Opening new technology channels to India

If it is successful, New Zealand may have another way to approach future export endeavours.

At the heart of it all is Ramanathan Ramanan and CMC Technology Export Centre (CMCTEC).

That’s a partnership between Massey University’s e-centre Limited and Indian IT leader CMC Ltd.

Auckland-based high-tech company Sonar6 is one early beneficiary of the link.

Back in 2006, chief executive John Holt was losing little sleep over India.

He had his sights set firmly on the UK and US export markets.

India, he’d decided, was too hard.

Now Holt is well down the path to concluding business with two Indian companies.

As an added bonus, Sonar6 could be about to lock in a deal with a firm in the US.

The rapid turnaround is the result of hitching up with CMCTEC.

“We were reticent originally to divert into another market, especially one as significant as India, for fear of stretching our resources,” says Holt.

CMCTEC aims to ‘derisk’ and speed up the process to market for Kiwi technology companies.

CMCTEC’s head of commercial, Dr Hamish Coop, describes it as an ‘export accelerator’.

The matchmaking service packs a powerful punch.

CMC’s dominant shareholder is Tata Consultancy Services, part of India’s giant Tata Group.

The group’s 98 companies ripple out into business sectors as diverse as engineering, energy, services, consumer products, and information systems and communication.

Its operations and 289,500 employees are spread across 85 countries.

Importantly, the Tata Group exports its goods and services into 80 countries.

As companies such as Sonar6 hope to demonstrate, links with CMC can springboard companies into markets across the globe, far beyond even the vast potential of India.

Key differences

Supporters say that embedded in the CMCTEC business model are some key differences compared with how our country has handled export trade in the past.

First up, CMCTEC comes with inbuilt mechanisms to tap into the Tata Group’s established customer base.

Unlike other business links, where shareholder crossover looks good on paper but means little in practice, leads are activated and actioned.

This short-circuits silo thinking and speeds up market access.

Secondly, the CMCTEC model wipes out some of the randomness inherent in traditional business practice.

New Zealander Paul Hunt represents CMC’s interests in New Zealand.

He says the CMCTEC process is more predetermined: meaning that buyer and seller needs are identified and aligned well before anyone jumps on a plane.

“The subtle difference is that we are not supplying a multitude of products for sales persons in India to carry in their briefcase and who hopefully one day will sell something,” he says.

“It’s a business model which clearly attempts to match the opportunities in the market with the products here.

“That’s quite different to the way that a lot of other organisations operate.”

Thirdly, and importantly, CMCTEC comes with the personal backing of CMC managing director and CEO, Ramanathan Ramanan.

Paul Hunt worked on projects with Ramanan at Tower Insurance over a decade ago.

The two have maintained a business relationship and personal connections ever since.

Hunt sees Ramanan’s championship of CMCTEC as critical.

“We have direct access to the CEO of a major organisation in India so we’re not dealing at the technical or marketing level.

We can, when we need to, go right to the top.”