A new start-up is planning to target 1,000 Irish and UK small businesses over the next 12 months to guarantee they have the latest websites. The company, led by internet industry veteran Eoin Costello, plans to create 20 knowledge jobs in the next three years.
Omniserve is a new business focused on delivering on the use of software as a service (SaaS) technology to remotely build websites speedily and ensure they are optimised for search.
The company is being established by Eoin Costello, who in recent months sold his hosting company Novara to broadband firm Digiweb.
The company has already been rated a high-potential start-up by Enterprise Ireland and plans to export the model as soon as possible to the UK.
Costello explained the company intends to deliver the service to SMEs that are customers of ISPs and hosting providers in Ireland and the UK.
The company has already signed up Digiweb as its first customer and Costello explained that at least 40 firms have signed up for the service so far.
“During my time with Novara, I realised there was a big failure in the Irish marketplace in terms of low-cost, starter websites. There are over 45,000 businesses in Ireland that don’t have a website. At the same time, more and more people are moving to the web to find products and services.
“The other problem is the recession is reducing the amount of money businesses out there can spend on developing a web presence. Irish people are interested in new services that they can find online. If you’re not listed on Google then you’re invisible as far as the public are concerned,” Costello said.
The Omniserve Xpress Creation Process, he explained, practically builds the customer’s website before their very eyes during a virtual meeting and the new site is incorporated into Google’s search engine for a set price of €399.
All websites are subjected to 10 quality control checks before being set live. The customer is then given access to a content management system where they can edit and change their site and add blogs if they wish.
“We started looking into this a year ago and we did a feasibility study with Enterprise Ireland. The fact of the matter is Ireland needs to develop more services that can be exported and we believe Omniserve has an important role to play going forward,” Costello told siliconrepublic.com.
By John Kennedy
Pictured: Eoin Costello, founder of Omniserve, is starting to put an online face on Irish businesses
