SERVICES
SURECOM NS, Boher Beri, Kilcoran, Cahir, Co Tipperary.
Tel: 052 43669. www.surecomns.com.
Asure
bet
HavingbrokenintotheUK
marketon-target,SurecomNS
planstobroadenitsservicesin
2009anddevelopnew
marketplaces
‘We aim to double our
turnover this year,
increase staff numbers
and look at more
projects abroad’
Jim Sheehan
O
NE of the recent strategies Surecom The managed services Surecom provide include: organisation of work — operators were increasingly out-
Network Solutions (Surecom NS) has mobile and wireless networks, radio design and engi- sourcing ‘non-core’ activities.
embraced to maintain its reputation for neering, field support services, telemetry systems, data Back in 2005, when Sheehan and his wife Breda (now
technical competence and service delivery acquisition, network installation and product supply a company director) were discussing the vision for
has been to actively pursue cross-skilling and upskilling and distribution. Surecom NS, the main goal was to become the solutions
among its workforce of 50 people. “A lot of what happens in telecommunications requires provider of choice for the telecommunications industry
Founded in 2005, Surecom provides telecommunica- general technical skills, but then you have to be product in Ireland and to break into the UK market within a five-
tions managed services and solutions to major specific or the client won’t accept the service. We ensure year period. By late 2007, this vision had become a reality.
European players such as Telefonica, Meteor and an underlying level of competence, then actively look at Surecom NS expanded work on contracts in the UK,
Ericsson, as well as domestic clients such as Eircom. what’s coming up in the industry and gear towards that. but Sheehan says the exchange rate last October has
Investing up to ¤100,000 a year on training and devel- “We targeted fibre-optic cabling in 2007 and trained made it harder to do business there. “In relation to new
opment, Surecom sends its engineers to countries such as our engineers in on this area. In recent months, there has business growth, in the domestic market, the most
Norway and Sweden for specific expertise and, in most been a big take-up in our offering as all the operators are notable in 2008 was a contract on solutions for the O2
cases, a ‘train the trainer’ approach is taken, whereby rolling out their 3G networks. When there is a knowl- corporate customer base for indoor mobile coverage
employees are trained to pass on the knowledge and edge-based niche market which needs a high standard of using boosters/repeaters. Other new clients in the
skills they acquire to other members of staff on the job. expertise in installation, such as multiplexer services, we domestic market added to the list last year are BT,
“We look for the best engineers we can afford. Our seem to have a winning formula,” he says. Vodafone, Digiweb and Irish broadband.
approach to upskilling means there is a minimal risk Surecom NS operates from a small premises beside “We successfully completed a project on call testing in
with the services we offer, as they are not single-person Sheehan’s home in Tipperary where six people are based France, Germany, Switzerland and the US and there are
dependent. This allows us more flexibility with our — the rest work from home. “Half of our people are one or two projects coming up abroad.” Surecom NS
resources and ensures a higher level of confidence in Dublin-centric, either based in Dublin, Kildare or Meath. attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in
what we can deliver,” says managing director and com- A lot of the projects we manage don’t involve a single February as well as CeBIT in Hannover this month.
pany founder, Jim Sheehan. location, so it’s better to have mobile people. Also, having “We aim to double our turnover this year, increase
“In the past year, we have nearly doubled our num- people strategically based keeps operating costs down staff numbers and look at more projects abroad such as
ber of customers and broadened our scope of work and adds to our flexibility in responding to clients.” in the US and developing countries. We want to open up
within the existing client base. We have restructured the Sheehan worked as an engineer in the telecommuni- more services and be proactive. This means thinking
company into key areas to best engage with customers cations industry for over 12 years and, during that time, laterally and partnering up with other companies to
and meet their needs,” says Sheehan. he started to observe a change in strategy regarding the develop new marketplaces,” says Sheehan.
20 SFA NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS WWW.SFA.IE/AWARDS
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