Bob Murray, joint managing director, HiberniaEvros Technology Group
According to Murray, 2011 is witnessing “another quantum shift in the IT industry.” When Hibernia was established in 1990 there was a major shift towards PC networks, from centralised processing to distributed processing. “It was all about the hardware,” he says. “Today, there is a shift towards the importance of the data.”
The emergence of cloud technology means people are more connected to their data than they have ever been before and can maintain that connection using any platform from any location. “It’s powerful stuff that requires us to rethink the way we use technology,” Murray argues.
Last year, like the one before it, was affected by most companies going into lock down mode. While the market in 2011 “continues to be challenging” people are a bit more confident Ireland has witnessed the depth of the bad news nationally. “Once we know how deep the problems run, we can start to begin the fix process,” Murray remarked, adding that revenues are growing this year compared to 2010.
HETG has continually expanded the amount of services it offers to customers over the past 12 months. It has invested €1.6 million in its own cloud infrastructure with Ireland’s first HP 3PAR solution to offer clients public and private cloud, as well as DR solutions. It has also created a fully manned 24×7 help desk for customers. Murray says the help desk is staffed around the clock by technical people who monitor and manage clients’ systems and provide technical support throughout the night.
In addition, it has set up a dedicated resourcing division to source people for long and short term contracts, providing technical resources covering first, second and third level support, project management, development and operations management.
Murray believes that as long as HETG recognises its clients “are facing the same challenges as we face ourselves, we can build a mutually beneficial working relationship for the long term. The working relationships that are forged in difficult times are the ones that tend to stand the test of time.”
If a client views HETG as a partner, the working relationship is better, he adds. “But when a client sees it as a mere supplier, it’s difficult to create a trusted working relationship and neither party benefits fully.” In difficult market conditions, HETG’s more successful clients “look to extend the partnership and for ways for both our businesses to grow successfully.”
One of the main issues that could inhibit growth is the lack of credit available to SMEs. HETG sees a lot of SME companies that have no access to credit from their financial institutions. “While we do try to work with them to come up with ways to facilitate their requirements, it’s not always easy,” Murray argues. “It would be nice if the government could come up with some way to recognise the amount of employment indigenous Irish companies create in Ireland and create some better mechanisms to encourage growth for those companies.”
As for the channel itself, while there is some consolidation among resellers, Murray suggests any business that has survived so far has “already made the changes required to keep their businesses running for another while. Barring any further negative impacts, I expect people will try to ride out the storm and not look to sell until such time as market conditions improve.” He says vendors are providing good support, recognising the efforts of HETG and the money it is spending in areas such as training. Distributors are also providing the reseller with the credit lines it requires in an aggressive growth phase. Looking forward for the rest of the year, Murray is optimistic, anticipating growth in revenue and margin. “As long as the market continues to challenge us, we will continue to re-invest our earnings in ways that will bring further services offerings and expertise to our clients,” he concluded.
Eoin Goulding, managing director, Integrity Solutions
Ltd
