A lot has changed since ASI Solutions opened its doors in 1985 – from the size (and location) of our offices to the nature of our work. To celebrate these changes, we’ve been interviewing some of our long-time employees to get their take on how #TeamASI has evolved over time.
Recently celebrating 29 years with ASI, Jason King started as a BDM back in 1992. Recognising his drive and interest in all thing’s tech, Jason was hired by ASI founders Ken and Maree Lowe, straight out of university to come work for us as a junior account manager. After 15 years with the business, he decided to take a role with IBM, however after 9 months he returned. Sixteen years have now passed, and we couldn’t be happier with that decision!
Jason currently heads up the Northern Region for ASI Solutions, serving clients in NSW, the ACT and Queensland. He is known and respected by his clients and his peers in the industry for his customer relationships, solution capabilities and sales management. He drives excellence within his team and is responsible for ASI winning and retaining a number of large Government and private sector clients over the years.
Jason is a strategic thinker who can always see the bigger picture, making him a very much valued member of the ASI leadership team.
Learn more about Jason’s favourite moments with ASI over the last 29 years:
How have you seen ASI change in the time you’ve worked here?
I think one of the biggest changes was when we moved from a PC manufacturer to a Solutions Provider – if we didn’t do it, I think ASI would have hit the wall and closed. Ken and Maree saw the need to get out of manufacturing and pivot to a services-based organisation. At the time, this change was massive and as a team we put a lot into reshaping the business. More recently, I see our change as being growth based. Expanding our portfolio away from the desktop moving into total managed services and associated services.
As an industry, what has changed since you started in tech almost 30 years ago?
At the core of our industry is innovation, and innovation by nature is constantly changing. Saying that, I think the Y2K bug was a sensational time to be in technology sales. It was a big year of spending in 1999, but it all slowed the year after. In 2000 I think the whole industry was hurting. As a team, a company and an industry we recovered. Another notable area of change was the introduction of Cloud and Mobility. It is obviously a big thing now, but it’s been talked about for a long time. We used to call it ASP back in my day, 15 years ago, but it took a while to really take off. Cloud is now here and it’s everywhere. We all know that you know you have got to be part of it, or you are not going to succeed. Another major change would be PC turning into a commodity item. I’ll call it commodity because they are readily available, but they are not a custom-built unit much anymore and that’s changed the way people use them every day in their job.
What do you like most about working with ASI?
That’s an easy one – it’s the people. Call me biased, but our team are the best in the business. Being in tech we are constantly surrounded by change – the strategy changes, the product and solutions set changes, but it is having good people all the way through that keeps us (ASI) solid. Our people that are all driving to the same goal. I remember Maree (Lowe) used to always have this saying “we are on a train and we’re all heading in the same direction” and I still use that saying today with my teams. Ultimately, we are here to service our customers. At the end of the day if we we don’t have customers, we don’t exist. Our people at ASI are people’s people.
How would you describe our company culture?
ASI has a unique culture. Despite the variety of projects we carry and how professional and focused we need to be, our culture is very fun-loving. We play practical jokes, host birthday parties and have a calendar of team events Australia wide. It might be cliché, but we believe in working and playing hard. Our culture is driven from service delivery to our customers. We all have that same mindset to make sure the customer gets the best result from any project or interaction with ASI. But more than a great working relationship, due to the longevity of their time with ASI, real friendships have been formed. I have a number of colleagues that have been friends now for over 25 years.
Many of our customers have been with ASI for years, what do you attribute those longstanding relationships to?
Our customers appreciate longstanding relationships and having been around for almost 30 years, I learned very quickly that a key to a successful relationship is ownership – you have to own any problem. While we strive for perfection, the reality of it is that in many engagements there are hurdles and challenges to overcome, but when a BDM takes ownership and works with the wider team towards a successful outcome – that is gold in the eyes of a customer. Looking back at some of my longstanding customers, I know they appreciate this about working with Team ASI.
Do you have a memorable project during your time with ASI?
There are so many memorable projects… we’ve had some funny ones too. Ken once brought a Teddy bear called Fuzby into our boardroom for the sales meeting, threw it on the table and said he’s got a container coming from overseas we have to sell it! Fuzby was state of the art of the time and could record 30 seconds of music or a voiceover on it. But that was really the limits of its capability, so we ended up giving them away. I don’t even think we sold one! Another project that stands out to me would be one of our first tender responses for the Department of Education. I recall having a team of four or five people on it full time for six weeks and then working 24/7 the weekend before to make the deadline. It wasn’t successful but we learnt so much throughout to the process and it set us up for future success. I would say an annual project that is always memorable would be our annual ASI conference. Every year we fly our team in from around Australia, get away from the stress of deadlines and project rollouts and focus on our culture, strategic alignment, knowledge building and having fun as a team.
What is your proudest moment at ASI?
Personally, one of my proudest moments was only last year when I won the Personal Innovation Management Excellence Award at the ARN Innovation Awards. I was humbled and very much surprised not only to be nominated but to actually win as judged by industry peers. From a business perspective, seeing our acquisitions over the last two years has been the most exciting thing and something we’re very proud of. Seeing ASI continue to grow in a means that aligns to our culture is wonderful to be a part of. We are bringing on really good people and really good companies that match our culture and both compliment and build on our solutions set. I think that’s why they’ve been fitting in so well!
What are 3 words to describe ASI?
Customer
Driven
Specialists
