Damovo pursues growth through services

Trade

Damovo, the voice and data networking spinoff from Ericsson, is moving to a more services-oriented model and is also embracing a multi-vendor approach.

‘Services represents the highest growth area in Ireland,’ confirmed Peter O’Connor, managing director of the Irish operation. As part of expansion plans laid out in a three-year strategy, Damovo is in the process building a team of project consultants and engineers, as well as a consultancy sales force.

The company’s Irish arm was the former Ericsson business communications division, which has been active for 17 years. It now employs 80 people and has 650 customers. Rather than service providers or carriers, the Irish client base is predominantly made up of enterprises from sectors such as financial services, retail, government, semi-state and education.

In Ireland, its voice offering is not surprisingly based on the Ericsson heritage—the MD110 PABX—and that still constitutes a large proportion of the company’s business. ‘The local picture is quite a good mix,’ said O’Connor. The voice and contact management business accounts for 38 per cent of revenue; data and converged networking earn a further 12 per cent; 10 per cent comes from e-business and mobility offerings and the remainder of the Irish turnover comes from services. Overall, the company is on track to record 20 per cent growth for all of its Irish business.

The company now occupies new premises on Dublin’s Naas Road, having recently moved from its base in Clonskeagh. Damovo will be a year old in mid-September and much of the past 12 months has been about establishing its brand, said O’Connor. The name is derived from data, mobility and voice.

Work with third parties will become a critical area to Damovo. ‘Some partners will be local and tactical and some will be global and strategic,’ said O’Connor. The latter category already includes Cisco, Extreme Networks and Mitel. Further partners that specialise in IP mobility are likely to be signed in the near future.

The company will also look to forge relationships with indigenous firms. According to O’Connor, events like First Tuesday have unearthed some potential candidates ‘all with some interesting technology. We will look at those types of organisations and give them an opportunity to use Damovo’s channel to market’.

Read More: Trade News