Openet seals deal in international category

JOE HOGAN and Niall Norton of Openet were last night announced as the winners of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, 2011. Speaking following the announcement of the awards at CityWest last night, Niall Norton described the award as “a phenomenal achievement for the company, our families, and our staff”. Asked about his immediate feelings on winning the award, he said: “I’m wondering if Mary McAleese will join our board.”

President McAleese presented last night’s awards, in one of her last public appearances as president of Ireland.

Mr Hogan and Mr Norton had earlier been named as the winner of the international category of the awards, now in their 14th year.

Openet is Ireland’s largest privately held software company, which provides management solutions to clients in the telecoms sector. Its customers include some of the biggest telecoms companies in the world, such as ATT, Orange, Verizon, Vodafone and Telstra. Founded in a small basement office in Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square in 1999, over the last 12 years the company grew to become a global technology company. Today it employs more than 840 people, 290 of them in Dublin.

Joe Hogan said his advice to would-be entrepreneurs is to “start early and go in with both feet”. “There’s no substitute for hard work,” he added. “Business is mostly a lot of bad news, interspersed with spikes of good news. You need to keep at it.”

Niall Norton continued: “If you don’t try, you certainly won’t win, so go out and do it.”

Mr Hogan said the award would be a major boost for the company as Openet goes to recruit 45 to 50 top-class engineers to join the business.

Frank O’Keeffe, partner in charge of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, said the winners “represent the very best that Ireland has to offer on a global stage”.

“99 per cent of Openet revenues come from outside Ireland and its software is used by some of the largest brands across the globe. As Ireland looks forward to a new era of economic growth, Joe and Niall are the type of role models that we need to look towards, to demonstrate what can be achieved with unwavering ambition, creativity and hard work.”

Openet has bases in Dublin, Virginia, Atlanta, Malaysia and San Paulo, Brazil. The company recently announced plans to expand its presence in Canada and Mexico. Approximately 60 per cent of Openet’s revenues come from the North American market, with the remainder coming from Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Last night Mrs McAleese paid tribute to the “vocation” of entrepreneurship, describing it as the “engine” that generates energy and momentum in the economy. “Entrepreneurs are reaching for that future shore when so many others are beached on the near shore, hoping that the tide will turn in their favour.”

“They are the opportunity makers, and the opportunity takers”, she continued, and praised their “ingenuity, their drive, their ability to overcome adversity and ability to plan around problems, particularly our collective problems.”

The chairwoman of the National Ploughing Association, Anna-May McHugh, received this year’s special award for her outstanding contributions to rural life in Ireland. The award is presented each year to an individual recognised for applying entrepreneurial vision outside a traditional business setting that helps benefit the entire island. Ms McHugh said she was proud of the event, which has become the largest outdoor event in Europe, and turns the spotlight on rural Ireland each September. She thanked the “volunteers, exhibitors and workers which inspire me, make decisions with me”.

Mr Hogan and Mr Norton will now go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo next June.

The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards take place across 50 countries. This is the 14th year of the Irish awards.

AWARDS PROGRAMME: 14TH YEAR IN IRELAND

THE ERNST Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is a global awards programme designed to recognise and support entrepreneurs. While the programme runs in over 50 countries, the event in Ireland, now in its 14th year, has been identified as one of the strongest worldwide.

The Irish Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which is open to participants across the island of Ireland, is run in association with The Irish Times, Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI, InterTrade- Ireland, Newstalk and RTÉ.

There are three categories – emerging, industry and international. This year’s winners were selected from 24 finalists shortlisted by a judging panel.

The judges themselves are business people who have achieved success in their own right. Criteria include growth in turnover and employee numbers, as well as vision, degree of innovation, creativity in production, marketing and selling and expansion in local and international markets.