The best part of John Hines’s job as area vice-president, South Asia and India, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, is the fact that he has the best of both worlds – exposure to the latest technologies as well as doing business across several different countries...

John Hines’s career in communications has had many exciting moments. There was the time, in 1999, when he was working with a company undertaking Y2K remediation work. “One of our technicians was on an army base installing equipment and he lost control of a trolley full of equipment,” he recalls. “The ramp was on the side of a hangar and inside was a Black Hawk helicopter which was being repaired. The trolley collided with the dismantled helicopter and damaged a lot of the exposed avionics in it.” Hines and his colleagues were up against the clock to complete the task. Despite all the obstacles, they succeeded.

Hines started his IT career in a technical role in 1992, but the first company he worked for went bust after six months. He then worked with some smaller Australian IT companies before joining GE Capital IT Solutions as a project manager in 1996. Later, he joined the Andersen Consulting Group in a consulting and sales role. The next move was to an Australian IT security company, which went through a series of acquisitions and mergers and eventually became Cybertrust. This company was then acquired by Verizon in 2007.

“I took up the assignment and moved to Singapore because I wanted to give my family the same exposure to different cultures that I had had when growing up. Singapore is also a great hub for visiting other countries in the region,” he says.

Hines grew up in different countries owing to his father’s career as an Australian diplomat. By all accounts, his childhood was exotic and full of adventure, with postings in Buenos Aires, Peru, Kenya, Holland, Singapore as well as in Indonesia.

“Living in so many countries was an awesome experience. The only downside was making friends for a couple of years and then moving on to a different country. Those were pre-internet days, so staying in touch was a lot more difficult than it is today,” he says.

After completing his graduation from United World College, Singapore, he went on to join St Edmund’s College, Canberra. Having spent his early years in different countries, Hines finds it very easy to connect with people and build relationships. It’s been a huge strength in every single job that he has had.

From childhood onwards, he has been fascinated with technology. “I was the kid who was always pushing buttons out of curiosity to find out what would happen next and try to understand what they were for,” he recalls.

Later in life, because of his exposure to different cultures as a child, he knew that he wanted to work in an international role, interacting in various markets and dealing with different customs and different ways of thinking.

“In my current role, I get the best of both worlds: exposure to the latest technology as well as doing business across several different countries,” he says.

Hines took over as area vice-president, South Asia and India, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, three years ago, working out of Singapore. The challenge for him is to make the most of the tremendous opportunity across the Asia-Pacific region and India. The message he has to put across to businesses, he says, is that technology does not just have to be about reducing cost. “It can also become a catalyst or a business enabler and help organisations achieve growth objectives, curtail operational costs, streamline processes and increase speed to market,” he says.

Hines has a team of directors that manage over 300 global multinational corporations’ accounts for the Asia-Pacific region. His team is responsible for acquiring new accounts in the region and building a sustainable business.

His specific responsibilities also include managing Verizon Enterprise Solutions in Singapore, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

On near-term trends, Hines points out that some Indian public sector organisations and private companies are already beginning to adopt new technologies. These include the “bring-your-own-device” concept, cloud computing, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and security management. Cloud, he says, is already becoming prevalent as both a cost saving solution as well as a business enabler.

“We are now seeing huge opportunity in the M2M space, in particular verticals such as automotive and logistics. Going forward, cyber security will be all-pervasive as threats continue to grow, and so the evolution of how to prepare and manage security exploits will continue to advance,” he says.

Hines thinks Verizon is perfectly suited to the opportunities he envisages, with its global network that allows it to support tens of thousands of businesses and government agencies around the globe, including 99 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies.

Verizon Enterprise Solutions, he says, has a rich heritage of developing the commercial internet. In fact, it was the first commercial internet service provider.

“We provide a platform for unique enterprise-class assets like cloud, M2M and security – powered by the world’s leading IP and 4G long term evolution networks, which helps our clients transform the way they do business. Our teams are built in such a way that our local teams can utilise the force and expertise of a global workforce in local languages for each individual in-country customer,” he says.

The core of the company’s growth strategy is its commitment to use its technology to address the world’s biggest challenges. According to Hines, the questions we are always asking are: How can we improve the lives of our customers? How can technology make businesses more efficient? How will innovation in health care, education and energy conservation transform society for the better?

In terms of management style, apart from getting perhaps a bit too involved in the detail of every single thing – something he concedes may be a weakness – he is by instinct drawn to a collaborative way of working.

“I’m a big believer in enabling my team to take decisions and do what they need to in order to get the job done,” he says. “It’s very important to coach and mentor your team whilst giving them the opportunity to solve some of the challenges on their own.”

Since he likes to start his day by reaching the office early – a great way to get things done without interruptions – he rises early. After checking his email, he browses through the financial reporting systems to make sure the company is where it needs to be as a business. Then he sets up a meeting with internal stakeholders.

He thrives on meeting clients. “We have clients in just about every market vertical, so it’s fascinating talking to a senior executive of a bank about their business challenges in the morning and then in the afternoon, meeting another senior executive from the aviation industry about the challenges they face and how we can help them overcome these. I find this quite interesting as it helps me and my team to constantly explore new opportunities and solutions,” he says.

Weekends are almost equally hectic because that is when his three young children demand his time and his skills as a chauffeur as he ferries them to taekwondo lessons, swimming, ballet as well as birthday parties.

Luckily for him, his family is very supportive of the fact that he has to work long hours and travel extensively. Even when he is travelling, he makes sure that he speaks to his wife and children at least once a day.

He also owns a motorbike and enjoys riding into Malaysia, where there are some great back roads through villages, which gives him a glimpse into the local culture.

Hines’s father was a great inspiration for him. He describes him as a humble man who taught his son from day one to respect other cultures, opinions and views. “He also taught me to be true to oneself and stand up for what one believes in,” he says.