Enterprise Ireland – Best Connected -

Published July 23rd, 2010 by John Magill

Dogs welcome is a strange introduction to the opening, next weekend, of the UK’s first new high street bank in over 150 years.   The newcomer is Metro Bank.   It promises to open seven days a week, including 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, have a rapid account opening procedure and issue credit and debit cards within 15 minutes.   For those with jars full of pennies it will also have free coin counting with the Metro Bank Magic Money Machine.  And off course “the bank will provide free bowls of water and chewy bones to ensure that your four-legged pals are as happy as you are”!  The initial plans are modest.  Two branches this year and twelve within the next two years.

One of the guys behind the launch is an American entrepreneur Vernon Hill.  In 1973, at the age of 26, he launched Commerce Bancorp in New Jersey, which he sold in 2007 for $8.5bn.  At that time the bank had 435 branches and was opening 65 new stores annually.   He called them stores because he based his model on brining fast food convenience to banking.

Link this to Virgin Money gaining a foothold in UK retail banking with the acquisition of Church House Trust and the continued expansion of Tesco Bank and you can see a push to introduce FMCG type selling to the staid UK retail banking sector.   How customers will react to this change will only become clear over the next five to ten years.   However, for companies supplying products and services to these new style banks they may need to start learning the rules of FMCG selling.   Tesco retail requires service and product suppliers to have at least as good an understanding of Tesco’s customers as they themselves have.   They assist you by supplying copious amounts of customer data.   They charge you, however, for the data and insist that you provide them with any analysis you carry out on this data.

For Irish companies, in the Financial Services and Financial software sectors, looking to win business with these banks will create a new dynamic in your selling process.   These banks will not only want to see what your offering does for the bank, but equally importantly what your offering will do to improve the end customer experience.   Retail customers, such as Virgin and Tesco, are probably the most demanding you can ever expect to deal with.   Personally, on a visit to the HQ of a major UK retailer I saw a supplier leave in tears after being worked over by a buyer.   This supplier was not a small food supplier but one of the largest suppliers of shopping trolleys in the UK.

Looking forward to the changes and opportunities in banking over the next few years reminds me of the often quoted phrase from Star Trek “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it”.

PS.  Its interesting to see where Vernon Hill sourced his senior management – RBS, HBOS and Anglo Irish Bank!

Published July 20th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

When most people think of the Green Agenda, factories billowing smoke into the atmosphere come to mind, however software too will soon come under Green scrutiny when looking considering Government contracts.

Trends
The EU has mandated that by the end of 2010 50% of all government public procurement contracts in terms of both value and numbers will be subject to Green Criteria with an ever increasing drive and ambition toward it.

It is envisioned that with an average buying power equivalent to about 16-19% of all GDP governments will become the new drivers of the transition to Green technology which currently resides in the domain of private sector retailers.

Green in the Software Context
The implication for software is that your product development processes and the energy efficiency implications of using your product will come under scrutiny over the entire life cycle of the product. The following are just two considerations when thinking if you are ready for Green Public Procurement:
(1) The energy efficiency of the machines you use for product development are becoming relevant considerations for procurers seeking to lower the countries carbon footprint through applying entire life cycle methods of pricing contracts.
(2) The energy demands using your software places on the end user machine during its use must now also be considered in the coming era of energy efficiency. For instance can your product efficiently index files to reduce resource intensive search time and therefore save on energy consumption?

Solutions
Now that we established that Green is here to stay and that in the foreseeable future it will spread as far as the software sector. What can Enterprise Ireland do to help?

We have a toolkit of supports ready for our clients who wish begin measuring and reducing their carbon footprint to bring themselves in line with international best practises.

These include assistance in gaining (1) European Eco-Labels, (2) funding towards Environmental Management Systems implementation assistance such as the ISO14001 (3) funding assistance in sourcing a qualified consultant to measure your carbon footprint and help you lower it.

Further Information
Further information about Enterprise Ireland’s GreenTech offering can be found by clicking here.

Published July 14th, 2010 by John Magill

In the middle of our doom and gloom a bit of good news is always welcome.   Intel last night reported its best ever quarter results in its 42 year history.  Year-on-year revenue up 34% and a net income of €2.9bn.  Why is this good news for us?   Well, Paul Otellini, chief executive, said that Intel was running ahead of a global economic recovery because of a fundamental shift towards working on the internet.   Sales of server chip were up 170% on a year earlier due to a move to hosting applications and services in the cloud.   ”As internet traffic continues to boom, the cloud build-out is accelerating in order to keep pace,” he said.

So the move to the cloud continues unabated and confirms what many of Enterprise Ireland’s software clients believe – that SaaS and the cloud are here to stay.

We should also not forget the 4,000 people who work directly for Intel in Leixlip and the many hundreds of others whose jobs depend on Intel Ireland.   This is great news for them.

For those of us of a certain generation it is hard to imagine that the Leixlip plant was originally established to produce the i486 microprocessor.   A breakthrough in technology, it had a 50MHz chip set with 8k of on-chip SRAM!!!

Published June 17th, 2010 by Diane Roberts

This is a guest post from Diane Roberts, National Director of the Halo Business Network (HBAN). The Halo business Network, seeks to connect Angel Investors, and technology companies.

News just out about  the Irish Business Angel of the Year competition ….the winner is … Brian Caulfield!

Published June 10th, 2010 by Liz Fleming

This is a guest post from Liz Fleming, formerly of Enterprise Ireland Madrid and Dublin. Liz now works for HBAN, the  Umbrella organisation for Angel Investing in Ireland.

As part of Ireland’s First Business Angel Conference , we at HBAN are running a Business Angel of the Year competition.

Angel investors in Ireland are a vital source of financing for new business.  This competition is run to highlight the importance of the strategic value a business angel can add to an early stage business.  Often the expertise a business angel can offer is more valuable than the financial contribution made by a business angel.  HBAN wish to promote best practice in Angel Investing and seek to professionalise the Irish Angel Capital Industry.  With this aim HBAN would like to honour Ireland’s Angel Investor of the Year and need your help in identifying Ireland’s Best Angels.

To date Brian Caulfield (@BrianCVC) and Colm Lyon (@ColmLyon) are top of the polls!  Nominate your Angel of the year here.

The winner will be announced at the HBAN Business Angel Conference taking place on June 16th. The current lineup of speakers include Leslie Buckley (Digicel), Paddy Holahan (NewBay), Feargal Ó Móráin (Enterprise Ireland) with Mark Little as MC.

Published June 1st, 2010 by Roy Scannell

The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) run by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board is an absolutely vital and ground breaking mechanism by which businesses can bring their research and ideas to market through use of public procurement.

What it is & how it works
In a nutshell the SBRI is an initiative from the British government which identifies a specific opportunity or need within a government department.
(1) It then invites companies usually SME’s to enter an idea to fill that need. The ideas are then screened.
(2) The more successful ideas are then passed along to a feasibility stage which is fully funded to £100k for a period of 6 months.
(3) After this phase is complete then most promising ideas are selected and brought forward to a development and prototyping phase with limits of £1m and 2 years.
(4) This phase then leads to complete product which is ready for market and the competitive procurement process.

Benefits
The benefits are many. Companies who would normally not have a chance of winning contracts but who have ideas addressing specific needs are essentially given a completely funded mechanism to research and develop their ideas.

They can bring them to the point whereby they can tender for competitive contracts to organisations they already have had extensive dealings with thus greatly increasing their chances of successfully winning public sector business and all in a shorter time frame than would usually be associated with product development and commercialization.

Sample Contracts and Software Applications
The SBRI operates in the Defense, Health, Security and Buildings spheres and offers several challenges to initiative thinkers.

One such need/question being posed right now (For more details click here) by the MOD is how to monitor, understand and influence group and individual reactions to events in the world through the cyberspace domain. Essentially understanding the Internets role in what is sometimes described as the ‘battle for hearts and minds’.

Other opportunities have revolved around the reduction of hospital burdens associated with manageing long term condititions with solutions developed from upgrading and integrating telehealth systems to the development of novel medical devices.

Are you Eligible?
YES if you are an SME in the EU. The SBRI is also equally open to pre start-ups, charities and Universities given certain restrictions. See here for FAQ’s

Published April 15th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

Public Procurement has finally hit the big time! Enterprise Ireland’s multiple award winning publication The Market ran an article entitled “The Winds of Change in Irish Public sector Procurement” which focussed on the ever increasing drive toward reforming the way in which the Public Sector Procures and as importantly how they interact with the market.

The focus of Government’s new drive is the newly established National Procurement Service which has the following remit “The NPS has a multi-tiered mission to provide a central procurement service for central government departments and government services; streamline the multiplicity of tender and contract documentation used across the PP in cooperation with the Chief State Solicitors Office; engage more directly with SMEs, and up-skill procurement officials in the PP process”-The Market.

What Does This Mean To SME’S?
It is well to remember that for EI clients and Ireland’s SME sector more generally the object is the outcome of the procurement process rather than the process itself. Here are some of the initiatives the NPS have underway to alleviate some of the bottlenecks which currently blight the procurement process:

(1) Development of clear guidance relating to the level of company turnover required for contracts of varying level.
(2) Encouraging a greater use of eProcurement using eTenders to advertise more and more contracts and contracts of lower value.
(3) The NPS is working with the Chief State Solicitors Office to investigate ways in which the levels of public liability insurance required for SME’s to have when bidding for contracts can be reduced.
(4) In collaboration with the Chief State Solicitors Office the NPS is finalising a project which is aiming to provide a standard suite of documentation for all contracts to eliminate the current system which often requires a myriad of varying documentation.
(5) The NPS will conduct up-skilling exercises aimed at both suppliers and buyers to allow them to be fully comfortable with the procurement procedure.

Public Procurement as Part of EI strategy:
We, as you know are an export orientated organisation with a new focus on the public sector which initially focuses on Ireland. Our belief is that if our clients begin to successfully win contracts here in Ireland then this will be a huge spring board toward achieving public sector success overseas.

Solutions purchased by Irish State agencies can then be replicated and exported all over the world using Ireland as a first reference source and thus ticking two huge boxes as regards economic recovery (1) SME’s winning more public sector contracts and (2) These same SME’s gaining the skills and references to take those won contracts internationally.

To find out more about EI as a portal to public procurement please email the following address.

value4money@enterprise-ireland.com

Published April 6th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

We are pleased to announce the resumption of the Go2Tender workshop series which has been designed and run on behalf of InterTrade Ireland by Bid Management an Irish company which specialises in tender consultancy for both the public and private sectors.

What is Go2Tender all about?
Simply put Go2Tender seeks to provide companies with the skills to successfully negotiate the complex tendering processes for public sector contracts over the space of two non consecutive days. If this was not enough there is then a subsequent half day of in company consultancy which can, in certain circumstances, be extended to three days at no extra charge. The consultant will take the client through an actual tender

They have been highly successful with participating companies winning over €18m worth of contracts in recent times. The Workshop only costs €105 and is fantastic value for money.

The sectors I have targeted for attendance at the event include (1) the various software areas, (2) clean tech, engineering and construction, (3) life sciences and (4) Business Services. Interest is very high so book ASAP to avoid being disappointed.

We are also planning to have an Enterprise Ireland representative present at each of the workshops so that we can discuss how we are assisting our companies to gain business in the public sector.

If you have an interest in gaining business in the public sector in The Republic or Northern Ireland and would like to attend please contact Louise Carroll by clicking the link or call (01) 441 7155 for an application form.

Dates and Locations:
(1) Galway: Clayton Hotel; 9th & 16th of June.
(2) Mullingar: Bloomfield House Hotel; 18th & 25th of May.
(3) Derry:The Everglades Hotel; 5th & 12th of May.

Published March 31st, 2010 by Roy Scannell

This case study is based on the correlation and analysis of 138 contract award notices that the HSE have posted on eTenders in the years 2008 and 2009. In total this study covers contracts with a declared combined total of around 640Million Euro for 2008 & 2009 for 89 contracts which declared their total value.

The HSE is Ireland’s largest procuring organisation which spends in the region of 4Billion Euro per annum on various goods, services and works. However less than 10% of this expenditure appears on eTenders due to various below threshold spends and recurring contracts etc.

The HSE is also one of the most varied public buyers in the State. There are five major buying categories which involve expenditure of over 100 Million Euro per annum and a further 14 which involve expenditure of between 10 Million and 100 Million Euro per annum. For a more detailed break down of these purchasing categories: Click Here

In 2009 the breakdown of what the HSE buy (on eTenders) was divided thusly with the ICT and Professional services sector making up the largest  number of contracts awarded. In 2008 the figures largely mirror this trend.

HSE Purchasing Category Activity, 2009

Average Overall Weightings for Tendered Contracts, 2009

The above graph makes up an aggregated average of weightings (Contract Requirements) applied by the HSE in 2009. I have correlated several HSE procurement language terms into the above categories for example product quality includes a number of factors directly linked to the overall quality of the product.

Important Factors:

• Price continues to dominate the overall chart of weightings with a combined importance of 43%  however not in the traditional way. When broken up initial price makes up 23% of overall pricing and Life Cycle costing makes up 20% (up 3% from 2008) of total over all contract weightings.
• As alluded to in previous posts this marks a shift towards taking into account the total cost of products and services over their entire life cycle. This may allow for new and technologically advanced suppliers with in depth knowledge of their products cost in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions  to enter the market.
• To some extent there is an increasing interest in doing business with the HSE as mirrored by the increased average of tenders per contract in 2009 7.66 up from 5.14 in 2008.
• Finally and perhaps most encouragingly of all, the proportion of contracts awarded which includes an Irish winner increased from 80% in 2008 to 93% in 2009.

There are without doubt challenges involved in doing business with the HSE. However the time has never been better for the Irish SME sector to engage with Ireland’s leading and most varied buyer of goods and services from Fruit and Vegtables (just over 3 Million Euro worth of contracts awarded in 2009) to Software Systems (2.4 Million worth of contracts with declared value awarded in 2009).

To find out more about doing business with the HSE CLICK HERE to view the HSE Supplier Charter.

To speak to a member of EI’s public procurement team about doing business with the HSE,  leave a comment on this post and we will revert to you as fast as possible or alternatively email this address.

value4money@enterprise-ireland.com

Published March 30th, 2010 by Manus Rooney

Irish payment processor Omnipay hits the news recently with a major award won at the European Card Acquiring Forum in Berlin. It was given to Omnipay due to their commitment to delivering “the most innovative services to acquirers”

At the event this year in Berlin, Irish startup Onformonics took a stand and I understand quite a few of the other payment related companies were also in attendance. The feeback from this years event was in the most part positive and seems to be positioning itself as one of the key European events in the sector.

Well done again to the Omnipay team.

http://www.europeancardacquiring.com/en/Events/Upcoming-Events/European-Card-Acquiring-Forum/ECAF-Awards.alej