At his very core, Peter Yialas is first and foremost a people person. Every day, the Managing Director of E2E ICT services company DX Solutions makes a point to walk the company halls and take the pulse of the team; to get a feel for how they are going and to build and develop relationships, because, as he says, “making personal connections makes such a difference”.
Peter’s people-centric approach is reflected in his relationships with fellow company directors, Jason Peters and Mark Greenwood. Peter heads up Strategy, Accounts and Sales, Jason is in charge of Operations, Commercial and Finance, while Mark brings his relationships and expertise in project delivery to his role as Director of Professional Services. Peter describes the leadership team as a “tight-knit trio”.
Devising DX Solutions
Peter and co-MD Jason Peters formed DX Solutions together in 2006. The pair met while both working in software testing at Optus. Peter says they teamed up after identifying “a gap in the market, in that there had to be a more effective and feasible way to test multi-vendor system environments, and remain vendor agnostic”. They recognised a market requirement for niche professional services in software testing and set out to provide end-to-end business outcomes for both customer and enterprise system integration.
Peter gained deep industry experience in the financial and telecommunications sectors. He started off as an analyst specialising in forecasting and furthered his career at St. George Bank, where he went on to manage a number of high-stakes, technical finance projects for big players such as VISA, Mastercard, NAB and Westpac. He then proceeded to become an IT and telecommunications consultant, working on test management for the likes of Optus, Telstra and Vodafone.
In these roles, he was involved in some of the biggest industry shakeups, including the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, and was responsible for the IT transformations of Optus and Telstra and the integration of Vodafone’s 4G rollout. With his track-record in exceeding business outcomes, Peter’s skills in sales and enterprise strategy grew, enormously. With innovative thinking and a “can-do” attitude, Peter’s network multiplied and this was the foundation to build DX’s sales, business and customers.
Along with his industry knowledge and success, Jason brought with him the small business start-up mentality critical to accelerating the setup of the finance, operations and fulfilments functions of the business.
Growing fast
As Peter and Jason grew and upskilled throughout their careers, so too did DX Solutions. While it began as a niche software testing company, it soon expanded into systems integration, providing networks, security, unified communications, business productivity and cloud services. But getting to this point wasn’t without its challenges. Peter says, “The biggest challenge for our business was incumbency — we had to work very hard to create a competitive edge and unseat an entrenched incumbent.”
To get clients to choose DX, Peter says they have always focused on customer business outcomes — “in the real sense, with real return on investment and metrics”. He explains that the team at DX listens to the customer, finds out their “pain points” and then tailors solutions to meet their specific business needs.
And this is clearly an approach that has worked. In 2014 and 2015, the business was one of Australia’s fastest growing companies, placing on the BRW Fast 100 list. And in 2016, Peter was recognised for his work in at DX Solutions, as one of four finalists for The CEO Magazine’s IT and Telecommunications Executive of the Year Award.
No slowing down
The business shows no signs of slowing down, with plenty of future plans in the works, including expanding DX Solutions’ “Visualife” methodology, which challenges the basis of the SDLC by increasing coverage and reducing errors and cost. And this year, DX Solutions will be launching its newest product to market, Rubx, an integrated, connected and secure cloud management platform.
“It aligns technology, processors and people towards a customer-centric cloud operating model, which is easy to consume via a monthly pay as you go charge,” says Peter. “This will allow your business to focus on customer products and enable them compete with modern day, ‘born in the cloud’ disruptors.” He adds that his ultimate goal is for DX to become “not only a systems integrator but a solutions aggregator, the first in Australia”.
More success on the ‘Verizon’
The company is well on its way to achieving that goal, especially now that DX Solutions has partnered with US wireless telecommunications company Verizon. Peter says that customer needs are always evolving, so the DX Solutions needs to expand and evolve with them. The Verizon partnership will enable DX to tap into Verizon’s network and expertise, allowing it to continue to grow its customer base and broaden its offerings to the market.
The Verizon and DX partnership is a joint commitment to support customers’ specific local business outcome needs. “We are both focused on delivering service excellence and in creating new and meaningful joint value propositions in the market,” says Peter.
“With open communication, mutual respect and a shared strategic vision, we have built a relationship based on trust and commitment at both a regional and local level. We are very excited about the incredible growth opportunities this partnership is creating for our business.”
Rewarding work
As the company continues to grow and triumph, it’s no wonder Peter finds it difficult to pinpoint the one thing he enjoys most about his job — “I love so many things!”.
He does, however, confess that he finds the success of DX Solutions “absolutely rewarding”, especially as he has been involved in every part of that success — creating and implementing the strategy, growth and future plans for the business.
But he makes a point to say that he and his fellow directors know the company would not be where it is today without the continued support of their wives, families and friends, who have been there “day in, day out, through the good and the bad”.
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