Crawford Beveridge C.B.E., Executive Vice President and Chairman, EMEA, APAC and the Americas of Sun Microsystems, a tech-sector veteran, shares his 35 years of experience with us in this insightful and personable interview.
How did you progress to your current role at Sun?
I first went to Sun in 1985 to run a number of things, including HR, the real estate facilities, and information technology. My employee number was 935, so it gives you an idea of the size of the company, coming off a $40m year: pretty small and still private.
I started my career with Hewlett Packard in Scotland and went with them to Switzerland, and then on to California. I came back to Switzerland with Digital Equipment, before leaving to become VP of both HR and ‘Quality’ would you believe, at Analog Devices. I think I must have been out of the room when they were deciding who should have that one!
Scott McNealy then called me out of the blue. There was a long period when I kept trying to convince him I was no way interested in another job, but he’s a very persuasive salesman.
What does your current role as Chairman EMEA, APAC and the Americas involve?
I was asked to take on a role dealing with government relations, and for the last six months as chairman of EMEA, APAC, and the Americas – with three different business cards! So the local sales forces use that to leverage being able to get into fairly high levels of government.
This year I’ve been to see the presidents of Brazil and India, to make sure we can influence public policy with regard to technology.
How were you approached to return to Scotland?
I was at a going away party that the British Consul held and the inward investment guys from the Scottish Development Agency were there. They asked me what I wanted to do next, and I said “Maybe I’ll come and help you guys out.” And that started a long series of discussions and I ended up in 1991 coming over to take over as the first Chief Executive.
Scottish Enterprise set the headhunters loose with a brief that said the winning candidate probably had to be a Scot who had worked in industry outside of Scotland. So they came and asked if I’d do it. Mrs Thatcher was deposed just as she was about to sign off on it. So by the time I got there, John Major was in Downing Street.
I did that for nine years with every intention of staying in Scotland, when McNealy called again, saying “So, now you’ve finished your sabbatical, why don’t you come back and do a real job?” I returned to Sun one month later.
What persuaded you to take the Scottish Enterprise role?
I left Scotland in 1971 to go to Geneva on what was supposed to be a two-year assignment. 20 years later, and I’d never returned. I turned the job down the first time, and it was a very smart headhunter who came back knowing what was most attractive to me was that it was very unusual for someone outside Scottish politics to come into the system at a high enough level to be able to affect it. He said, “You must understand that you can help all you like, but you’ll always be on the outside. Here’s your chance to really affect the system.” So we had a round of family discussions, closed our eyes, and stepped outside!
It was the best job I have ever done, bar none. It was fantastic. You had to have a fairly good internal view of what you’re achieving, because the external view comes at you from the Press. One day you’re a hero, and the next, a villain.
I had people coming up to me in restaurants saying they just had to talk to me. I even had one guy jump out of his van on a ferry and collar me about his farm.
What are you most proud of in your career?
It’s probably Scottish Enterprise. It was a real ‘step out of your comfort zone’ thing. And although I wouldn’t say I did it perfectly, I think I did a pretty good job there, given the terror I faced when I went into it, and I think being able to learn that stuff and come out of it alive was very satisfying.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received?
I think it was probably from Dick Alberding, the President of HP Europe, who got me around the notion of going out to hire people who are better than you are and let them eat into your job. I’ve really tried to manage by that dictum. I’d much rather have people chasing me saying, “Why don’t you move up the ladder - I need your job!” One of the things Sun is very hot on is no-one moving out of jobs without presenting a succession plan.
In the war for talent, make sure you go and get the very best people you can get, because it always seems to pay off.
Who has had the most influence on your career?
I would say three people, and for very different reasons. One was Alberding who gave me my first shot at a serious-sized management job years before I was qualified to do it. He mentored and helped me through it.
The second was probably McNealy. Here’s a guy who had a vision of where computing was going without any technical background, at 26 years old. And there aren’t many start-up entrepreneurs who make it all the way to running a 44,000 person company with $25bn of shareholder value. He was able to really figure out when the company needed to reinvent itself.
My Chairman at Scottish Enterprise, now Lord Nixon, was the third real influence. He was outstanding and very highly connected; he could pick up the phone and get John Major on the other end. He was also a fantastic mentor, and stopped me from walking off cliffs from time to time. I would say, “This is ridiculous,” and he’d say, “Let’s think about it another way.” Without him it would have been really, really tough.
What are your future plans?
I’d like to spend a lot more time with the companies I’m on the boards of: Autodesk, eSilicon and Scottish Equity Partners, because I always feel I’m short-changing them. The day job always wins.
I think you can collect too many boards and not give them enough attention. You need to spend a lot more time with them than just the Board day, keeping up with the market, going and meeting them to see what’s happening. You should be trying to add some value to the Chief Executive in terms of mentoring, and you have to have the time to do that.
How do you see the technology sector progressing?
Sun have always said that the Network is the Computer. Nowadays, people say they get that idea, though at the time, they thought we were crazy. We believe that over the long term, people are going to move to a utility model, where they don’t need a big thing with a hard drive, but some sort of thin client that can access the network, where they’ll store all their stuff with security on it. You won’t have all those people losing laptops in cars, because like at Sun, you’ll plug an ID badge in and it’ll bring up your own system.
That’s the place we’re going to get to. No more blue screens of death.
Crawford Beveridge's Profile
Present: Executive Vice President and Chairman, EMEA, APAC and the Americas, Sun Microsystems
2000: Executive Vice President of People and Places, and Chief HR Officer, Sun Microsystems
1995: Awarded C.B.E. in the Queen’s New Years Honours list
1991: Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise
1985: VP Corporate Resources, Sun Microsystems
1982: VP HR and Quality, Analog Devices
1977: European Personnel Director, DEC
Previously: Hewlett Packard in Scotland, Switzerland, and California
Beveridge also serves on the board of Autodesk Inc., eSilicon, and Scottish Equity Partners.
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