Stadus lands at 3Com

Well-known industry executive Ralph Stadus has come out of retirement and into the managing director role at 3Com Australia and New Zealand.

The former Toshiba Australia boss had been consulting to 3Com in Asia-Pacific since February, and said the networking vendor was "now making a second start".

"I've always wanted to manage a startup and 3Com is a 25-year-old startup," Stadus said. He said 3Com had done well to survive the dotcom bust when several other brands disappeared.

He replaced David Richardson, who had decided to ride a bike around Australia, Stadus said.

Stadus left Toshiba in February last year and at the time said he would focus on other business and personal investments he had made outside the IT industry.

Now 51 years old, Stadus told CRN last February: "In the PC business, by 50, you need to be getting out, it's a young person's game because it runs so hard and fast."

3Com had a fresh strategy that was being driven by its recent acquisition of intrusion prevention player TippingPoint and its joint venture with Chinese networking vendor Huawei Technologies in late 2003.

"Products coming out of the joint venture are really strong," Stadus said.

He said that 3Com had the ability to grow strongly and believed sales in Australia could quadruple over the next three years.

During his 3Com consulting phase, Stadus said he was assisting 3Com's CEO Bruce Claflin with global strategy for the company.

Stadus knew Claflin from his days at Digital Equipment Corporation, prior to it being acquired by Compaq. Claflin had been a senior VP at Digital.

Stadus has worked at GM level for more than 12 years, also holding a position at Dell Computer Australia.

He is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.