Ollie Wallington
We pride ourselves on delivering the best in service and products for our customers, but this wouldn’t be possible without our people who are the core of the business. We’re keen to develop and help individuals flourish and to fulfil their career goals. We know that we can only evolve and grow as a business, if our people do too.
Ollie Wallington, Head of Business Development, answers our questions below about his career path with Wireless Logic.
When did you join Wireless Logic and what was your first role?
I joined in September 2007 as a Sales Administrator, after passing A-Levels in Business Studies, IT and Economics. Initially I deferred my first year at University to step into the world of full-time employment, not really knowing what to expect – little did I know I’d still be here after 13 years (and counting!). This is testament to my colleagues, the company culture, career progression and the general positive environment that Wireless Logic has been built on.
When I joined there were around 12 members of staff that sat at a set of joined tables, taking up not much more space than our current boardroom table! We occupied a small corner of a large open plan office and were part of Phones International Group. Fast forward 13 years and there’s a vast change, we now employ over 240 staff across 6 European countries and connect 4 million machines in 130+ countries.
How has your career developed at Wireless Logic?
After spending my first two years as a Sales Administrator, I took an opportunity to move into Sales as an Account Manager. In this role, there was a blend of managing existing accounts, and a small focus on looking at new business and offering the three core elements to Wireless Logic’s solution; connecting customers’ solutions via cellular connectivity, controlling assets through our SIM management platform, SIMPro and securing them through NetPro, our private infrastructure which also enables static IP and VPN solutions.
As an Account Manager I had a high-level insight into Business Development, I moved into the Business Development team in 2012, where my focus was based on building new business relationships within the M2M/IoT ecosystem.
In 2018, my role changed to Head of Retail Solutions, where my focus was on IoT/M2M connectivity within the retail industry – i.e. mobile payments, business continuity/ 4G failover for retail stores, digital signage, smart vending/ Kiosks and much more – after a year and a shift in strategy, I changed roles to Senior Business Development Manager, still having a focus within the retail market, but taking a more holistic view on the IoT/M2M ecosystem as a whole.
Finally, in July 2020, I was promoted to Head of Business Development, I now manage the Business Development team, whilst also focussing on building new business partnerships.
As you can see, the opportunity to progress at Wireless Logic over the last 13 years, has always been within reach not only when it was smaller, but also as a larger business. There are initiatives that focus on career progression and development and having a process in place to achieve this has proven to be successful. Other colleagues of mine, not just in sales, have also been able to progress their careers too which is testament of the ongoing personal growth strategy that Wireless Logic welcome. In conjunction with individuals’ goals and self-development, it’s down to how Wireless Logic value their employees’ careers and the steps that they put in place to help them reach their own goals, as well as the goals of the business.
Did you need to learn anything about IoT/M2M before you started? What help and support have your received from Wireless Logic?
I didn’t know anything about IoT or M2M before joining Wireless Logic, nor did I have any past experience of full-time employment, as it was my first job. The support and help I received when I started was invaluable, everyone, across all teams, was very approachable and this is the same today. The ability to learn on the job and not to be afraid to asks questions certainly helped.
As I transitioned into more of a sales role in 2009, the learning continued, this was largely supported by Phil Cole (co-founder & former Sales Director), Jon-Paul Clarke (Business Development Director) & Oliver Tucker (CEO), this helped enormously with my career progression, even in the early stages. As the larger company that we are today, this support is still accessible with other members of senior management across the group, as well as line managers and colleagues alike and this, coupled with a more defined induction process, and the ability to meet all key members of staff means that there is plenty of support for any new starters – regardless of experience.
With the ever-evolving technology advances within the IoT industry, I’m still learning, but being able to do so, surrounded by a great team, is never difficult to do.
What do you like about working for Wireless Logic and what have been your highlights?
To put it simply for me it’s the culture and, in turn, the people that form Wireless Logic. There are a lot of highlights (too many to list!) but what I would say is that the social side of Wireless Logic is always great fun – whether this be end of year, summer, Christmas, or even end of the month, there’s always something going on, and it’s a great way to socialise outside of work.
What do you hope to get from your new role?
As Head of Business Development, my role is to assist and guide the Business Development team. I will support them to achieve their goals, not just from a KPI perspective, but other aspects of work too, and of course leading by example and providing the support wherever possible in order for this to be achieved.
The role takes ownership of the day to day management and direction of our UK Business Development team, my aim is to build a clear strategic direction in order for us to focus on uncovering, developing and winning long term, high revenue value for Wireless Logic through new business. Many customers of ours can be start-ups who soon grow into leading companies within their industry, so ensuring that their confidence in Wireless Logic is secured from the start is paramount, and in turn results in us growing too as part of their journey.
What would you say to anyone considering a career in IoT – what advice would you give?
Go for it! Research for yourselves into how this technology is helping different businesses through the various applications. The IoT market is exciting, constantly evolving and growing at an exponential rate, and it’s shaping the future across so many different industries – whether it’s a connected and contactless vending machine that vends products through scanning a QR code (Aeguana) or when you order food online, the restaurants have a reliable means of receiving your order (Just Eat) and even down to a connected e-mobility/electric scooter delivering that food (Eskuta) all of these are just some examples of how Wireless Logic are connecting machines that require reliable and secure real time connectivity through cellular networks.
Lastly, there are various roles within the industry that would suit any person, from sales, to tech support, to finance or marketing, to name a few – so if there’s a general interest in any of these roles, why not look at a market that is destined for growth and improving the way we live.
