5 mins with...Gerry Tucker, co-founder, VADIS Systems

Pioneer at risk removal.

CRN: How long have you been in the IT industry?
Gerry Tucker: Hard to imagine but I have been in IT for over 20 years, starting in Japan and then moving to the UK and for the past 10 years here in Australia.

CRN: What was your first job?
GT: A hardware design engineer for Pioneer Electronics in Japan. I was straight out of university. I basically packed a couple of suitcases and headed off to the other side of the world not really understanding what I was getting myself into.

CRN: You were heading up a security vendor recently and now you've moved into distribution.
What made you switch?
GT: With 20 years in vendorland and extensive experience of building the channel for vendors in Australia, Asia and Europe I had noticed a clear gap in the market in terms of what is being delivered. The traditional hierarchical approach to channel is struggling to cope in today's environment. Vendors, resellers and end-users are looking for a distribution partner to add value to every point of the business cycle. Delivering on that is what really excites me about the move into distribution. The other major attraction is having more of a direct ownership in the business.

CRN: What are some key differences between the vendor life versus distributor life?
GT: There are obviously a number of advantages, one of the main ones being the ability to look at a broader offering than simply one vendor. Evaluating technology and vendors from the point of view of market fit and the potential to add value has been really stimulating. I think the distribution business poses a number of different challenges from being a vendor, in particular in the area of cashflow management.

CRN: What was the strategy behind launching VADIS especially during the downturn?
GT: There was no specific intent to start the business in the middle of a downturn, it's just what the timing was. However, the timing seems to have been pretty good as we have managed to time the launch of the business with the beginnings of the recovery.

CRN: Was there a risk?
GT: We worked hard to mitigate the risks by planning and refinement of our strategy in the market. Also combining my vendor-focused experience with Sepp's (co-founder) channel experience has helped us develop a winning model and business plan.

CRN: What interested you about IT?
GT: The most exciting thing about IT is that it is constantly changing. This also poses one of the greatest challenges as both an end-user and a channel. We see part of the value of a distributor as mitigating this risk especially for the channel. By having a flexible partner model and a service offering, channel can select solutions and invest at a level that is appropriate.

CRN: Where do you see the IT industry in five years?
GT: We will see much more of a service model. With the growth of cloud computing offerings and the desire to marry expenditure to revenue we are going to see a change in the traditional approach to purchasing and delivering technology solutions.

CRN: What don't you leave the house without?
GT: My phone, my wallet and pictures of my wife and kids.

CRN: How do you start your day?
GT: A light work out, 30 minutes of meditation and breakfast with my wife and kids.

CRN: If there was a book written about your life what would it be called?
GT: Ha'penny Bridge to Harbour Bridge.
(The Ha'penny Bridge is Dublin's landmark bridge  in the centre of the city.)