Success at home and away

Success at home and away

Success at home and away

From modest beginnings, velos-IT has quickly established itself as a major player in the global IT sector. Working with Scottish Enterprise has allowed the identification of multiple opportunities for the business, including greater penetration of new and existing UK markets, internationalisation, and product development.

Support from GlobalScot and Scottish Development International has underpinned the company’s plans for international expansion, with its success in the UK a testament to the professionalism and high operational standards of the velos-IT team.

THE COMPANY

Velos-IT is an international Information Technology company, specialising in the provision of Managed and Professional Services within the business application areas of Oracle EBusiness Suite and JDE EnterpriseOne.

The owners of the business were originally senior IT personnel at Motorola, forming a new company around a single contract with Damovo in 2004. Since then, velos-IT has enjoyed strong growth in the market and is now looking to overseas.

THE CHALLENGE

In order to support this activity, the velos-IT team has been benefiting from access to Globalscot knowledge and networks, providing in-depth market research reports and highlighting areas where the company should put its focus. “The company was provided with funding to attend an event in Australia,” Iain Gemmell, account manager, SE, explains, “and Globalscot lined them up with a couple of key contacts. Globalscot is also now looking at gathering information about potential opportunities and competitors in France.”

“One of the pieces of Globalscot advice that stands out for me,” says Alan, “was that there is a great deal of competition between Sydney and Melbourne and that an office in each city could be key to Australia-wide success. This kind of insight is invaluable, ensuring that we cover both the technical and cultural aspects of the sales and marketing process.

“While there are risks associated with these market expansions, SE has been extremely supportive of our efforts in these areas and has definitely been instrumental in our success.”

THE IMPACT

States Iain: “The company had been pursuing the overseas market as a priority but is now doing so well in the UK that geographical expansion is temporarily of less importance.”

“Moving into Australia would require senior management focus which might detract from the business growth we are achieving in the UK,” Alan adds. “We have therefore put our Australian growth plans on a temporary hold which we will resurrect sometime in the next 12 months.

“In the meantime, SDI is conducting some early market research for us in France, where we have identified a number of potential market opportunities.”

Velos-IT has achieved over 86% revenue growth over the last two years, increasing employment by 60% to over 80 employees. Says Alan: “I think we would have achieved the growth we’ve seen on our own, but it certainly would have taken us far longer without having access to SE, SDI and Globalscot expertise and support.”

Iain Gemmell, Account Manager, SE “It’s phenomenal to see the kinds of companies Velos IT have been coming up against and winning business from in the past couple of years.”

Alan Kerr, Commercial Director, Velos IT

“The support given by SE has encouraged us to perhaps be more aggressive in our strategy and planning and this has helped us to get to where we wanted to be faster in terms of growth, product offering, and future ambitions.”