A place in the sun in the land of giants

Global network services and solutions provider Nevigate, just three years old, is thriving in an industry dominated by big players, reports JASLENE PANGIT may be hard for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to serve a network services industry already dominated by a few big players, but there are always small pockets of opportunities available, says Tan Ghee Khoon, Nevigate's managing director.迷你倉"The big boys have a much longer history and more funds than smaller companies. But their network does not cover the entire world, so there are always patches here and there. Perhaps it is because the business volume in those areas does not fulfil their objectives, so the big boys decided not to set up shop there. So this is where Nevigate comes in and patches up the holes for these big boys so that they in turn can provide services to their customers," Mr Tan explains.Nevigate is a global network services and solutions provider. Its customers are tier-one international cable carriers and telecommunication providers, such as SingTel and Vodafone. As a carrier-neutral service provider, Nevigate offers its customers freedom and capability to design connectivity services and coverage unique to their requirements in any country.Headquartered in Singapore, Nevigate has regional offices in Cyprus, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, and provides services to around 150 countries."I think it is exciting how small Singaporean companies manage to go global and be so successful," says Mr Tan, whose company has eight staff."Just like our country, we are small but we managed to do business well and establish a good reputation for being pragmatic and being able to deliver what we promise."The initial years of the three year old company were spent on building the brand and establishing partnerships and alliances."I would say we have done quite a good job. We have succeeded in building quite a good reputation abroad and have quite an extensive coverage globally. To date, in each country, we have partnerships with a minimum of three players such that we can comprehensively cover that particular country."But it can be rather difficult to penetrate certain markets because of local regulations. He said: "We had some customers in Libya one or two years ago, but about two months after we started business, the local regulators came after us saying we were not doing this and that. It took us about half a year of negotiations before we came up with an interim solution that adheres to their local regulations and allows all of us to do business together. Hence, it is very crucial for us to know local conditions very well. Each country has its own culture and we have to respect that and adapt to their way of thinking without compromising on our standards."This is possible only with the help of a highly committed team, says Mr Tan. 儲存倉Everyone wants to see a small company grow big. What is also important is our experience and knowledge as well. All of us have experience in the corporate world and we know how to drive the business forward. This has enabled us to procure smartly, package our services smartly and know which market segment to target."To stay ahead of competitors, Nevigate believes in innovation. "Our competitors are much bigger, have more funding and customers know them much better. So we have to be different and find ways to optimise our traffic and performance, so that we can continue to provide higher connectivity with lower cost," he says, adding that the company underwent many changes this year."We also made efforts to move up the value chain. For example, in May, we set up a point of presence in SGX (Singapore Exchange). Doing so enabled us to cater to any of the Internet exchanges who may want to connect to Singapore financial institutions or financial data . . . We realised there were lots of high-frequency trading, hedging and so on happening, and felt that there is a potential market in this area, hence we decided to come up with a customised solution for the financial sector. And from feedback from our customers, we know we are on the right track, moving in the right direction."Mr Tan claims that customers can achieve 20-30 per cent cost savings with Nevigate, without having to compromise on standards. "Our pricing may not be the cheapest, but it is somewhere in the middle range, and our quality is good. We make sure things go well and the quality standard is up there with reasonable pricing."The company's revenue for this year is about $3.5 million, up from $2.1 million a year ago. Even so, Mr Tan foresees much room for growth. "Individual resources may be limited, but we plan on hiring more people, expanding our business and looking to explore more areas to increase our market share."Optimistic, he adds: "International giants look for small companies like us because we deliver what we promise and we make the effort to provide quality services that are applicable locally. We bridge the differences and ensure consistency regardless of country. This consistency in standards gives our customers the assurance that we are knowledgeable and that it is safe to do business with us."This company means a lot to the team, because we managed to create something out of nothing, based on our own efforts, blood and sweat. With such a committed and experienced team, the company will continue to grow."HAVE an interesting story on an SME to share? Drop us a note on why you think the company should be featured in our weekly SME Inc pages, with details such as how the company has grown and its expansion plans. Send your e-mail to Felda Chay at feldac@sph.com.sg with the subject head: "Feature this SME";?and you might read about the company in BT.迷你倉最平