Why do certain VMS vendors do so well in some regions? Find the secret to regional VMS success.
When we look at VMS adoption,several vendors have global presence. However, many VMS vendors talk about their market shares by region. Axxonsoft is No. 1 in Russia, reporting 60 percent market share. Digifort is fifth in Latin America, with a market share of more than 80 percent in Brazil. ISS is second in Latin America, with a good showing in North America, the former Soviet Union and Africa. What makes these VMS vendors do well in certain regions?
Why do certain VMS vendors do so well in some regions? Find the secret to regional VMS success.
When we look at VMS adoption,several vendors have global presence. However, many VMS vendors talk about their market shares by region. Axxonsoft is No. 1 in Russia, reporting 60 percent market share. Digifort is fifth in Latin America, with a market share of more than 80 percent in Brazil. ISS is second in Latin America, with a good showing in North America, the former Soviet Union and Africa. What makes these VMS vendors do well in certain regions?
VMS sees trends and requirements that are “baseline” across many cultures and countries, said Matt Barnette, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, AMAG Technology (a G4S Technology company). It is important to find the right balance between global and local development.
“From a software perspective, what is important is to offer a very strong platform that covers the majority of the global market requirements with the ability to easily extend this platform to meet specific regional or local requirements,” said Francis Lachance, PM, Genetec.
Language is another important regional requirement to meet. Though rather obvious, language support is crucial to expand into new territory. Netavis offers its VMS in the local languages of 40 countries. Axxonsoft also pays attention to language differences by regularly releasing updated language packs that were created with the help of native speakers.
ISS takes VMS regional development a step farther by engaging in regional-specific R&D. Its North American branch does R&D for North America, while an office in South America is devoted to local product development. This international approach pleases regional integrators, who want to integrate the VMS with local products. “Brazil is a very protected market; it is expensive for them to import devices, so integration is very regionalized,” said Aluisio Figueiredo, COO, Intelligent Security Systems. “Most times we try to do things locally. It's better to have a small development team, understand standard requirements and do things on a small scale.”
VMS providers benefit from regional branches interacting with local integrators not only for language benefits, but also for cultural understanding. “When trying to integrate across regions, so many things get lost in translation; it's counterproductive,” Figueiredo said. “The communication is much easier when you have somebody from the place — not only from a language standpoint, but also from a cultural standpoint. The guys know how to talk; they understand between the lines.”
Axxonsoft deals with cultural peculiarities by inviting feedback from locals. Evgenia Ostrovskaya, Global Business Development Director, said, “We realize that both business and cultural peculiarities need to be taken into account. This is why when entering a new region, we either invite local specialists to our office or cooperate with major local distribution and integration companies.”
Many VMS vendors reach across cultures by working with local channel partners. Netavis relies on resellers to push products into new markets. OnSSI also works with solution, channel and sales partners worldwide to expand its customer base.
However, “regions” are often too general to categorize VMS adoption. Neighboring countries often have differing and significant characteristics for VMS vendors to be aware of. “Things like requirements for the protection of personally identifiable information can vary greatly from one country to another — even in the same region,” Barnette said. “Smaller ‘national' suppliers can find that a product that is a leader in their home market may be unacceptable even in a neighboring country.”
One thing is certain — VMS vendors do not do succeed in certain regions by mere chance. They work hard to appeal to regional tastes. “It is no longer acceptable for a company to enter the VMS market in a country and say, ‘Here it is — take it or leave it,'” Barnette said. “There is simply too much competition now for that to work.”