Belluzzo takes a Quantum leap

When you've been the radical reforming president of the world's biggest software company, what challenges are left? Turning a tape storage company into a sexy innovator, according to former Microsoft number three Rick Belluzzo.

Belluzzo is one of those back-to-basics business leaders that you increasingly see at post-dotcom IT companies.

He doesn't talk in New Economy clichés. And if his 20-plus years in IT have given him an interest in how technology works, it takes second place in his world view to what technology actually does.

Belluzzo likes to see things work. "I like to take the pieces and put them together in a way that makes sense and get rid of those things that don't," he explained.

The pursuit of best working models famously led him to design his way out of a job at Microsoft.

Belluzzo was president and chief operating officer from February 2001 to May 2002, and helped to create the company that we see today.

He said that the experience was enriching, but that it was just one part of a career which includes stints at Hewlett Packard and Silicon Graphics.

It has given him a firm grounding for driving a big business needing a new vision, such as Quantum, which he joined as chief executive last year.

The uniting factor in his CV is a passion for the transforming potential of technology, and the experience to know that hypes and panics are just part of all business evolution.

"I don't accept that our industry has reached maturity. In fact it is only beginning to scratch the surface of its potential," he explained.

"The industry was certainly carried away with the dotcom and year 2000 bubbles, which were oversold. The pendulum has swung the other way, hard. But there's always been this kind of consolidation throughout the history of IT.

"There's really only 10 or so billion-dollar software businesses. Nothing is really different now. We will go back to a situation where we get innovation that leads to real productivity improvements."

Belluzzo believes that the industry's destiny is in its own hands. "This is not the time to pack up the tents and stop innovating," he said.

"It's time for the industry to get its act together and to talk about trust, innovation and security. I will go out in flames believing in this industry."

That belief will be necessary to sustain him in his tough mission at Quantum. The company is a leader in tape storage, an ugly duckling technology facing potentially killer opposition from newer, shinier competitors.

Logically, Belluzzo intends to get every last cent out of the existing business, but his sights are on the future.

His business plan is split into three main areas: keep the lead in tape storage; double the tape automation business; and, crucially, build a data protection solutions company.

The first two objectives will be pursued by good business practice, keeping down costs and through acquisition and sale.

But taking a lead in data protection means bringing together software, services and business solutions and reaching completely new customers.

It means looking beyond the downturn and the limited vision of too many of today's IT businesses.

"I want Quantum to be profitable, but I also want us to be innovative," said Belluzzo. "My dream is that we build a great company which can generate recurring revenues."

The basis for such a strategy is confidence in the ability of technology to transform business, and that means seeing beyond the lazy clichés about IT.

"Data protection isn't boring. It's an exciting opportunity. Our job is to help preserve the most important asset a company has: its data. We will grow because we make a difference to customers," he explained.

The theory of his strategy is easy enough. Don't go after companies which have already invested in proprietary software and systems. Go to companies that have little experience and work your way back upstream.

It's a theory that many vendors chasing the small to medium-sized enterprise market have tried - and often failed.

The trick is to stay focused, according to Belluzzo. "We certainly have a lot of work to do to improve. Big companies get it straight away, but smaller businesses think differently," he said.

"A lot of these ideas already existed. What I have done is to try to put these pieces together in a way that people understand and to take the business forward."

Belluzzo is being unduly modest in suggesting that his profile will be merely 'helpful' to the business.

He has worked with, and has the ear of, some of the most influential players in the business. And in a world where integration and collaboration is becoming ever-more important, that's a powerful asset.

"I've always believed in relationships and partnerships. I have to do my best to ensure that we find synergies," he concluded.

Great contacts, strong partnerships, and tons of experience look great ... but sexy storage? We'll see.