Five Questions For Rob Ashe, CEO of Cognos

Barely three months into the job he took over from Ron Zambonini, Cognos CEO Rob Ashe talks about running the Ottawa and Burlington, Mass.-based company, whose services division is No. 185 on the VARBusiness 500 with 2003 sales of $122.7 million.

VB: What was the most difficult thing about taking over as CEO?

Ashe: Ron was a very charismatic leader. He's out there. I'm more studied. I'm more management-oriented, but no less passionate. The most difficult thing will be playing myself.

VB: Which changes do you intend to make over time and why?

Ashe: The biggest change around here will be our go-to-market model. Customers are going to want us to be more solutions-oriented. Also, we're starting to see large enterprise deals, [and with that] customer expectations are changingOur approach had been to acquire customers quickly. That will change.

VB: Your most recent acquisition was Franco, a Stockholm, Sweden-based company specializing in financial solutions. What was the attraction?

Ashe: We like the business and see it as another entry point in the finance side. I think it's a reasonable valuation; we paid under two times its revenue [$52.2 million]. I think it's an acquisition we're going to make some money off of.

VB: How do you decide who makes a good salesman?

Ashe: Someone who can advocate for the customer over Cognos' relationship with the customer. I want someone who can be a trusted adviser to the customer.

VB: If you could pick anybody to dine with, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Ashe: Mike Weir, who won the Masters last year. I would love to talk with him about how he made the transition from hockey to golf. And I'd love to know how he felt when he sunk the 18th hole at the Masters to go into extra holes.