Case Study: MDS Gateways
Regions Involved : ROI, UK, Europe, South Africa, Middle East
Background
MDS Gateways was founded in 1985 and has 30 employees. The company is a leading designer and supplier of modern technology business telephone systems for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with up to 50 employees and home workers. These products are distributed by telephone operating companies; in Ireland Eircom is the sole distributor and 90% of the business comes from leading telephone operating companies and major private distributors in Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. The MDS Gateways product family is marketed under the 'Opera' brand and it comprises voice and data communications platforms for small business as well as terminal adaptors and residential gateways for installation in an ADSL, ISDN, analogue, or mixed environment. The products are designed in Dublin and manufactured by leading international subcontract manufacturers.
Requirement for New Technology
Declan Gibbons, Managing Director explains that by 2001 "it was clear that telephone systems were moving to Linux platforms to facilitate Voice over Internet Protocol (the technology used to transmit voice conversations over the Internet) and we were not familiar with this technology - we needed to find a source for Linux based server technology and Tech Search facilitated this search". Every quarter the company briefs the Tech Search Dept. on progress, technical issues and business concerns and a Tech Search consultant identifies worthwhile technologies and business partners. In this case a number of Briefings were arranged with a small number of companies and ultimately an agreement was signed with Village Networks in Belfast, to develop a new product based on an agreed specification. "The legals were fairly straight-forward in that the contract was specific to this specification".
Learning Curve
"Ultimately that agreement was terminated without going to market with the product specified however the link-up had enormous benefits for us as it accelerated our learning with Linux. We were challenged to move from telephony technology to integrated computing technology and working with these experts brought us up-to-speed fast. That's essential in a competitive environment", Declan says. MDS Gateways continued to explore opportunities arising from technological developments with the Tech Search Dept., meeting companies across the globe. In June 2003 TechSearch introduced another company with a view to exploring options with Wireless technologies. The company supplied an 802.11-based demo product, which MDS Gateways was able to use at a Trade Exhibition. Declan explains "Again although we haven't yet developed this product, it opens our minds to the technical possibilities and it shows customers we're constantly pushing forward. In fact we may well work on this development with the company in the future and the Tech Search Dept. has been really useful in bringing these options to the table."
Future Developments
A recent survey from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) reports that only 3% of the small businesses surveyed were using VoIP - yet the call costs are free. This suggests a significant opportunity in the Irish market alone. According to Declan "The exploratory work with technology suppliers that we've put in over the years has helped us prepare for the future. In reality, in the next two or three years every company will want to take advantage of the free call costs that VoIP offers and to do so they'll have to switch to VoIP-enabled equipment. It's estimated that VoIP will grow worldwide at 40% per annum. Years ago that would have terrified us; now we look forward to meeting the demand with cutting edge solutions" MDS Gateways Case Study Company MDS Gateways, Dublin, Ireland Regions Involved ROI, UK, Europe, South Africa, Middle East Case Study Date August, 2006 Lessons Learnt s Be open to investigating new technologies and potential business opportunities with technology suppliers. This process itself can help to accelerate your learning about new technologies. s To work effectively with the Tech Search service it's useful to have regular two-way briefings on business and technological developments. Declan Gibbons Managing Director "It's estimated that VoIP will grow worldwide at 40% per annum. Years ago that would have terrified us; now we look forward to meeting the demand with cutting edge solutions"
