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Reseller review: Where are they now?

ARN takes a look at some of the high profile resellers - and their leaders - of the last 10 years
Reseller leaders of the past 10 years

Reseller leaders of the past 10 years

  • Reseller leaders of the past 10 years
  • <b>Frank Colli, Leading Solutions</b> – Leading Solutions was one of Australia’s most prominent IT resellers and HP partners, led by well-known founder and industry veteran, Frank Colli. The company’s 20-year run finally came to an end in October 2009 after months of speculation around its credit problems and long-term future. [[artnid:324153|Voluntary administrators were called in to sell-off the embattled business]], and found a keen buyer in Synergy Plus in November. Leading Solutions was the subject of a [[artnid:208832|highly publicised merger with ASX-listed ComputerCorp in 2008]], and made headlines by [[artnid:168275|acquiring rival player and industry stalwart, BCA IT, in November 2006]]. Colli, one of the bigger personalities in the Australian channel, spent some time assisting administrators to wind up the business and helping staff. He has yet to re-emerge in the industry.
  • <b>Garry Henley, Alphawest</b> – [[artnid:202998|High-profile Alphawest executive, Garry Henley]], held a number of leadership positions during his 15-year tenure with the company. He initially joined Alphawest following its 1994 acquisition of networking provider, Integral Solutions. Henley was appointed Alphawest’s managing director in 1999 and oversaw its sale to Solution 6 in 2000. Two years later, he led a management buyout from its owners and became CEO. Alphawest was again acquired in 2005, [[artnid:136586|this time by Optus/Singtel]], and Henley stayed on as chief until early 2008 before finally hanging up his hat. [[artnid:337545|Henley stepped back into the industry full-time this year as the new CEO of ASX-listed Synergy Plus]].
  • <b> Adrian Coote, Commander </b> - Adrian Coote has held several roles in the ICT industry, but the one he was best known was his four-year stint as Commander’s managing director. During his tenure, Coote led the company’s controversial acquisition of Volante Group and Ipex. His abrupt resignation in December 2007 was one of many instituted by Commander’s board in a last-ditch effort to save the ultimately doomed company – [[artnid:256295|Commander went into receivership in August 2008]]. <i>ARN</i> understands Coote is now working for a boutique software company.
  • <b> Steve Evans, Commander</b> – High-profile enterprise sales manager at Commander, Steve Evans, was [[artnid:201343|dumped by the ASX-listed integrator in December 2007 after the appointment of Amanda Lacaze to replace Adrian Coote. His exit proved a smaller piece of the overall puzzle however: [[artnid:204068|Commander retrenched 600 staff in a massive business overhaul shortly afterwards]]. But the sweeping changes weren’t enough to save the company. [[artnid:329856|Evans spent several months consulting to various organisations before joining niche wireless vendor, AirData, as CEO in late 2008]]. He remains in the role today.
  • <b>Joel, Yaron and Yoav Schwalb, Ipex</b>– The founders of Ipex were well-recognised faces in the Australian channel and made headlines – as well as $70m in shares – when they [[artnid:12653|sold the company to Volante in 2004]].The merger saw 850 staff combine under a single IT services and PC manufacturing goliath, with several lucrative Government contracts in its pocket. Sadly, Ipex is one of many local PC builders to fall from grace over the past decade. Following [[artnid:155179|Commander’s hostile takeover of Volante in April 2006]], the business languished as a smaller subsidiary before [[artnid:267947|finally closing in November 2008]]. The Schwalb brothers have since disappeared from the Australian market. A little research shows they moved on to run a similar business in Israel, which was eventually sold to a competitor. Yoav and Yaron (pictured) Schwalb are currently listed as a directors for Pinpoint Advance Group, a business company formed to identify new business prospects for mergers and acquisitions.
  • <b> Allan Brackin, Volante</b> – A major face in Australia’s IT channel during the 1990s and into 2000, Allan Brackin began his career at Brisbane-based reseller, Applied Micro Systems, in 1986. The company’s aggressive expansion strategy led Brackin to lead its wholesale arm, Prion, when it launched in 1990, as well as assist with AAG’s NetBridge IT services business, which was established in 1995. In 2000, Brackin was on the AAG executive team that made the decision to merge with new ASX-listed group, Volante. The Volante business was the brainchild of Macquarie Bank’s Macvquarie Direct Investment subsidiary, which had acquired a range of reseller businesses including Silicon Data, Intellect and Connections. Meanwhile, AAG had rebranded to AMG and made several purchases of its own including PC Express, State Computers and ITG Computers. After four years as chief of Volante Systems, which included [[artnid:120614| the company acquire Ipex in 2004]], [[artnid:125491|Brackin left Volante]]. He spent five years as a non-executive director of software firm, GBST, and has chaired Emagine International since 2008. Brackin is also currently chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Network Management Committee, NSW division, and involved with the Heart Foundation.
  • <b>Hugh Bickerstaff, PC Express/Volante</b> – A veteran of the Australian channel, Hugh Bickerstaff began his career as a dealer manager at NEC before eventually establishing IBM-only reseller, PC Express. The company quickly acquired several state-based players to form a national reseller group, which listed on the ASX in 1999 as Volante Group. The company then merged with AAG Group in 2000 to become AMS, headed by Allan Brackin, and became one of Australia’s most significant IT reseller shops. After [[artnid:134728|quitting Volante in June 2005]], Bickerstaff took some time off before rejoining the Australian channel as [[artnid:173941|managing director of business solutions at LogicaCMG in February 2007]]. He is still with Logica as managing director.
  • <b>Hugh Smith, ComputerCorp</b> - The founder of ComputerCorp spent 19 years at the helm of the Western Australia-based IT reseller before [[artnid:157045|selling up to ASX-listed Etick in March 2006]]. Smith retired from the industry following the sale and according to his former colleagues, continues to enjoy the retired lifestyle. Since the sale, ComputerCorp has undergone a tumultuous few years including failed mergers with Leading Solutions and S Central. It purchased [[artnid:297529|Hyro subsidiary, Synergy Plus, for $9.3m in March 2009]], along with [[artnid:326310|Leading’s assets]], and rebranded under the [[artnid:324559|Synergy Plus masthead in November 2009]].
  • <b> Peter Kazacos, Kaz Group</b> - Peter Kazacos came to fame with Kaz Group, which was arguably Australia’s most successful outsourcing company. [[artnid:21949|Kazacos sold the business to Telstra for a whopping $333m]] in April 2004, and stayed on at the telco for a couple of years before stepping down. [[artnid:273518|Not a man to watch an opportunity go by]], Kazacos launched a [[artnid:189216|new venture, PK Business Advantage, in July 2007]] to provide IT services and telco solutions to the SMBs throughout regional Australia. The company has since purchased several state players, rebranded as Anittel, and [[artnid:335863|merged with ASX-listed Hostech, Aspirence, Accord Technology and Axxis Technology to create a new SMB services powerhouse in February]]. As part of the deal, Kazacos became executive chairman of the combined group. [[artnid:278425|Kaz, meanwhile, was sold by Telstra to Fujitsu in March 2009]] after nearly a year of negotiations over the $200m purchase price.
  • <i>ARN</i> understands Carter is looking at potentially returning to the market, while doing things a lot smarter and does interim coaching and consulting.
  • <b>Stephen Harrington, BCA IT</b>Stephen Harrington joined BCA in 1987 as CFO, and became its managing director in 2000. Carter and Harrington were directors of [[artnid:168275|BCA when it was acquired by Leading Solutions]] in 2006. Since then, Harrington told <i>ARN</i> he’s been doing odds and ends outside of IT, and appeared as the COO of biotechnology company, Sensear, at one point. He is also closely watching the horses and has an interest in several horses, one of which won the Oaks in 2007. “My work/life balance is pretty good at the moment,” he added.
  • <b>Peter Mavridis, S Central</b> – Melbourne-based S Central announced its intention to join the national integrator ranks back in 2004 through acquisition, starting with [[artnid:111401|Com Connexions]]. S Central swiftly picked up a host of household names across Australia’s channel landscape between 2006-2008 including [[artnid:203289|Clariti in Queensland]], [[artnid:169078|AGM IT]], [[artnid: 186682|ExpressApps/Infotronics]], and Newcastle-based [[artnid: 199091|Rich Computing]]. A proposed [[artnid:297531|merger with ComputerCorp and Synergy Plus]], which was announced in March last year, saw Mavridis rise to be the combined group’s CEO, but concerns over getting the sale passed S Central shareholders [[artnid:314809|forced him to resign from the position in August]]. [[artnid:324548|S Central’s business assets were then sold to Brennan IT]] in what was regarded a controversial deal, and questions emerged around [[artnid: 324599|S Central staff entitlements]]. After [[artnid:328165|receivers were appointed to S Central’s book debts]], <i>ARN</i> reported [[artnid:337172|Mavridis had taken up a consulting role with recruitment company, Chandler Recruitment]].
  • <b>Theo Baker, Powerlan</b> - Theo Baker’s career has been one of ups and downs, rising and falling with the various challenges his company, Powerlan, experienced over the years. Baker established Powerlan Business Infrastructure as a hardware reseller back in 1992, and listed on the ASX in 1999. It has undertaken several acquisitions over the years, such as IMX Software, Rapid Web Publisher, Clarity, the [[artnid: 34219|disastrous deal with XSI Technology]] and the [[artnid:29001|doomed merger in Queensland with Data#3]]. In 2002, [[artnid:27294|Powerlan announced it would step away from IT services and become a software vendor]], and [[artnid:28615|sold its hardware reseller business]]. Since that time, it has acquired, sold off and transformed its market play several times. Baker is no longer a director of Powerlan, but has remained in the news for his follow-up retirement village venture, Community Life, which listed on the ASX in 2004 and continues to struggle with falling revenue and losses. The listed entity was rebranded CL Asset Holdings in 2008 and has changed its focus to a property investment company. Baker is a major shareholder and its managing director.
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Australia’s reseller landscape has been a colourful one over the past decade. Like their distribution counterparts, reseller organisations have gone through massive changes as technologies matured, and their business models transformed from box seller, through to sophisticated IT services and beyond. Through mergers, acquisitions and failures, the list of prominent channel players has evolved dramatically over recent years.

This special report delves into some of Australia’s leading reseller figures during the first decade of the new millennium, as well as the companies that made them. We look into the transformation each of these companies underwent over the past 10 years, and take a glimpse into where these prominent channel personalities are now.

Our top picks:

  • Frank Colli, Leading Solutions
  • Garry Henley, Alphawest
  • Adrian Coote, Commander
  • Steve Evans, Commander
  • Joel, Yaron and Yoav Schwalb, Ipex
  • Allan Brackin, Volante
  • Hugh Bickerstaff, PC Express/Volante
  • Hugh Smith, ComputerCorp
  • Peter Kazacos, Kaz Group
  • Peter Mavridis, S Central
  • Theo Baker, Powerlan
  • Andrew Carter, BCA IT
  • Stephen Harrington, BCA IT

Click on each image to read more about some of the leading reseller companies and figures of the past decade.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: AlphaWest, Andrew, ARN, BCA, BCA IT, CA Technologies, Commander, Ipex, Leading Solutions, PC Express, S Central, Volante
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