Mark Boyer.
Global Services Director · Softcat
£550M services portfolio · ~300 people · the UK's leading channel partner
Two decades of services leadership across the UK and European VAR and MSP channel: as operator, as integrator, and as the customer.
Services portfolio led at Softcat
People across the services organisation
Year-one customer NPS
Services revenue growth, year one
Full P&L accountability · regular engagement at board and C-suite level · two decades on every side of the MSP table.
Summary
Global Services Director at Softcat, accountable for £550M of services and ~300 people at the UK's leading channel partner, with full P&L accountability and regular board and C-suite engagement. 20% services growth and an NPS lift to 68 in year one. Two decades designing and rebuilding service operating models from every seat: MSP, global systems integrator, end-customer and now the №1 VAR.
I publish the thinking as the Human Operating Model: software defines the service, AI runs it, and people are why customers choose yours. A main-stage keynote voice on AI and operating models, I build with AI as readily as I speak on it. I lead through servant leadership with high standards: candour, accountability and the conditions for people to do their best work. Open to the right step-up conversation: MD or VP Services in a provider, or CIO / IT & Technology Director where technology needs rebuilding around business outcomes.
Professional Experience
Softcat
Global Services Director
Feb 2025 – Present
London
- Accountable for a £550M services portfolio and ~300 people across Professional Services, Programme & Project Delivery, the Operations Centre, Service Introduction and Partner Management.
- Designed and led the Unified Services Framework, Softcat's global delivery operating model, built on a 'shift-right', software-defined approach: standardising how services are sold, landed, run and renewed.
- Govern Service Partner Management, 80+ delivery partners and MSPs under formal commercial, SLA and continuous-improvement frameworks, and own the Services Platform Architecture behind delivery and reporting.
- Work with leading vendors, including Microsoft, Cisco and ServiceNow, to define the next generation of service models, where AI and software-defined delivery run the service and human judgement becomes the differentiator.
- Introduced Career Pathways, a behavioural approach to role design and progression that replaces implicit norms with explicit, evidenced ones: lifting capability, clarity and retention.
Year one: 20% growth in Softcat Services revenue and customer NPS improved to 68.
The Workshop
Director of IT Service Operations / Solution Delivery
2023 – 2024
London / Málaga
- End-customer leadership of the global IT and digital estate across EMEA, APAC and LATAM: 170+ services and 1,000+ users.
- Built and led distributed teams across five countries and four time zones (London, Málaga, Reykjavík, Auckland, Bogotá), owning recruitment, capability uplift and retention.
- Full ownership of the stack from physical data centres through OpenStack private cloud, plus Service Desk, IT Operations, Cyber Security, Engineering, Architecture and Enterprise Service Management.
- Owned 24/7 operational support and incident management across the global estate, with direct accountability for service performance, MTTR and stakeholder satisfaction.
- Delivered phase 2 of a group-wide operating-model transformation; owned compliance across ISO 27001, GDPR and PCI-DSS spanning UK, EU, APAC and LATAM.
T-Systems
Head of Service Management, Northern Europe
2017 – 2023
London
- Owned a £250M contract portfolio for Northern Europe, leading global teams across EMEA and Asia, including global hotel EPOS estates and energy majors (Shell, BP) running PCI-DSS forecourt environments at scale.
- Repositioned the model from Technical Service Management to Customer Success: putting customer outcomes ahead of service tickets.
Drove year-on-year renewals, 20%+ margin growth and TRI*M scores sustained above 90 against ongoing cost-out programmes.
Managed 24/7
Services Director
2015 – 2017
Milton Keynes
- Board-level services leadership through service redesign and cultural transformation in a high-growth UK MSP.
- Improved NPS, launched new service offerings and contributed directly to EBITDA growth.
Back-to-back CRN MSP of the Year wins during tenure (2016, 2017), with a third in 2018 on the model built; first MSP in Europe to hold four ISO accreditations simultaneously.
Independent & interim
we are grapevine · SCC · GLG
2014 – 2015
London
- Founder, we are grapevine, an independent services consultancy for interim leadership and advisory, including interim Head of Service Delivery at Bidvest 3663: UK foodservice IT, holding Fujitsu and Daisy to SLA as the customer.
- Head of Service Management, SCC (2015): Financial Services portfolio; Lloyd's of London syndicate insurers under FCA, PRA and Lloyd's market regulation.
- Council Member, Gerson Lehrman Group: expert-network advisor on IT services to institutional clients.
Kelway (now CDW UK)
Head of Services
2010 – 2013
London
- Delivered £50M+ in Managed Services, supporting growth to £250M through M&A integration.
- Integrated an 800-person MSP acquisition; established the UK Service Operations Centre from a clean sheet and embedded ISO 20000.
Drove double-digit EBITDA growth and step-change customer satisfaction.
Earlier career
ISC Networks · Accent
2007 – 2010
UK
- Technical Service Delivery Manager, ISC Networks (2009–10) · IT Manager, Accent (2007–09).
Expertise
Speaking & Thought Leadership
Keynote stages
SITS 26 · main stage
itSMF UK 2025
SDI Spark 26
PropelX London
SDI 2024
Themes
- AI lands or stalls in the operating model
- Designing services around human behaviour, not just process
- Language as the architecture of the experience
- What commercial credibility demands of service organisations
From the room
"By far the best speaker we saw. Very relevant and inspirational."SDI Spark 26
"As masterful as ever. He owned that stage."SITS 26, main stage
Organisational Awards
Let's talk about what your services could be.
If you're rethinking how a services organisation or technology function is designed, led or commercially positioned, at MD, VP Services or CIO scope, I'd be glad to have the conversation.