Emerging Exporter: Ansarada

Developing its services from the cutting edge of information technology and responding nimbly to market forces has won this smart start-up a client list of financial giants in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, the UK and the USA.

Ansarada provides secure virtual data rooms that enable investment banks, legal and advisory firms to conduct business transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, fundraising and other due diligence-based projects.

From its start-up five years ago, its services have enabled the transaction of multimillion-dollar business deals with international clients including Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Fortescue Metals Group, Investa Property Group, KPMG and Ferrier Hodgson.

Ansarada’s proprietary software as a service (SaaS) delivery model allows clients full accessibility on demand via a standard internet browser. The virtual data rooms can be set up quickly to manage large quantities of information, protected by restricted access, and incorporate legal grade audit trails to capture intelligence and meet disclosure requirements. They are also user-friendly and don’t require plug-ins or downloads, so users can easily view secured documents through the internet browser of their choice.

The company employs the latest technology, including Adobe’s LiveCycle Rights Management Server and Adobe Document Security Server, to provide the highest level of security. The data rooms are accredited and compliant with the globally recognised Information Security Management System (ISMS) standard ISO 27001:2005. “This puts us really ahead of the game with a competitive advantage no one else can offer,” Ansarada CEO Sam Riley says.

Ansarada has recorded annual average revenue growth of 89 percent over the last three years and flourished during the GFC by adapting its services to insolvency actions. The company continues to upgrade its technology and is looking to expand into the European market from its London office and establish east and west coast offices in the USA.

I was recently at a meeting in Adelaide with the SA Minister for Trade Tom Koutsantonis and this very subject came up. The question was asked: “How do we ensure in the future our support continues to be relevant to assist this new breed in their export pursuits?”

It’s a very good question because some of the traditional export assistance programs don’t always fit with their dynamic business model and more often than not the world is their market from day one. What differentiates them though in terms of their competitive advantage is technology, the application of that technology and their drive to build a modern international business in many cases from the start. Being limited to the domestic market is simply not a consideration.
So what sort of companies are these new age exporters? Let me give you some examples of companies that I’ve come into contact with through the export awards program that I find simply fascinating.

The first is Atlassian Corporation. This very successful company didn’t exist 10 years ago. Today it employs 225 people and markets to 20 thousand customers across 134 countries. Atlassian was founded in 2001 by university colleagues Mike Cannon-Brooks and Scott Farquhar, both aged 22. They make development and collaboration tools that enable customer companies to deliver quality software products faster, from concept to launch. Atlassian describes themselves as different kind of software company, one that has rewritten the rules of enterprise software development and sales. What also makes them different is the fact that they encourage customers to download products from their website with a credit card at a fraction of the cost of competitors’ products. And it works, in 2010 their revenue is forecast to be $59 milllion.

Another example is the SMARTS Company. The SMARTS products began life in the research labs of the University of Sydney at a time when the Australian Securities market became one of the first in the world to automate and integrate six regional stock exchanges into one national trading platform. SMARTS market surveillance software is the unrivalled market leader with over 30 national exchange and regulatory customers as well as 50 national and multinational broking clients across 30 markets. As I understand it, in the world of stockbroking there are five major software providers. Three of them came out of Australia, and SMARTS is of course one of them.

Nuix also falls into the category of a new age exporter. Created in 2000, Nuix’s focus has always been on developing the world’s most advanced eDiscovery and electronic investigation software. The core of Nuix is an advanced processing engine which interrogates virtually any data set (emails, hard disks and disk images), indexing the results and making them available for immediate analysis. Nuix commenced actively commercialising its software in Australia in 2006 and over the next 12 months quickly expanded its Australian customer base to include a large number of major corporate and government, forensic and security, law enforcement, legal and regulatory organisations.

In 2007 Nuix began to participate in other markets and now has customers in over 26 countries, including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, China and Japan, and offices in the UK, Europe and USA.

These three companies are but examples of what an increasing number of our exporters look like. They don’t put things in boxes and ship them around the world, they use technology, they are often young well qualified people who don’t see borders as a challenge. All of us involved in export, including government, need to sit up and take note of this changing picture. I’m certainly not promoting interference but what I am promoting is doing research to understand them better so that programs can be put in place to build this capability and get more Atlassian, SMARTS and Nuixes across the export line.

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The award was conferred by the International Intellectual Property Network Forum and presented to Cybre’s director Dr Richard Ski for his company’s Cybre Reader Pofessional software. The browser based computer program allows translation of MS Word documents, PDF files, web pages, text and emails into a spoken voice in a range of languages.

The program supports all languages available in Nuance RealSpeak Speech Engine and allows users to translate written foreign language communications. Ski says it is simple enough for people with basic computer knowledge to use easily.

Cybre Reader Professional has particular application to international trade, allowing users to make PowerPoint presentations in a foreign language and to clearly understand contractual agreements and documentation, or to improve their delivery of spoken communications. It can also be used in education and training.

The program incorporates security features to protect intellectual property content to prevent it from being copied or used illegally. Additional security is available through Cybre’s encryption services.

The International Intellectual Property Network Forum includes members from Taiwan, Korea, Sweden, Iran, Poland, Malaysia and Russia.

In the event of an emergency like the Mumbai terrorist attacks or the floods in Pakistan, the software enables businesses to quickly identify which of their travellers are at risk, minimising response time and saving valuable rescue resources for those who really need them.

Business travel is a necessary part of international trade, but corporations which overlook their duty of care to travelling employees can face litigation when something goes wrong.

Developed in partnership by Dynamiq and conTgo, the software combines interactive technology and emergency management procedures to enable “very active” travel management, according to Dynamiq CEO Anthony Moorhouse.

MapCast gathers all travel information for a single traveller—itineraries, flights, check-ins and corporate travel policies—into an interactive web-based interface. The data builds an interactive map, updated every few minutes, allowing you to literally draw a circle on a map and identify your employees travelling in a particular region.

The list of travellers can be further specified by airline or by travel time. The software also integrates corporate travel policies, and can deliver automatic, real-time location-based reminder messages to ensure adherence to travel policies.

MapCast will be made available to Travel Management companies to rebrand and market under their own umbrella management programs. In Australia, travel management company QBT have exclusive rights to the software until January and plan to deploy it by the end of the month.

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The grants are to be put towards QSR’s flagship product, NVivo 8 or NVivo 9 software licenses, NVivo training workbooks and training and consulting services from QSR.

“This is our way of helping universities and colleges to incorporate the latest qualitative data analysis software into their undergraduate and graduate courses. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to support what could be the future stars of the research industry,” said QSR CEO John Owen.

Two grants of $10,000 each will be awarded to non-casual academic staff working in academic institutions in Australia, New Zealand or Asia to be used in the 2011 academic year, and four grants of US$5,000 will be awarded to assistant, associate or full professors working in academic institutions in the US and Canada.

NVivo 9, to be released later this year, will allow users to upload and analyse text, video, audio, images
and database tables and can be used across a wide range of research methods.

For more information on the teaching grant program, see the dedicated QSR International website.

The USA/Canada grant applications close July 9, apply here.
The Asia-Pacific grant applications close October 29, apply here.

Worth US$6 billion, the Symphony Park development will be a 61-acre mixed-use community project-managed by Newland Communities. The park will also act as a catalyst for further development in the downtown area, according to Newland.

Aconex’s management system allows all stakeholders to store and share important project data in a unified manner.

“The biggest problem, particularly when dealing with consultants and city representatives, is that everyone had their own system for managing data. If we needed a document, we had to call them and ask them to send it over, and vice-versa,” explained Sam Gladstein, Newland Communities’ vice-president of Operations.

“The result was that a lot of time was being wasted. Having gone through these frustrations, we came to a point where we needed a better way of managing things.”

The contract comes at a good time as the US aims to double its exports in the next five years to support 2 million jobs as part of the Obama administration’s National Export Initiative. Because eCertify eliminates the manual processes of stamping and signing, it will enable faster, more streamlined processing.

“Manual processing limited the service to exporters in close proximity,” said eCertify founder Carman Rossi. “Now the LA Chamber can provide services to exporters farther afield. eCertify saves courier costs, reduces turnaround time and is more efficient irrespective of the distance from the chamber.”

The LA Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in Southern California, representing more than 750,000 employees in the region, and is one of 20 US Chambers that have registered for the service.

The company has opened an office in Alexandria, Virginia, to give the company easy access to the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration in Washington DC and better service the US market.

With more than 35 years of experience, AIS produces water disinfection technologies including salt and freshwater chlorine generators that are not only among the best in the world but, in many cases, world firsts.

Following a change in ownership in 1992, the Brisbane-based company invested significantly to develop and incorporate state-of-the-art technology into its salt chlorinator products. During the past decade, AIS has expanded internationally, particularly in the field of commercial and resort swimming pools and waterslide parks.

“International distribution and sales have been at the forefront of AIS’ growth since the change of management in 1992,” says executive director Elena Gosse. Today the company has distributors throughout Australia as well as partners serving markets in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and South America.

The road to victory wasn’t easy. Back in 2003, they were struggling with weak reporting, poor workflow practices and no easy way of calculating foreign exposure. “If there was a mistake in the old system, we just didn’t know where the problem started. Our previous software couldn’t provide us with a real window into our business,” says Gosse.

AIS needed a system that would allow it to trade efficiently across international borders. They implemented Happen Business’ Jim2 Business Engine, as it could support multiple foreign currency transactions, as well as improve stock control and workflow management, including stock serial number tracking.

“We now have accurate recording, documentation and tracking of overseas contracts. The multicurrency feature is so important for our invoicing. It helps us save time on administration work and concentrate on winning new business overseas,” says Gosse.

“Not only can we now calculate our foreign currency exposure quickly each day, we have complete information about workflow operations from materials ordering, production, sales and marketing, through to shipping and delivery. Every business that exports needs these functions.”

For more information on Jim2 accounting software and multiple currency support, see www.happen.biz.

—Craig Kirby is marketing manager at Happen Business

“The delegation has a proven track record and strong reputation in Australia and overseas and sees great potential in the US market as it emerges from the global financial crisis,” said Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett.

The mission includes a networking reception at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC where the delegates will have the opportunity to meet high-level representatives from local and federal US Government and educational institutions. The companies – Autech Software & Design, Etech Group, The Learning Edge and Roar Educate – will also have their own program of meetings and activities across the USA.

“Tasmania is one of the world’s e-Learning hotspots and boasts a vibrant and innovative information technology and digital media industry that is built upon an ethos of collaboration and partnership,” said Bartlett.

The USA is Tasmania’s second largest software export market after the UK.

Exporting

In the financial software industry, conducting business at a national level is an enormous achievement. Pure Commerce recently upped the ante with a deal to provide a multi-currency payment solution to the Korean Exchange Bank (KEB) for the next five years, the first time an Australian company has sold payment technology into a Korean financial institution.

Not just any Korean bank either, but the largest foreign exchange bank in South Korea. Established in 1967 and headquartered in Seoul, KEB is the fifth largest bank in South Korea, as measured in assets. With the largest global network, it has an important role in the development of South Korea’s new banking strategy.

Pure Commerce is an Australian exporter of flexible international payment solutions for financial institutions and corporate partners. Launched in 1997, the privately owned company has offices in Singapore, Sydney, London and Zurich. It specialises in partnering with financial institutions seeking new ways to extend their existing systems.

Their product offering includes currency conversion, EFTPOS solutions, multi-currency payment processing, treasury and rate management and online eBanking tools.

Currently based in Singapore, CEO Daniel Lavecky had just returned from a Pure Commerce family fun day when Dynamic Export caught up with him. “We had our corporate fun day last weekend for the Sydney team and their families. We’ve got offices in Sydney, Singapore and London, and Korea now as well, so I’m thinking we’ll have to do the same thing for them for next year,” he says. “Maybe my role as CEO will now become that of party manager?”

It’s obvious Lavecky is successful at building relationships, a skill that has stood Pure Commerce in good stead throughout their historic export journey to South Korea. Traditionally the Korean market is well known for being extremely complex for foreign companies to understand the business culture and sell into, with local companies and services the preferred option in most cases.

However, according to Austrade’s senior trade commissioner in Seoul Martin Walsh, Korea is the third largest export market for Australia, and in fact, Korean financial institutions often look to Australia’s financial system as a successful model.

With its history of regulation problems, Korea is currently implementing a new financial services system largely mirrored on the Australian framework. This then provides an opportunity for savvy operators like Pure Commerce to capitalise on the interest, which then opens the market to other Australian businesses to provide financial solutions for the developing model. So, how did this landmark agreement occur?

Making introductions

Prior to Pure Commerce arriving in South Korea, they conducted research and made appointments with banks that were genuinely interested in their product.

“Rather than just getting on a plane to Korea and saying ‘We’re here!’ we worked very closely with the trade commission prior to going,” explains Lavecky. “We identified all the banks, ranked them in priority, and then the trade commissioner made initial contact to find out who the senior executives were, which really saved us a lot of time.”

The team also made many early presentations, usually in PowerPoint, which were translated into Korean and sent over. In 2006, KEB and Pure Commerce then met during an Austrade mission to South Korea.

To build the relationship following their initial positive feedback from KEB, Pure Commerce opened a local office and courted the bank’s executives for many months.

“In Korea, you need to speak the local language. They’re very happy to work with foreign technologies because they like to say they’re using new brands, but this needs to be supported by local presence,” explains Lavecky. “You can either achieve this through using agents or opening up an office yourself.”

With this in mind, and following the success of the trade mission, Pure Commerce asked their Korean sales person to relocate to South Korea permanently. “We invited Yong to stay in Korea to continue building relationships, which he saw as a great opportunity. In addition to presentations, there were a lot of executive lunches, golf games and corporate entertainment. This is especially needed in Korea,” says Lavecky.

“A lot of money has to be invested to create a situation where they not only say ‘yes you’ve got good technology’ but also, ‘we like working with you’. The relationship took a year to build to a point where the bank was willing to talk to us about using our technology.”