Victoria Vaksman, MD of local software developer, Tilos, says it is the ideal time for the company to expand into Europe, for a number of reasons.
"European companies are traditionally extremely conservative," she says. "They wouldn`t even look at us because we are from Africa. In countries like France and Germany no business was ever given to outside companies, and there was even legislation saying that work may not be given outside of Europe.
"However, with the European economy in recession and issues in the vertical markets, all major corporations have formally started with offshore development strategies. They have realised they cannot continue as they have been, they`re not doing well, they`re slow-moving, in some instances taking two years to confirm outsourcing agreements outside of Europe."
Instead of jumping at the opportunities presented now, Tilos has been laying the foundations in this market for some time. "We started more than a year ago, not talking directly to customers, but establishing partnerships with big established companies in central Europe that can then offer our cheaper solutions to their customers."
Tilos split from Solit on 1 May in a restructuring that Vaksman says was to "fit international requirements".
"The split was a strategic necessity. It is wrong when companies try to keep doing everything, they achieve nothing."
She feels that Tilos is well positioned to move into the European market due to the uniqueness of the solution it offers. "Big companies have invested millions into core systems big enough to support their core operations," she explains. "The moment they want to add additional products and systems, enterprise solutions providers tell them they need to throw away their core systems and install their entire solution instead. Tilos adds methods and components to add additional functionality quickly and integrate with existing systems."
Although she is planning to see 60% of Tilos`s revenue coming from overseas in the next year, Vaksman assures that she has not forgotten about the local market. "Announcements will be made shortly about partnerships in France, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Russia. At the same time, during the last three months, Tilos has secured more than R15 million on the local market."
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