SMEs are benefiting from Accenture Ireland making the formal introductions to potential new customers

One of the biggest challenges facing small companies with international business aspirations is getting on the radar of prospective customers. A great product is not always enough to open doors, especially overseas.

Sometimes it takes the right word in the right place from a bigger company the customer already knows and trusts. Now Irish SMEs are benefiting from Accenture Ireland taking them under its wing and making the formal introductions to potential new customers.

“We feel a sense of corporate responsibility to Ireland Inc,” Accenture Ireland’s managing director, Mark Ryan, says. “When things got out of shape here we began looking at how we could leverage the Accenture global network to create business opportunities for Irish companies,” he says.

Accenture worked closely with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to identify suitable companies for the initiative, which also involves mentoring and peer-to-peer learning.

“With Accenture we evaluated the suitability of 17 Irish companies and along with IDA Ireland have identified 65 other multinationals based in Ireland across a wide range of sectors to carry out a similar exercise,” says Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland.

“We would encourage more multinational companies to engage with world- class Irish companies and get a sense of the fantastic products and services that can add significant value to their operations both here and globally.”

Mark Ryan says Accenture is always interested in new ideas and technologies that can give it the edge. One of the companies it has worked with successfully in recent years is Daon, which Ryan says “is a good example of an excellent Irish company offering a unique proposition in its space”.

Daon provides identity assurance and identification and verification software and services worldwide. Its customers include the Japanese Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau, the European Union and the US Departments of Homeland Security and Defence. Daon’s history with Accenture pre-dates this current initiative as the two have worked together for five years.

Global practice

“We are a good example of a local SME jointly pursuing and winning international business with Accenture,” says Seamus MacKenna, vice president, global engineering and professional services.

“Some of Daon’s products are targeted at the security, border management and public safety markets. Accenture has a global practice in this area and so it was inevitable that we would ‘bump’ into each other pursuing the same opportunities.

“Large government identity programmes require a full range of services and capabilities and typically governments like to award such contracts to large, multi-national system integrators such as Accenture.

“Both Daon and Accenture recognised that we each had something differentiated and unique that when paired together offered a real business value to our customers. When this combination was initially successful in one country it was natural for us to partner again for other similar large projects in other countries.”

Mark Ryan says that one of the areas in which the Accenture link can really help small companies is in the often lengthy procurement bid process. “It’s difficult for SMEs to stay the course on their own. If they are with us it reduces the cost and helps them get there faster,” he says.

Dublin-based technology company BriteBill has recently begun working with Accenture. The company was set up in 2010 to develop interactive billing communications software and it has since moved into the area of digital post – a sector of considerable of interest to Accenture.

“Postal operators are finding that one of the best ways to respond to the ongoing move from physical mail is to create complimentary digital services that combine the best aspects of both media,” says Jim Hannon, co-founder and CTO.

“Accenture was in the process of selecting a technology partner in this field and while we came late to the assessment procedure, we managed to displace the front runner. Because Accenture is presenting us, we come to a prospective customer as an equal.

“We don’t have issues around references or funding that we would have as a small company trying to do this on our own. The contact with Accenture has been going on for about 12 months and there has been a lot of engagement.

“Our aim is to gain a foothold in really big markets and we will be able to do it faster and more effectively through our connection with Accenture.”

Relationship intelligence company Datahug is just beginning its relationship with Accenture, but it has already been productive, according to CEO and founder Connor Murphy.

“We worked on an article with Accenture for Accountancy Age magazine and this publication has a worldwide circulation so it got our name right out there. It would have taken us months to try and do something like this on our own,” says Murphy, whose company uses an analytics engine to systematically monitor and analyse contacts within businesses to help drive sales more effectively.

Business development

“Accenture does a lot in the area of analytics and CRM, and this is right into our space,” Murphy adds.

“Enterprise Ireland is a client of ours and they helped bring us together with Accenture. We have a web-based product and our market is international and we feel the relationship with Accenture presents us with a great business development opportunity.”

Mark Ryan is keen to encourage other large companies to follow Accenture’s lead by opening doors for other small Irish companies.

“It’s a two-way street, both sides benefit,” he says. “No, we haven’t gone into detail about what it costs Accenture to be involved with this programme as it’s about more than just ‘normal’ business.”