Ucopia aims to expand UK channel on back of big data

Mobility and big data trends the target of specialist French firm

Montrouge, Paris-based security and mobility management software vendor Ucopia Communications is ramping up globally, aiming to expand both local and regional channel sales.

Didier Plateau, chief executive of Ucopia, said Arrow ECS, Westcon, and e92plus distribute its offerings in the UK but it is looking for a further group of five to 10 resellers working with each of its wireless-vendor partners, including Xirrus, Cisco, Extreme, and Ruckus.

"We are looking for local resellers as well as a cross-region channel; we need both," Plateau (pictured) confirmed. "We are also hiring salespeople, pre and post-sales - our goal is to grow our team [in the UK] six to eight per cent in six to 12 months."

The French ISV has an office in Slough. Technical support is done by a team in France, who work 12 to 14-hour shifts to cover all European time zones.

Why should the UK channel be interested? "We believe the WiFi market is more developed in the UK than in France, or even in Germany for that matter. So we think the potential for growth is there. So we are here to stay," Plateau said.

Ucopia's UK turnover is currently just 15 per cent of what it takes in France, but the firm aims to boost UK revenues to be equivalent to 60 per cent of its French turnover figure within three years.

That's taking into account growth in its French turnover, expected to expand at 30 per cent a year during that same period.

As much revenue should come from the UK as from France for Ucopia, Plateau indicated, noting that the potential is driven by the ISV's enterprise offering which complements wireless networks.

"We started by developing software that strengthens WiFi network security. From this position, we developed into targeting the users wanting to connect and the need to control access," he said.

"Today, the main concern is about connecting user data, for big-data [analytics] purposes. So our technology asks questions of the end user: 'Who are you?', 'What is it you need?'. Then you ask even more questions that can help the end customer."