Article

Crossing the Atlantic

Kiosk software and services company NetShift Software Ltd. is increasing its presence in the United States with a new office and staff.

February 26, 2002

NEWBURY, England - The way NetShift Software Ltd. chief executive officer Nigel Seed sees it, business has been very good lately for the kiosk software and services development company in Europe. But in the United States, it could be better.

"We're taking $10 where we used to take in $1 in Europe," Seed said. "But in the United States we're still taking in that $1."

Seed expects that to change soon. As part of an aggressive campaign to ramp up its presence in the U.S., NetShift is opening an office in the Miami area and has obtained the services of former Cybertotems vice president of sales Robert Gallner to head the operation.

The Miami office, in essence, is Cybertotems transferred to NetShift. The four ex-Cybertotems staff members will use the same office space they had used for the kiosk development firm. Cybertotems closed its Miami-based U.S. operation late last year, letting Gallner and five staff members go. But before the Portuguese company cleared out its space, NetShift negotiated to hire Gallner and the other staff members. Gallner said one person was not initially retained, but could be added to the staff later this year.

"The timing just worked out well for everybody," Gallner said. "We're just excited to go forward."

Spanning the globe

NetShift's U.S. expansion is part of an overall commitment to expanding the business, Seed said. Along with kiosk software development, NetShift has added service-based remote management, consulting, and software management to its corporate mix.

"With what we've been doing here in Europe, we found ourselves moving up a gear," Seed said. "Instead of just software licenses, we're involved in major opportunities to substantially increase our revenues."

NetShift chief executive officer Nigel Seed said the company's North American expansion fits nicely with NetShift's expansion philosophy.

NetShift already has a solid American presence, with a diverse client list that includes the state of Rhode Island, the Library of Congress, the brokerage firms of Merrill Lynch and Charles Schwab, and hotel chains Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt.

But Seed, a British-born former Silicon Valley executive who joined NetShift as CEO just over 1 ½ years ago, said the company views the U.S. as a vast, untapped market.

"The U.S. market represents somewhere between one-third and one-half of the entire world market for any high-tech project," he said. "We have to be in the U.S. and we have to be there in a big way.

"We sell well in France and Spain, but there are some different languages to deal with," Seed added. "We speak the same language as Americans, roughly, and there's still the same business and legal framework, which makes the market easier to deal with as well."

NetShift is expanding largely due to a $5 million investment from Shell Internet Ventures BV last September (See story: NetShift receives venture capital funding). The timing of NetShift's expansion could not have been better for Gallner.

Career opportunities

At the end of last year, Gallner was casting his net, fishing for a way to remain involved in the kiosk industry. Cybertotems' decision to vacate the U.S. meant the team he had assembled in South Florida was in danger of dispersing.

When Gallner and NetShift began talking, however, it was clear that Team Cybertotems would soon be back in action with a new European benefactor.

"We know Cybertotems indirectly, and John Purcell (NetShift vice president of marketing) knows Bob directly," Seed said. "We were looking at a variety of options for getting into the U.S. and how best to do it. Bob contacted us around Christmas and said it looked like with Cybertotems' change in management and changed structure they didn't want to do North American anymore. He said `Me and my team are ready to roll.' "

Gallner met with NetShift management at the beginning of the year and a deal took shape to create the North American office.

"He absolutely knows the kiosk business inside and out, and he knows NetShift really well," Seed said. "In many ways it was a marriage made in heaven."

NetShift agreed to bring aboard Gallner's Cybertotems team, which Gallner said would help NetShift hit the ground running in North America.

"We've got a core group of people that we've been working with for the last year-and-a-half," Gallner said. "When you get used to working with people there's a synergy there."

Gallner said he expects to recruit some new clients among his former Cybertotems customers, while focusing on strengthening NetShift's existing relationships with current U.S. customers.

"There's many opportunities that could be there through the Cybertotems pipeline," Seed said. "But the major reason for this is not to work the Cybertotems pipeline, but to work the NetShift pipeline."