Monday is always a good day

Monday is always a good day for Delfin T. Hallare Jr., president of Sybase Philippines, Inc. This kind of attitude is what has brought him to pinnacle after pinnacle in a long career focused on sales and technology.

Hallare started as a sales associate for Procter and Gamble. His independence and do-it-myself attitude took him to bigger responsibilities. He was known as Jun to people during his years at Unisys, where he served as president for nine years. He retired from Unisys quite young and still looking for more challenges.

Sybase, Inc. was founded in 1984 in Emeryville, California and opened its subsidiary in the Philippines some five years ago. "After Unisys, I wanted to join a purely software-based company. There would be fewer people and less effort in managing them," Hallare said.

He joined Sybase with the best intentions. His primary job then was to get Sybase Phils. better recognized as a major player in the growing IT industry.

Transformation

He is now spearheading the move to transform Sybase Phils. from a technology company to a solutions provider, in line with the parent company’s global strategy.

"Sybase has always been known as a software company, a provider of tools and databases. Our Power Builder is probably the most popular tool in the market. In terms of databases, we are among the leaders. But we are not known as a solutions company. Our partners sell products which run on Sybase databases. So, this will be a big change in terms of image for Sybase," he explained.

Hallare is giving himself until the end of next year to complete the migration of the Sybase image from being technology-driven to being solutions-based. "Being the second biggest IT provider worldwide, what I want for Sybase Phils. is to be the core support group of other Sybase sites in Asia and we can only do it if we will have the initial sites of our solution business in the country," he explained.

Sybase Phils. will be focusing on data warehousing and Internet banking solutions over the next year or so. The parent company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market value of $1.5 billion, is the industry leader for electronic finance solutions. Through subsidiary Financial Fusion, it counts among its clients the biggest banks in the US. The Philippine office will draw from this expertise to market its solutions locally.

Formula

As a manager, Hallare, himself with having a keen eye for leaders. He could name several persons who worked under him who are now heads of different companies such as HP, Oracle and Express Telecom.

"The first thing needed to succeed is to love what you’re doing. I enjoy the rigors and challenges of working. Others may hate the start of a new week as it entails problems to be solved but for me, it’s a new opportunity to do what I love. To end the week right, Monday should always be a good day for you," he says.

Looking at the history of successful businessmen, Hallare notes that hard work took precedence over academics in the success of taipans like Lucio Tan and John Gokongwei. Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, didn’t even finish college. "Interest is foremost."

He adds that being independent is an asset. "Don’t depend on other people to do your job. Find your own resources to do your own job."

Hallare says each person has a certain role to play in the organization. "Others are technicians. They like to invent thing, new things. They create products and they must know the technology itself. But they may not be able to sell these products they created. Where is it useful, why is it useful? For that you’ll need a salesman."