"Good leadership involves physically meeting people and regular on-site contact"
“If you’re not different, you’re no different," says Sean Sheehan, Wisetek founder & CEO.
DELOITTE LEADERSHIP SERIES: Sean Sheehan, CEO, Wisetek
When Sean Sheehan had his ‘light bulb moment’ in 2007, it set him on a career path that would subsequently see him build an environmentally progressive idea into a thriving global business.
At the time, fifteen years ago, the words repurpose, reprocess and reuse had little currency in a commercial world that had then barely grasped the concept of the circular economy. How did the idea of recycling first present itself, Deloitte’s Derek Murphy inquired, and how quickly did it go from the drawing board to a financial reality?
“I was a senior manager at EMC, in charge of their takeback programme, managing equipment coming off leasing. It was seen as a nuisance area at the time because the company was going through a significant growth in their business. Some of this equipment was only two or three years old, practically new in some cases, and I saw that as an opportunity for repurposing of this equipment as upgrades, components, and spares, and putting it back into the marketplace. It was a relatively new way of looking at used equipment at the time, but it made good sense to me. I left EMC to set up Wisetek in 2007, and subsequently came back to manage that aspect of my former employer’s operations in that area.”
Now a leader in IT asset disposal and secure data destruction, Wisetek assists a global roster of clients to achieve maximum financial return from advanced reuse, remanufacturing and recycling of retired IT equipment. Wisetek's advanced data destruction process assures clients of the safety and compliance of data destruction. Their expertise in re-use ensures maximum value recovery and peace of mind through their excellence in recycling and enviromental governance.
Since it was established in 2007, Wisetek has grown exponentially and has expanded its international footprint, including four facilities across the United States, in Massachusetts, California, Texas, and Virginia. This includes a new 42,000 square foot facility that was recently opened in Northborough, Massachusetts.
The company currently employs more than 450 people worldwide and has recently achieved the milestone of 200 employees based in the USA, with plans to grow this number further. “We have invested substantially in our facilities in the United States, resulting in the creation of 200 jobs in what we consider to be a key market for the company. We see great potential to the further growing Wisetek’s international footprint, including in the United States, in the years to come.”
With a blue-chip customer base that includes Dell, Google, Viacom CBS, and PFH, Wisetek continue to turn a cost into revenue with its one-stop approach to redundant IT equipment through a policy of re-use, re-sale and recycle.
“The ‘circular economy’ was not an established phrase when we started in 2007, companies were slow to grasp the possibilities.” Wisetek was a leader in providing an alternative to landfill for used equipment at the time, Derek pointed out. “That was exactly where the majority of this perfectly reusable product was going, lost to landfills. At that point, the linear economy was the preferred choice, operating a ‘take, make, dispose’ model of production, and creating a huge drain on natural resources to support the constantly growing demand in the electronics industry.”
Derek pointed to Wisetek’s perfect marketplace timing as the growing awareness amongst the global business community of the need to enhance their processes regarding the disposition of IT assets. Companies now had to comply with new data protection regulations and adhere to e-waste management best practices — key foundations in the Wisetek operating manual.
“Wisetek operates under the ethos of responsible, long-term data destruction on behalf of customers. Recycling is a key element of sustainability, and it is a core practice in the work we do, all of which is certified by the major international standards such as e-Stewards, Responsible Recycling (R2), EN50625 -WEEELABEX and complimented by ISO 9001,45001 & 14001."
Last year, the company launched wisetekstore.com, a new e-commerce business which will enable consumers to shop online for high quality refurbished IT equipment and new accessories including laptops, phones, tablets and keyboards.
“The site was launched to give consumers a channel to buy high quality refurbished equipment from a recognised vendor specialising in technology reuse, without having to pay premium prices for brand new items. Wisetek has traditionally focused on the business-to-business market, but we are continually exploring new ideas and markets while maintaining the high quality of service our customers are used to.”
In another stellar year for the company, Wisetek achieved Platinum Standard at Deloitte Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards, were awarded ’Best Website’ in the large company category in Cork Digital Marketing Awards and selected for Business & Finance Top 100 Companies Index 2022.
Derek inquired as to what are the main leadership skills that continue to drive the company’s upward momentum and outward expansion? “Getting the right people is has been central to our success right from the start, and we have been very fortunate to have had the benefit of that level of talent,” Sean explains. “In a business like this where we have scaled up very quickly, leadership is about constantly maintaining good communication. It is important to physically meet people and maintain regular on-site contact with our facilities across the world, that is central to the Wisetek business ethos.”
Looking to the future, Sean sees further expansion for Wisetek in the USA — “there’s no such thing as a small job in the States” — with Asia and Africa the other markets prime for expansion. Regardless of the company’s continued global expansion, he anticipates no change to its central location: “The business began in Cork and our headquarters will always be here.”
In a modern business climate where sustainability and the circular economy are now revered lynchpins of economic progress for companies large and small, the Wisetek culture of innovation will continue to be better by being different. Or, as the CEO puts it: “If you’re not different, you’re no different.”
