The voice of the channel

Lowe graduated from Sydney University with an Arts Degree in the 1970s and then went on to become a high school teacher.

She was introduced to computers through the education board and her partner, Ken Lowe director of ASI – who has a background in science and technology – also taught with her at the same high school. In the early 1980’s both high school teachers threw their red markers away and their books in the air and took the plunge into IT.

“From the moment my partner dragged me into the computer business, I was literally drawn in. My educational background is a university degree in a humanities type subject. Then I was a teacher – while I was doing that I was studying Opera at the Conservatorium of Sydney,” says Lowe.

“I was singing Opera Chorus in the Australian Opera and doing gigs at pubs and clubs. However the moment I moved into IT, I gave up my singing career.”

The Lowes called their business Anabelle Bits - this is still the trading name - however over the years, the company has become known as ASI Solutions.

The company was originally designed to be a wholesale distribution business, this changed with the times and company now is known as a systems integrator and box builder. “We literally started the company by getting on a modem and finding suppliers overseas and talking to them over the modem. Back then all IT distribution was coming out of Taiwan and US. China, Malaysia, Singapore didn’t come in to the market yet,” she says.

“Back then were a lot of trips overseas, because we had to have of face-to-face meetings. We no longer need to take trip overseas these days it’s so easy to talk 24 hrs a day.

Lowe says the way the company sources clients hasn’t changed, a lot of business is still sourced through the Internet. She said ASI now has clientele in Germany, Israel and US.

Although she doesn’t have any formal university qualifications in IT, Lowe continually trains herself and feels she is in no way disadvantaged by her lack of formal IT qualifications. “It’s been more interesting learning along the way. I look at companies in the industry and study closely what they have done and how long they have stayed in one place,” she says.

She spends a lot of time with key vendors - even after 20 years - Lowe says she needs to be up to date with where IT is heading and also the use of technology and what it delivers. Learning from vendors about technology and what they are selling to ASI Solutions has been valuable to her education process.

“I am also an industry association member. I have been a member of the Chamber of Commerce which looks at State and regional developments in trying to grow a business. I am on the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) one of the peak bodies representing the IT industry,” she says.

“I have trained up on maintaining a business by attending as many educational seminars as I can. Learning about the growth of business and anything on human resources to marketing to planning business, helps me to run ASI Solutions,” she says.

Lowe has seen many changes throughout the years and she believes the pace of change in IT is a lot faster, flexible and more nimble. She says the approach from clients is more “here is my product” as opposed to getting to know a client.

“I suppose getting to know the client is not that important anymore. I think we use to have a greater sense of fun working hard and playing hard - if there’s a party on I like to attend.

The sense of fun in the industry is still there, but not the very strong relationships between suppliers and staff. A lot of budget cuts in the industry have changed the dynamics of a working relationship - in the past these were a lot if stronger,” says Lowe.

Lowe says she has seen many interesting changes over the past 20 years. The most obvious change has been in the field of telecommunications and its merging with data. 

“You now have two quiet different cultures trying to merge into one. We are working together with customers looking for multiple thoughts of services and we find suppliers are going back to smaller services. Companies who were competitors are now working as partners,” she says.

“A lot of senior management need core alliances, however their sales people don’t realise it. Good sales people are driven by revenue and can’t see the market advantage driven by alliances.”

Lowe believes its better business working with good people. ASI Solutions originally started with two people and currently employees 165 staff and the number of employees hired by the company astounds Lowe.

She says some of her employees have been with ASI for a number of years and credits this to her background in teaching. She says her hands on different style of management makes her stand out to her employees and is a great believer in the team and giving the people around her credit.

“It’s all about pride in staff movement - staff may move on from the company, what is really important is the number of years they have spent with you. My philosophy is very much hands on involvement from management down,” she says.

“I always get a smile on my face when I think about the difficult people our organisation has had to deal with. When you get difficult customers keeping them proves to everyone we have done well in this market.”

Lowe says when the company gets a difficult customer the challenge keeping them on as clients for many years.

The few difficult customers that have bought IT through ASI Solutions have stayed with the company because it was the only one with people who could tolerate them, she says. “The trick is to stand on their side of the fence. Look at how they would perceive their issues and quickly work out what they want. I think it’s important to look at the size of the customer. If it’s a small issue and it isn’t dealt with, it could potentially lose you a very large customer,” she says.

“People get emotional when they have a problem. I’ve learnt from my partner [that] these [problems] need to be fixed by giving the clients the facts and taking them through step one to 20 of a project.”

Women in IT

Lowe feels this industry is great for women to work in – because “all the men are in it”. She says there are a lot of clever ladies in IT and personally likes to have a mixed gender team. ASI has female technical engineers who have been with the company for over 10 years.

“My wish list would be for more women in the most senior positions. I was quiet sad when Carly Fiorina, former chairman and CEO of HP [was retrenched.

“Internationally, she took them through a time of huge merger between Compaq and HP,” she says.

“Local companies like Ingram Micro and LAN Systems have a good team of woman in senior management positions. However there’s not enough MDs, directors or VPs. Resellers with strong female managers are the leading edge companies – however female owners of Australian business don’t get a lot of airplay.”

In her opinion, a woman’s ability to multi-task makes her ideal for this industry. Lowe says as people move into different areas they have to be able to manage issues, the business and people.

The only negative she has perceived in IT is from overpowering women – who she believes got that way because of the hard climb up the corporate ladder.

“I have been in a situation where I have worked with my partner - who is also my [business] partner full-time. For 26 years, we have lived and work with each other, this is what makes it a good business because our work and social life is intertwined,” says Lowe. “IT is such an involving industry --you can’t sit back, you have to throw everything at it. A lot of people I regard as friends are also customers and suppliers.”

Lowe may have had to give up the chance to sing Wagner in front of an audience in the Sydney Opera House and educating the burgeoning minds of adolescents, but those were nothing compared to the valuable lessons, friends and clients she has made through out her years in IT.