Dave Thompson
Mark Braithwaite interviews
Dave Thompson, Asia Pacific & Japan Vice President – AXS-One
US company AXS-One has 200 people worldwide focused on the niche market of records compliance management. The compliance pressure Sarbanes Oxley brought to US companies is being mirrored globally. AXS-One invested in building a global infrastructure in anticipation that the demand would snowball. Their Asia Pacific Vice President, Dave Thompson shares his experiences of the last 4 years.
MB: “Which are the big growth markets for you?”
DT: “India, China and Japan. Interestingly, the needs of these markets are all different. In India there is an operational need. ‘My database is too big’. Japan is driven by compliance. There is new legislation in Japan and the Japanese will not hesitate to comply. In China it’s different again. It’s about good governance. The Chinese want to be seen to be doing the right thing so that as they play in world markets, they can prove that they have good governance in their corporations.”
MB: “Does this mean that your channel partners in each of these geographies are different?”
DT: “We have global partners and local partners. Sun Microsystems are a global partner and we work with them over the whole region. Our local partners would be very focused on specific sub-sections of the market. Some of them are technically focused and others on functions of their market.”
MB: “What advice would you offer to new market entrants to Asia Pacific?”
DT: “Doing business successfully in Asia is about credibility. A lot of US companies have come to Asia trying to run the business on an Amex card. Then when it has not worked, they pack up and go home again. Many of your potential clients in Asia have been bitten by this behavior in the past. Credibility is very important to them. You need to be able to prove that the company has the right backing and that the support needed by the client will be there when they need it”.
“A sense of humor is always good in Asia. Sometimes a bit of humor is a great icebreaker. It helps people relax and helps build the relationship. When you do business in Japan, the first meeting is all about the relationship. Nothing about business. You go to look at their premises, you go to dinner with them. It’s all about relationship. It sounds simple but this is the way it is”.
“Partnerships are very important to a business like ours, so the right relationships are crucial. I did a lot of reconnaissance before choosing our partners. I spoke with a lot of people. I went to my friends at SAP and asked them, ‘How did you start in China? How did you start in India? What worked? What didn’t work? Who did you work with?’ It’s a lot easier to do your homework and talk to people who have done it before than to find out the hard way.”
This interview was conducted by Mark Braithwaite, an Asia based Director of Mosaic Global Executive Search at the AXS-one Sydney offices on 22 February 2007.
