New role for Rogers at BIC

Trade

Reseller B.I.C. Systems has appointed industry veteran Mike Rogers as managing director of its Republic of Ireland operations, to grow its market share and customer base in the region.

Rogers has taken on the newly created role, having served on the company’s board as non-executive director since earlier this year. The appointment follows a shakeup at executive level within B.I.C. The company has a new chairman, John Wright, who has a background in the banking sector.

B.I.C has set itself a target of €5m in revenues by March 2003 in the Republic alone. Rogers said he intended to grow the business to upwards of €25m by 2004. Currently the entire company’s turnover is close to €42m.

The company’s traditional sales base has been in Northern Ireland, having been founded in Belfast almost 20 years ago. Rogers described the company as being ‘wall to wall’ in the North ‘Growth will come from the Republic and to a lesser extent the UK,’ he said.

The growth will be organic, as Rogers has ruled out the possibility of any acquisitions. ‘The board hasn’t given any thought in that area, not in the short term anyway,’ he told ComputerScope. ‘I would be of the view that we’re going to take market share. The market is only getting to know us in the last couple of years.’

According to Rogers, B.I.C. will take a three-pronged approach to the market, comprising products, training and services. ‘Product will be an important part but I think the big opportunity will be in services. The margin has got to be made and we will always try and put added value onto a sale,’ he said. The company has identified a number of key market sectors to target, including government, the public sector, finance and pharmaceutical.

Rogers can call on more than three decades of experience in the local IT sector. He held a number of senior positions in the Cara group, a company he freely names as one of B.I.C.’s competitors. 

‘I don’t expect to sell anything based on my name,’ he stressed. ‘It doesn’t hurt, but people select the company based on solutions and skills. We want to differentiate ourselves and be more flexible than the big boys, the mainline manufacturers.’

The company is currently hiring new staff, with the aim of having 10 people in place by the turn of the year and 25 overall by 2004. Most of these roles will be in sales and support.

Although B.I.C. employs around 200 people, Rogers said he wanted skills and expertise based in its IFSC, Dublin office. ‘I think we have as good, if not better skills, as any of the players in the market,’ he said.

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