RangeGate, a subsidiary of Datatec, is making strong in-roads into the UK market for mobile business solutions.
Andrew Fosbrook, CEO of RangeGate, says the company has racked up deals with a number of high-profile customers in the UK and set itself on track to derive half of its revenues from Europe within the short- to medium-term future.
"Our experiences in the UK demonstrate clearly that SA is at the forefront of development of mobile business solutions. We have a longer track record and more advanced projects under our belt than many of the competitors in the UK and European markets," he adds.
The UK operation was established in October last year with two staff members, including RangeGate UK MD, Anton du Preez. Since then, the subsidiary has grown to 32 people.
The company`s first major deal in the UK was to supply mobile operator, Orange, with a Mobile Asset Tracking and field service automation solution. Since then, RangeGate added household names in the UK such as Littlewoods, Sainsburys, AAH Pharmaceuticals, and EXEL to its customer list.
RangeGate UK gained a critical mass of customers and staff in the UK through its acquisition of a software division, TMS, from Auto Identification and mobile solutions firm, Symbol Technologies. The TMS acquisition also added the T-Gate product set for task management across mobile devices to RangeGate`s portfolio.
The T-Gate software has a wide range of applications, including the management of the e-fulfilment process in e-commerce from picking of orders through to tracking, tracing and electronic proof of delivery. RangeGate has also sold this software to South African companies such as Pick `n Pay.
In addition, RangeGate is experiencing strong demand for its locally developed mobile software solutions, such as the I-Gate mobile software suite, in the UK, adds Fosbrook. The RangeGate software meets a pent-up demand in the UK for mobile solutions that can be integrated with back-end systems including enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, logistics and customer relationship management.
Says Fosbrook: "While we have built a team of sales, business analysis, and technical design professionals in the UK operation, most of the software development work is done in SA. That has allowed us to benefit from revenues in UK pounds while keeping most of our costs in rands.
"In addition, we frequently second South African staff to the UK to work on customer sites. This has helped to stem the attrition of staff that want to extend their international working experience."
Expansion into the rest of Western Europe is on the cards once RangeGate beds down its UK operation.
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