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How leveraging a hub scaled Intalios business in Asia

How cloud computing rm Intalio built a new base for regional sales in Singapore from scratch
About Intalio

Intalio is the leading vendor of private cloud applications. Intalios applications are used by some of the largest companies in the world, including Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi, NTT, and Sabre. Intalios software also powers 3 out of the 10 most visited websites: Facebook, Google, and Yahoo! With headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, Intalio is a global company operating in 17 countries throughout the world and serving over 1,000 customers.

When Intalio, a Palo Alto company specializing in cloud computing platforms, set up its Asia Pacic base in Singapore two years ago, it had no customers. But Arnaud Blandin, who was tasked with getting its Asian operations up and running, was condent that it could reach clients in Singapore and the region from its new base. Blandin was proved right. Intalios Singapore oce is now its second largest, after its Silicon Valley headquarters. It has clients around the region like Singapore Airlines, Deutsche Bank and Siam Cement who use its business process management (BPM) and private cloud products. According to Blandin, a combination of fortuitous geography, excellent local talent and a great lifestyle have helped power Intalios Singapore oce and drive its business in the region. He tells us more.

More at

www.intalio.com

Tell us a bit about Intalios business in Singapore?

In general, our BPM product is very well known and this is where we do most of our business, about 70 percent of it. The cloud computing product is starting to interest a lot of people, but since its a new area, people are still in the wait-and-see mode. But the bulk of our staff here is actually the research and development team, which is working on integrating a new platform from VMWare.

Besides the strength of the Singapore brand, how else did you build your client base?

We are lucky in that our customers nd us because we have a certain reputation in BPMS and cloud computing applications. The only thing we do is try to attract users to a training session. Our software is free, but its complex enterprise software, so we tell users, Hey, maybe you really want to learn how to use it. During training, they discover that the software is used worldwide, its from Silicon Valley, and it gives them a competitive advantage. Then How many people do you have working at Intalio we facilitate sales. in Singapore? We are looking at 15 staff in 2012. Singapore is Intalios second-largest ofce.

What other factors did you consider before picking Singapore as a base?
Lets start with the geographic location: Singapore is in the middle of the main Asian markets of India, Australia, Southeast Asia and China. It is easy to travel in and out of here. Thats one reason why many companies are moving their APAC headquarters here from Australia

e Singapore oce is also Intalios Asia-Pacic base. Who are your clients here?
Since 2009, we have signed clients such as Singapore Airlines and Cycle & Carriage in Singapore, Deutsche Bank in the Philippines and India, BNP Paribas in Hong Kong, Telstra in Australia, Westpac in New Zealand and Siam Cement in Thailand. Our customers are from three main verticals: nancial services, telecommunications and travel.

Would you say Singapores technical infrastructure helped its case?

Totally, of course! Really, if you look at AsiaPacic, there are only three places to consider: Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Australia is too far, and Hong Kong would have been better if we were targeting China right away.

ats quite a list. When did you start looking at Singapore as a possible base?
We set up the Singapore ofce in 2009. We didnt have a single customer in the region then. But Singapore is seen as a role model for other countries in Southeast Asia in the IT industry. So this means that one customer in Singapore - like Singapore Airlines, for example - can serve as a great reference in the region.

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It cant be all rosy. What challenges did you face in Singapore?

In the near future, Singapore will face rising competition from its neighbors. It needs to become a talent hub for software engineering just like it is a growing nancial hub. Furthermore, we note that some of our business partners lack long-term vision and are sometimes too focused on a quick win.

How hard is it to attract foreign engineers to work in Singapore?

So far, for us, its been very easy. Most of them are from the US and Europe and they are attracted to the lifestyle in Singapore. Safety is good, the schools are great and the healthcare system works very well. The only problem is housing prices - rentals are starting to get crazy.

One customer in Singapore can be a great reference for rms in the region
About Infocomm Investments

Infocomm Investments is the venture capital arm of Singapores technology authority. We work with technology startups from around the world. We invest in startups alongside the worlds best venture funds. We also help startups create a base in Singapore to access the Asian opportunity. This means getting access to international talent, Asian markets and Singapore government programs. More at

Are Singapore-based engineers any good, then?

They are very good. They might be a bit too humble - they dont realize they are on par with (foreign) talent pools.

Any parting advice for tech companies that are interested in an Asia base?
Ive seen many times where entrepreneurs from Europe or the US arrive in Singapore and they are really shocked by what they see. They say, Wow, this is even more advanced that I thought. So executives should come to Singapore, connect with people here, attend more startup events, like Echelon 2011, which was a very good event. (NOTE: Im not kidding, he said this)

www.infocomminvestments.com