i-conX opens AsiaPac office
i-conX solutions, the world’s fastest growing interconnect billing vendor, has opened an Australian office to support its entry into the AsiaPac market.
The office, located in Sydney NSW, will provide i-conX with a regional support and project management facility, as well as a base for its business development staff working across the region.
The facility was established by i-conX Vice President AsiaPac Veronica Shum in early 2009, following favourable initial studies of the market by i-conX. The team will now be further augmented with re-location of key staff from corporate HQ in Dublin, Ireland plus further local hires.
Speaking for i-conX, Vice President Sales and Marketing Gavin Stewart commented: “Asia Pacific is a huge region, and our entry strategy has been built around the vital need to commit high quality support resources at both regional and country level.
“i-conX enjoys a good reputation for onsite delivery, having previously deployed project managers to diverse locations such as Iraq, Sierra Leone, Palestine, Uganda, Sudan and beyond. We concluded that Sydney was the perfect location for a regional HQ, allowing us to maintain our commitment at both regional and country level, and get our people where they need to be – at the point of delivery.”
i-conX’s entry into AsiaPac follows a rapid period of growth in its customer base since 2006. Initially based in Europe, the company also entered the Middle East market in 2006, followed by similar expansions into Africa and Russia.
“We see AsiaPac as the logical next step in the company’s growth plans,” commented Gavin. “We offer a range of commercial models, including opex-based asp solutions, which allow us to compete keenly in what has historically been a market where the customer demands great value. Additionally, we see a strong enthusiasm for VoIP and WiMAX innovations in the region, both areas where our solution has especially competitive functionality.”
Veronica Shum joins i-conX as Vice President for AsiaPacific. She brings over 20 years experience in IT and telecommunications, with the past 10 years in the interconnect domain, having developed a large interconnect customer base in countries including Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Philippines whilst at Integration Management PTY LTD.
Veronica commented: “Innovations such as VoIP, WiMAX plus new technologies at network level have created difficulties which many legacy inter-carrier solutions in the region cannot adequately handle. This is particularly true in AsiaPac, where enthusiasm for new technology is always wholehearted, and the ‘latest thing’ is quick to catch on.
“For a number of years I have believed that the i-conX solution has presented a compelling next-generation answer to difficulties such as these. Now that the company is investing in a regional base it will greatly refresh the available vendor options for telcos, and I am proud to be invited to lead the operation.”
In a further move, i-conX founder member and Chief Product Architect Andrew Cooper is now re-locating from Dublin to head the product delivery group in Australia.
Having joined the company at its inception in 2001, Andrew has directed the development of the i-conX product through key launches including the provision of content-based billing, a live credit management module, and the creation of a user-controlled ‘report builder’ package integrated within the solution.
Andrew commented: “Previous experiences in new regions and markets have been highly beneficial in helping us learn what the market wants, and optimise the product to meet particular needs in different regions. The challenge which awaits us in AsiaPac represents an exciting new chapter for the company and its solution.”
As well as steering direction for the product, Andrew, who worked as a Director of Operations on the telco side before joining i-conX, will provide locally-based interconnect expertise to assist the customer support, training, and project implementation functions.