It all started in a small store in Quarteira with a man with an eye for new technologies. Today, Algardata, a company founded by Cláudio Correia, has delegations on three continents and representatives in several countries. In times of crisis, the Algarve company continues to invest in expansion and has recently “invaded” the Spanish and Brazilian markets.
In both cases, the model adopted was the creation of joint ventures with local companies. A way to enter with greater security in markets where the penetration of foreign products is not always easy, given the great local offer.
In Spain, Algardata created a partnership with the company Isotrol, the largest computer company in Andalusia, to export its software dedicated to the hotel industry. This consisted in the creation of a new company, Techtur, which is equally owned by the two partners.
«Isotrol is a company focused on large-scale projects, in the public and private sectors. In other words, focused on big business. Given our extensive experience in the tourism sector, we decided that it made sense to jointly create a specific business area in the tourism sector aimed not so much at large businesses, but at medium and small businesses», he revealed to Sul Informação the commercial director of Algardata João Paulo Correia.
Techtur was created in 2012 and has its own team, created specifically for this business, since Isotrol itself «had to go through a learning process», as it is more used to working with a higher segment.
"This company sells IT solutions for the tourist area throughout the Spanish market, with a special focus on Andalusia, which is almost the size of Portugal," he said.
In Brazil, the process was similar, but with the company Oversystem, which has representations in almost every state in Brazil». Here, too, «a tourism sector in the business portfolio» of Oversystem was created.
«This company is specialized in marketing management software and they saw that they had many customers who were already using their software, but needed something more, namely in the front office. Thus, they started to represent our group in Brazil», he explained.
Entry into Cotec's SME Innovation network helped its expansion
Algardata has been a member of Cotec's restricted SME Innovation network since 2010 and João Paulo Correia does not hide that this distinction was very useful in the internationalization process. Cotec is an international association made up of large economic groups and provides its partners with a very useful network of contacts.
The «sharing of knowledge and experiences» with members of the network in the same area and in the Algarve and «the networking that makes it possible» are other points that, in João Paulo Correia's view, make this network «very interesting».
«Within the network, a business opportunity has already emerged, in partnership with Itelmatis, an Algarve company that is innovating in the area of automatic irrigation systems», he explained.
Internationalization in progress since 2008
Algardata began to invest heavily in emerging markets about four years ago, at a time when the crisis was already taking hold in the western world. «At the time, we started the process in Buenos Aires and, at the same time, in Luanda», revealed João Correia.
In Argentina, things proceeded naturally, as the company “already had a space in Buenos Aires”. «What we did was to start a business area, we hired people, we created the teams and the models. There we work the technical support part», he said.
The expansion to Angola was based on a different logic, as Algardata already had «an indirect sales operation, through partners, since 2004» in this African country. "In this case, we understand that, given the growth that Angola was having at the time, we should create a local operation", he said.
In 2008 an office was created in Luanda, but the evolution that has taken place since then is already forcing the Algarve company to move «to larger premises». In Angola, Algardata's business essentially involves the sale of software, an “intangible product”, since physical material “was more complicated to put there at the time and still is today”.
The internationalization process is bearing fruit and the turnover of off-shore companies has already had "a weight of around 20 percent of the group's total turnover in 2010 and 2011", which is "something considerable". Close to half of this turnover abroad was achieved in the Angolan market.
Hire locally for best results
Despite being a Portuguese company and proudly from the Algarve, Algardata follows a local hiring policy wherever it operates. A way to get better results, because «who belongs to the sites is the one who knows the best and moves the best in the markets».
Although, in specific cases, it sends staff from Portugal (in Angola, the local office was installed and is run by one of Algardata's partners), the option, whenever possible, is to recruit technicians from the country in question. In some cases, as happened in Angola, these technicians spend a period in Portugal to obtain training.
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