Emerging category - Asidua Ltd

Entrepreneur: Steve Brankin
Business Activity: Software Consultancy

Offering software consultancy services, Dr Steve Brankin founded Asidua in 2002 as the leader and catalyst behind a management buy-out of Fujitsu R&D facility in Belfast. In four years the company has recorded a growth rate of 386% and has almost doubled its workforce to ninety people.

It operates under two distinct business divisions: Business Services and Device Services.

1. Business Services provides application and data integration solutions (ADI) and deals with large private and public sector organisations largely in North and South Ireland.
2. Device Services offers Embedded Telecoms Integration (ETI) and deals with large telecommunications manufacturers such as Fujitsu.

Through both divisions Asidua serves large public and private sectors throughout Ireland, UK, Germany and China. Clients include BT, ABT Ireland, Deloitte and Steria.

Entrepreneurial Questions

What vision prompted you to start up in business?
Belief. I had put together a very special team in Fujitsu. So, when its markets took a nosedive around 2002 I just knew we could make it on our own.

Describe your progression from start up to your current situation?
Initially it was precarious. Asidua had one customer in a falling market, but we positioned our strengths well so that when the broadband boom hit, we were able to capitalise.

What’s the biggest risk you have taken?
Starting a company focussed on the telecommunications market in the middle of the biggest downturn the sector had ever seen! Sounds crazy - but this team really was that special.

Who or what has contributed most to your success.
Asidua’s people. As much as I believed in them, it was their belief in me when I first suggested the MBO that has driven me to make Asidua a success.

What is your biggest business achievement?
Retaining our first customer BT and Asidua still being here figure highly. But personally, our new offices and their symbolism of how much Asidua has grown rates highest for me.

What’s the best piece of business advice you ever received?
Turnover is vanity, margin is sanity and good customer relationships are the guarantee.

Express the biggest challenge you see your industry facing.
The frantic pace of change. Whilst Business Services and Device Services serve customers different ways, the technological advances required to meet customer demands within both divisions are the biggest challenge.

Name a famous international entrepreneur you most admire and why.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer because he embodies all the qualities it takes to succeed in the volatile ICT industry: Vision, perseverance, resilience and a love of technology.

How do you recharge your batteries?
I enjoy sea fishing. I have a little 16ft fishing dinghy that I keep up at Ballycastle. A few hours offshore clears the cobwebs!