility, LAN and Hardware, etc.
Ultimately, what do you want your company to be known for?
Unwavering customer focus. We want to be the go-to for anyone looking to buy technology for their business.
Are there any technology areas on your radar screen/any trends in the market that interest you? And why?
We are investing in a couple of bits of software at the moment, one of which will use an element of AI. I’m not gushing over ChatGPT (yet) but can see its uses. I’m still very much wondering who can hide behind it and how it will be regulated.
What is your biggest achievement/what are you most proud of?
In life, my family (some days).
In work, the first year of Darwin has had so many highs it’s hard to pick one. 100% of our customers will case study our service – I’ll take that one.
How do you see your company evolving?
As so many companies are, we are turning to automation to make ourselves more efficient and deliver more value to our customers. That’s all I’ll say – watch this space.
How would you describe your partnership with ANS?
It’s a relatively new partnership for both businesses, which feels strange and exciting at the same time given that there are so many ways in which we’ve realised that we can work together. We have very similar values and see us working well together. ANS will be a really competitive addition to Darwin’s marketplace.
What sets ANS apart from the competition?
ANS are focused on doing what they do really well. In the engagements we’ve had, they’ve always been very clear on what it is, and outside their capability, which is one of the key characteristics we look for when we’re adding new partners into our marketplace. ANS are passionate about what they do, and we’re very excited to watch our partnership grow.
Brief/Potted history of your company
Darwin was founded in recognition of the ever-evolving technology landscape. Service providers and SaaS platforms all going to market with the reason they think people should buy their product. How do you differentiate their product from their sales and marketing teams? You run a process. That’s where Darwin creates our value, by removing a lot of the emotion from the decision-making process and focusing on facts.
We are a relatively new business having only been in operation just over 12 months, but the response to our approach has been stronger than forecast and given us a platform to invest in the technology and people we need to accelerate.
For more information about Darwin Tech, please see here. Watch our short video on our partnership with Darwin Tech below.