Past Featured Chairmen

There is an old adage about no-one saying on his deathbed that they 'wish they had spent more time in the office'. Joe Solari probably will. 'I hope I die at my desk,' he says. 'My father died at the age of 74 from a heart attack. And he died a happy man doing what made him happy. That's how I want to go.'

Business is his life, and he hopes, his death.

To say that Solari has an international background is an understatement. Born to Italian parents in Bucharest he moved at the age of three to Turkey where his father ran a small tobacco export business. He completed his secondary schooling in Rome and university in America, has worked in just about every continent, and is married to an English woman. In addition he speaks five languages - six if you count business.

Leaving a US university with that kind of background, Solari must have stood out from the crowd. He was snapped up by Schlumberger, the leading oilfield services provider. 'I spent the next 16 years with them all over the world.' Like so many successful leaders, he cut his business teeth in sales.

His introduction with technology came right at the start of the PC boom. 'In 1979 Schlumberger had a group of engineers working on microprocessor technology. But the company decided that was not the business they wanted to be in so it was spun off.'

That was how Zenith Data Systems was born. 'It started with four of us. It was 1980. We had great products, but no sales. By 1989 the business was a giant - and was sold to the French state-owned Bull for $450 million.'

With his multinational background, Solari was the obvious choice to head up the new company in France so he moved to Paris. Working for a French state owned company was, for Solari, a challenging time.

But despite a differing culture with the polyglot multi-nationalist Solari, and the traditional French public sector worker the company thrived, growing to $1.8 billion global revenue.

By 1994 Solari was happy that the company had matured and he felt it was time to move on. With excellent foresight he had spotted the potential of the Internet. But unlike others caught up in what was to become the gold rush of the dotcom boom, Solari realised that in a gold rush the thing to do is not pan for gold, but to sell shovels. In the internet-era that meant networks.

So in 1995 he joined Cabletron Systems International, a US-based Data Communication and Network Management solutions provider. It was the right move. The whole networking industry was booming and running to keep up with demand. In his five years at the helm, he retired as President & Chief Executive, International revenue (non-US) grew from £250m to £600m.

And then Solari retired. He had married an English girl, had a nice house in southern England, done very well in business and was keen to improve his golf. Or so he thought. But not working just didn't work.

'When you are not working, you are miserable. Your brain goes to mush. There is only so much golf you can play.'

Ironically it was on the golf course that Solari found his next, and current, position. 'I met the founder of Ultima Business. He was thinking 'what do I do with my business next?' He had taken the company from 0 to £30m, he was worrying 'how do I take it to £60m?''

Almost desperate to get back into work, Solari jumped at the offer of joining as a non-exec, before becoming Chairman in 2003.

With 40 years business experience and having worked in just about every continent, speaking five languages, and his multinational background there are few IT business leaders with deeper experience and understanding of the global marketplace.

Solari is frank about some of the challenges facing businessmen operating in a global environment. 'There is a lot of corruption in the world. You have to know how to deal with it. Back in 1996-99 I spent a lot of time in the Far East, it was an area that Cabletron wanted to grow. The first big target was China.

'There was, of course, a huge language problem, but also you had to understand how business worked. You had to know how to deal with corruption. It is an extremely delicate and dangerous game to play, but unless you play that game, you can't do business.

'China is a different place now. Times have moved on. But there are plenty of countries in the world where corruption is endemic. That is a dilemma for any businessman.'

His language skills - he is fluent in English, French, Italian, Turkish and Greek - and his multinational background have helped open doors that have remained closed to others. 'In most countries I position myself as an Italian. In the Far East and China for example, they receive the Italians much more openly than the Americans.'

The main advantage, says Solari, of speaking the language is to develop relationships, rather than in conducting business. 'Everything is done in English, except in France of course. But if you speak at least some of the language then that helps break down barriers.

'But there is a cultural arrogance in the US and the UK - the UK is not as bad as America - that there is just one way of doing business. Go to Holland, for example, and things are very different.'

But he is critical of much management in the UK, describing it as 'nanny management'. 'Everyone is so concerned with keeping the employees happy - but who is keeping the shareholders happy?

'In the US there is a lot more emphasis on managing activity as well as managing the numbers. That has to be right. To put it bluntly, in the US there is more of the fear of God put into people. The danger is that if everyone is kept happy, then there is not much hunger and drive. And that' he adds with a touch of finality 'is death to a company.'

Joe Solari's Career Details:

2000-Present: Non-Executive Chairman, Ultima Business Solutions Ltd. IT Solutions and Services.
2000-Present: Executive Chairman, Solarbrand Consulting Ltd. Management Consultancy - IT industry
1995-2000: President & Chief Executive, Cabletron Systems International Ltd (now called Enterasys Networks. Data Communications & Network Management for enterprises. EMEA and Asia-Pacific
1986-1995: President & Chief Executive, Zenith Data Systems SA (A Groupe Bull company). Personal computers, servers, software, peripherals and IT services.
1979-1986: Vice President, International Sales and Marketing, Zenith Data Systems Inc. (USA). Personal Computers, Software and Peripherals.
1963-1979: Schlumberger Ltd. (Oil Wireline Services/IT/Electronics) Country Managing Director in 6 different countries. Regional Sales Director USA/Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific.

Ben Rooney is a freelance business journalist. Ben can be contacted at ben@benrooney.com