Technology services provider Hibernia Computer Services has set itself a target of more than 50pc growth every year for the next three years, having recently won a significant public sector contract.
Earlier this week the company announced a deal to supply the Revenue Commissioners with 6,500 desktop and laptop computers over the next two years. “It was a nice feather in our cap, hopefully the first of many to come,” said Brian Larkin, general manager.
Explaining the details of the deal, Larkin said that Hibernia intends to adopt a different model in order to compete for business against the likes of the direct seller Dell. Instead of looking to make margin on selling the hardware, which typically carries little margin anyway, Hibernia hopes to establish a relationship with the customer that will lead to more profitable services-related business in the future.
“Having supplied the kit increases your opportunity to sell services by a factor of X. What you’re pretty much guaranteed not to get is the services if you haven’t supplied the hardware,” Larkin declared. “We’re not a reseller – it’s a term I can’t stand – we’re very much a technology and solutions company.”
The company has been recruiting over the past number of months and it now employs 24 staff. “We’re going to have an aggressive crack at turning Hibernia into a large player,” Larkin told siliconrepublic.com. “Our growth will primarily be organic but we are looking for acquisitions over the next 12 to 18 months.”
To that end, Hibernia has just acquired an indigenous Irish company called Information Techniques, which supplies KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switches. Larkin explained that the company’s client base, mainly large corporates, gives Hibernia access to many new customers it had not dealt with before.
For its financial year 2004-2005, which ended on 31 August, Hibernia grew by 35pc. “Our target would be 50-60pc growth minimum for the next three years,” Larkin said. “It’s a very achievable target.”
Hibernia also recently appointed Eoin Rigney as chief technology officer. A technology professional of more than 15 years’ standing, Rigney has an extensive background in enterprise technology infrastructure.
Rigney was previously head of infrastructure in Davy Stockbrokers. Prior to, that he was a manager of information risk with KPMG where he was a member of the firm’s steering committee on IT security and was its representative on the European Security Forum. Larkin confirmed that as such, security would be a key focus area for Hibernia in the future. Rigney will also establish consultancy, networking and internet protocol telephony divisions within the company.
By Gordon Smith
