European firm eyes Asian integration pie
Published: 09 Oct 2002 06:27 BST
Going against the downward technology tide, European IT firm Axway plans to invest up to $10m over the next two years to ramp up its Asian operations.
Axway specialises in providing Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and business-to-business integration solutions. EAI refers to the integration of back-office applications and systems to improve the flow of information and business processes within an organisation.
The planned investment, which covers newly launched operations in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney, will include new offices, manpower resources and support centres, said Anders Berglund, the company's managing director for Asia-Pacific.
He clarified, however, that the investment includes the cost of acquiring the sales and support operations of Viewlocity, a US-based EAI vendor.
Without disclosing financial details of the deal, Berglund said the company completed the Viewlocity acquisition in August as part of its Asian expansion plan. Prior to the acquisition, he confirmed Axway didn't have a presence in the region.
Amidst the competitive economic environment and cautious technology spending climate, Berglund remains optimistic about the company's success in Asia.
"Asia-Pacific is an important market for us globally and EAI is one of the few areas in IT that is still showing positive growth figures," he said in an interview.
In line with his optimism, Berglund said Axway plans to expand its regional operations by 50 percent to 100 percent per year over the next two years. It also plans to increase its implementation partner base, which currently include systems integrators such as National Computer Systems (Singapore) and Atos Origin.
According to International Data Corp, the worldwide EAI market will continue to outpace the overall software industry over the next three to five years, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of more than 29 percent to reach $15.5bn by 2006.
Axway's chief technology officer Christophe Fabre said the company's commitment to research and development (R&D), customer focus and continued profitability are bedrocks for its success in the region. "Unlike most other companies, we do not spend a lot on marketing and advertisements," Fabre said. "Instead, we reinvest 20 percent of our annual revenue in R&D," he added.
In contrast to competitors which typically offer monolithic solution suites, Fabre also claims Axway's product differentiation lies in its flexibility. "We have tools to enable our customers to start on projects at any level, from entry-level integration at low price points to complex integration," he said.
Axway currently has over 150 customers in Asia-Pacific including Shanghai Telecom, Hong Kong Customs, Malaysia's Klang Port and Asia-Pacific Breweries.
The company will continue to focus on banking and financial institutions as well as the government sector. Leveraging Viewlocity's experience in supply chain solutions, Axway also plans to target the manufacturing, transport and logistics sectors in Asia-Pacific.
Axway, a subsidiary of European IT vendor Sopra Group, posted an annual revenue of 50m euros in 2001 and expects sales of 70m euros this year.
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