Profile: Dream with hi-tech twist

With a degree in engineering from Tel Aviv University, Udi Furman never had any
intention of entering the world of hi-tech networking solutions. But that is where he has ended, funnily enough in the country he had a long-held dream of seeing.

“Since I was a teenager, I had always dreamt of visiting Australia, much less living here,” said 42-year-old Israeli born Furman.

As managing director of the Australian arm of RAD Data Communications, Furman said he arrived at the company by virtue of his strong command of German more than anything else.

It was 1993 and Furman had been living in Germany for three years, working for an engineering firm. It was also the start of the hi-tech boom in Israel and jobs were aplenty for those with international sales experience and language skills.

Bolstered by his command of German and his engineering background, Furman was offered an account management role with RAD back in his home country.

Jumping at the opportunity, Furman worked his way up the corporate ladder, before eventually being nominated as sales director for EMEA and Oceania in 2000, reporting directly to VP sales.

Come 2003, however, and following the IT crash after the millennium, things began to gain momentum within the southern hemisphere and a chance arose to open the regional South Pacific office of RAD in Melbourne.

“It was the chance I had been waiting for,” said Furman. Having married and started a family by this time, he said he relished the opportunity to start a new life down under. “Plus the opportunity to work in a rapidly developing industry within a totally new market was a really exciting prospect.”

RAD today
Today, RAD Data Australia is the Oceania company of RAD Data Communications, a global player in the worldwide networking market. Founded in 1981, RAD established its Oceania presence in 1991. Serving both enterprise and service providers, the company has more than 20 years’ experience providing global access solutions for voice and data applications.

A private company, RAD has established a position in the networking marketplace by virtue of several key corporate assets. First, said Furman, is the wide range of solutions that it provides. Particularly noteworthy is the breadth of technologies in which RAD has proven expertise. These currently range from mature technologies such as TDM, Frame Relay and voice compression to emerging, high-growth areas such as IP, ATM, TDM over IP, fibre optics and Quality of Service.

Furman said it is the access solutions for the telco sector that RAD is currently particularly focused on. Telcos comprise a good 70 percent of clientele.

RAD provides the devices to transport HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Protocol Access) over IP-based networks. As 3G services continue to roll out from the telcos, Furman said that there will be a notable increase in opportunities to provide the connectivity within their core networks.

“The introduction of HDSPA is expected to enable these mobile operators to exploit the full potential of 3G technology by offering mobile broadband services to rival fixed-line offerings.

“The evolution to 3G introduces a new range of bandwidth-intensive mobile services and to succeed in this demanding environment, mobile operators face the challenge of using the most efficient backhaul technology that will yield the most cost-effective solutions. This is particularly critical with the launch of HSDPA services, which require network expansions to support the increased capacity that they demand. If HSDPA were to be backhauled over expensive E1/T1 lines, the profitability of the service would be at risk.

“Pseudowire-based backhaul is clearly the most efficient alternative available.”
However, generally preferring to stay away from the main networking areas of business such as that dominated by the likes of Cisco, Furman said the ‘last mile’ access solution is where RAD is concentrating efforts with its channel partners.

Not just the new technology
It is not just the new and emerging technologies that RAD is focused on. “We are very proud of being able to offer integration with legacy solutions in our portfolio. This is a service that the telcos continue to require heavy support in and luckily we are able to provide this for them,” said Furman.

The company currently has four main channel partners within Australia but a couple more would not go amiss. Having recently released its ACE-3600 multi-service aggregation unit, specifically designed to accommodate the rapid expansion in mobile backhaul traffic, Furman is keen to expand in the access and backhauling space – helping the mobile operators optimise their traffic through their networks. He said RAD is looking for quality partners that understand the marketplace and its operators.

A channel that knows the market
He stressed that expanding the channel network is not just about the numbers though. “We need people who can really come to grips with what engineers in those companies need. And likewise they need to be able to provide the support for what we offer, because whether it is five or 10 years from now, RAD will always be ahead of the game with the technology.”

He said the company’s current model in getting ahead with the telcos has marketing and education at its core. Integral to this is the challenge of overcoming the market’s dependence on large integrators for their outsourced networking requirements.

“Obviously this makes it hard for our channel partners at the outset,” he admitted. But he said RAD is aiming to overcome the barriers by investing time and resources into a big awareness campaign.

Career timeline

1990 — relocated to Germany from native Israel to start work for engineering firm Orbotech.

1994 — began working for RAD Data Communications as an account manager for
large accounts in Europe.

1997 — promoted to regional sales manager covering German-speaking countries and Scandinavia.

2000 — nominated as sales director for EMEA (excluding a few countries)
and Oceania, reporting directly to VP sales.

2003 — sent to Melbourne to open the regional South Pacific office of RAD where
he has been located since.

“My business development manager and I are creating increased awareness of our backhauling technologies currently and we are gradually getting some very interesting replies.” Apparently one of the big four telcos is already at the ‘proof of concept’ stage, he added.

In return for their efforts, Furman said reseller partners can expect a range of support initiatives including regular visits, updates on the new technologies and a variety of on and offline training occurring almost every week if so desired.

And overall, he said the company is working “like a machine” with added flavour coming in the form of overseas visits from the company’s 164 international offices.

Furman’s attitude to the way RAD does business, he said, is similar to his own philosophy on life. “It’s all a bit of a gamble, but hey, who ever got anywhere in life without taking a few risks?” Where RAD has achieved success today, is due to a continuous series of calculated risks along with careful planning, a strong PR strategy and channel partnering.

“If you want to be in this marketplace, there is a certain agreed protocol to follow, but you also have to take a few chances along the way. There’s no gain without pain – that is for sure.”

The opening of the RAD office in Melbourne was also originally a topic that prompted many debates. “However, although we found out that Sydney seems to be the most popular destination, there are many influential companies headquartered in Melbourne. And so far, so good.”

So apart from the obvious size differences between Australia and Europe, what does Furman see as the differences in the two marketplaces?

“Well first off, I think the fact that we have a much smaller market here is a positive thing as it means there is less competition to contend with!

“On the downside though, there is rather less R&D being undertaken in the hi-tech telco product area. However, I think these positives and negatives are counter-balanced by the market’s size and the fact that there are many less vendors competing with each other.

“As for the technologies themselves, we are certainly not behind the times here, but maybe the prices are a little higher, due again to the reduced competition. I think this results in better service levels overall in Europe but here, I think this is slowly changing.

“One area I think is very positive in Europe is the use they make of the utility companies and the railways by utilising their underground fibres to optimise access services. Here they have begun to offer the telcos these services but it is not at all common. We have some way to go here.”

Outside the hi-tech life
Outside the pressures of the hi-tech networking world, Furman is busy with a growing family. With a wife and three boys – Omer, 13, Idan, nine, and Eyal, six, there is (understandably!) little time left for himself.

“My boys are very sporty so we have all that to deal with at the weekends,” he laughed. “And then we are absolutely mad about traveling around Australia as there is so much to see — as well as sights we haven’t seen of course. We’ve traveled up to the Northern Territory as well as all over Queensland and down through Victoria and Tasmania. The beauty of the country is just staggering.”

He said that relocating to Australia with the family is the best decision he has ever made. “I believe the experience we are giving our kids is very positive. The language, being independent, meeting new friends and building new relationships and family life will all have a great impact on their life later on.” Not bad for a teenage dream.

Louise Durack