Not that long ago, companies struggled to store the mountains of data their operations generated. Innovations such as cloud computing have largely resolved the storage issue and now the focus is on to how to use the accumulated data to best advantage.
This was the opportunity spotted in 2011 by IT sector veterans Les Byrne and Brendan McPhillips who set up Asystec to help companies identify, manage and secure key data assets. "We are rapidly reaching a point where storage infrastructure is becoming more of a commodity, and what's of real interest is the value within the data," Byrne says. "Soon people won't care where their data is stored as long as it's available 24/7. However they will want a lot more from it."
Asystec deals with all aspects of data management from backup and recovery to storage, infrastructure optimisation and compliance. But it is the huge market for big data analysis that is driving its rapid growth. The company has offices in Limerick, Dublin, Cork and Belfast, and employs 21 people. Its estimated turnover in 2014 will be €15 million. It does business in Ireland, China, UK and the USA, and its client list includes Bank of Ireland, AIB, Musgraves, Boston Scientific, Icon Clinical Research, Analogue Devices and credit card processors Elavon.
Big data
“Big data analytics refers to data sets that are too large and complex to manipulate or interrogate with standard methods or tools, and we actually believe that big data analytics is more about business transformation than technology,” he adds. “It’s relatively easy to get people interested in how data analytics can deliver for their business and help them get their applications to market quicker. That’s an easy sell. The difficult bit is the execution. We provide companies with the next step around marrying up a collaborative network to deliver those projects. We are very early to market with our service and believe we have the ability and expertise to become the leaders.”
Byrne and McPhillips cut their teeth on the technical sales and management sides of the IT industry with EMC and Horizon Open Systems respectively. They established their Limerick-based company with an initial investment of €20,000 and received €60,000 in employment grants from the Limerick County Enterprise Board.
“Data analytics is not about technology or IT. It is being driven by the chief executives and senior managers who can see the benefits of understanding and using the information they have about clients, products and processes,” Byrne says.
Information as capital
“A few years ago, this sort of activity would have been called data mining and fundamentally the processes are similar. What has changed hugely is the size of the data. The information gathered can help companies avail of new market opportunities, assist with upselling products and services, create competitive advantage and decrease overall costs.”
Byrne attributes the company’s growth and success to two factors: meticulous selection of the team and strong pre-existing relationships with IT vendors. “There are a lot of different skillsets involved in data management and one of our well-recognised differentiators is that we have a rare combination of skills that can handle data in its complete form.”
Byrne says strong relationships at customer, vendor and distribution level have underpinned the expansion. “A lot of what we do involves large product sales and large solutions and we have never had any problem in getting credit.
“On one side we take technologies from the HPs, Cisco and the EMCs and the Oracles of this world and wrap professional services around them to deliver solutions. On the other, we engage in data analytics which is more consultative. The big thing about data analytics is that it is a collaborative piece of work. Now with merging markets in technology you have the likes of EMC coming up with products that will help companies do data analytics on a much greater scale, but you still need the data scientist and the industry expert.”
Byrne expects Asystec to create an additional 30 jobs over the next two years and says the company is in a position to fund its growth without looking outside.
“Business to date has been primarily by word of mouth and if you can deliver the right solution you can punch above your weight.”
