Dialling for export dollars.
A Quebec software developer is establishing itself in the U.S. market,
with a world-beating product and some assistance from the Canadian Commercial
Corporation.
André Rodrigue was in the middle of negotiating a ground-breaking
sale to a major U.S. law enforcement agency when he got the news. Since
the contract fell under the regulations of the Canada/U.S. Defense Production
Sharing Agreement, his company was compelled to use the services of the
Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) to complete the deal. At first,
he treated CCC's involvement as just another cost of doing business.
"Then I discovered that CCC's services are free of charge for Canadian
companies dealing with the U.S. government under that same agreement," says
Mr. Rodrigue, Vice-President Sales and Marketing at Ovalsys Inc. of Longueuil,
Quebec. "And as we moved through negotiations and completed the
contract, the value-added that CCC offers to exporters became more and
more apparent."
Ovalsys is a world leader in "intelligence analysis" software
that allows law enforcement agencies to investigate criminal behaviour
easily and effectively. The company's Digital Interception and Collection
Equipment (DICE) is a sought-after system that records and collates information
from court-ordered recorded telephone conversations. The fully-digital
system then extrapolates calling patterns to point investigators in the
right direction and make the arrest.
DICE's features attracted the attention of the Counter-Drug Technology
Assessment Center (CTAC), the U.S. government's central counter-drug
enforcement research and development organization. A key factor in Ovalsys's
favour was the company's willingness and ability to adapt its system
to meet U.S. legal requirements, which are quite different from Canadian
standards. Law enforcement officers using the DICE system can instantly
locate and playback specific recorded conversations, with one CD storing
the equivalent of 18 cassette tapes.
"Technology approved by CTAC is eventually used by law enforcement
agencies throughout the U.S. ," says Mr. Rodrigue, "so it was
a very important sale for us. We've worked closely with them on R&D
to get exactly the right system for their needs."
Ovalsys is a world leader in this type of software, but negotiating multi-faceted
international contracts isn't prominent in the company's 10-year history.
"To add to the complexity of the deal, the actual buyer is the U.S.
Department of Defense," says Mr. Rodrigue. "And because there
are so many agencies involved, it was a very complex contract to us to
administer on our own. We soon saw the advantages of CCC's involvement."
CCC served as Prime Contractor for Ovalsys, and helped the new exporter
navigate through the intricacies of international sales. CCC's Victoria
Mackenzie says that Ovalsys offers an excellent example of how smaller
companies can benefit from the Corporation's experience.
"We were able to help quite a bit with contract negotiations," says
Ms. Mackenzie. "There were a lot of players involved, a lot of bureaucracy
involved, and it was their first time in this market, so they appreciated
our help. We advised them to add a cost reimbursable clause to the contract,
so they were able to get cost claims paid twice a month, and they are
retaining ownership of their equipment."
Fast payment through CCC was a prime benefit for Ovalsys, a small but
rapidly growing company with its headquarters near Montreal . Until the
sale to CTAC, the company had sold its software to various Canadian law
enforcement agencies.
"CCC pays very quickly, and their contract performance monitoring
is also a very useful service," says Mr. Rodrigue. "They helped
us secure a good contract with our client. Now that we're breaking into
the U.S. market, our next target is South America ."
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