iBwave Solutions Inc.
LOCATION: St-Laurent, Que.
WHAT IT DOES: Wireless-network design software
PRESIDENT AND CEO: Mario Bouchard

HOW TO DOMINATE YOUR NICHE, ONE STEP AT A TIME

iBwave’s approach to cracking global markets is a case study in becoming the recognized leader in your industry

Just a few years ago, design engineers tasked with plotting in-building wireless networks operated with the equivalent of Stone Age tools—a hodgepodge of spreadsheets, PowerPoint and other programs that created inaccurate and comparatively rudimentary depictions of in-building wireless networks for large buildings and campuses.

Then, in 2003, a St-Laurent, Que.-based firm—iBwave Solutions Inc.—burst onto the scene with a software tool that catapulted in-building wireless-network design into the 21st century. Whereas engineers once used multiple programs to plot the locations of antennae, hardware and cables manually, as well as predict signal strength, a single program can now do it all.

By 2009, six years after iBwave’s inception, it counted 175 telecoms in 70 countries as clients. And last year $5.2 million of the firm’s total revenue of $5.5 million came from foreign markets. Currently, 65% of iBwave’s foreign sales go to wireless carriers, equipment vendors and systems integrators in the U.S., with the remaining 35% spread across China, Kuwait, Turkey and various smaller markets.

“It’s a niche they occupy and totally dominate [in the U.S.],” says Bruce Wilson, president and CEO of Manchester, N.H.-based Cellular Specialties Inc., one of iBwave’s earliest customers.

Thanks to the rise of smartphones and tablet PCs, which require anywhere from 10 to 100 times the bandwidth of a voice-only cellphone, global networks are straining to carry a massive flow of data. What’s more, these technologies are primarily used inside buildings and require a degree of signal strength that outdoor towers cannot reliably provide—all of which is driving exponential growth in the in-building wireless industry.

iBwave has been well positioned to tap into the dramatic growth in demand. “There’s no complete solution on the market like what we offer,” says Mario Bouchard, the company’s founder, president and CEO. “When you’re the first, it’s easier to break into export markets because there’s less competition.”

But selling iBwave Design, the firm’s flagship product, in the global marketplace has not been without its challenges—some of them the result of the company’s own hefty ambition.

“We want to be the global standard,” says Bouchard. To accomplish this, the firm set itself a 60% growth target for 2010 and doubled its global sales team last year from five to 11 reps. Joining forces with international agents also has helped iBwave better understand and win foreign customers. But Bouchard warns against overreliance on third parties. “We use the agents to help us get in the door, but we always do the sales pitch ourselves,” he says. Because of the product’s highly technical nature, says Bouchard, his staff are uniquely positioned to do the selling. What’s more, handling the sales ensures the company is able to develop a relationship with export customers from the get-go rather than depending on a go-between.

Even with a larger sales team, becoming the “Microsoft of the world in-building wireless market,” as Bouchard puts it, requires iBwave to overcome the structural resistance of the global in-building wireless ecosystem, which consists of about 800 wireless operators imposing their individual standards on thousands of wireless-equipment manufacturers and systems integrators. So, last year, iBwave sold U.S. cellular giant Verizon on a certification process to help the wireless operator achieve greater consistency across its supply chain. Now, certified firms must use iBwave Design to ensure they are all “speaking the same language,” says Bouchard. They are also trained by iBwave in how to use the software, and are even approved by iBwave to handle various components of in-network design and installation. A few weeks after launching the certification process with Verizon, AT&T also adopted the process, which has allowed iBwave to sell its product to dozens of AT&T’s suppliers.

But by far the biggest exporting challenge, says Bouchard, was iBwave’s start-up status—even though he was a 15-year veteran of Canada’s wireless industry when the firm launched: “People wanted to be sure that we were going to be around.” To boost iBwave’s credibility, Bouchard created an advisory board populated with heavyweights from the in-building wireless sector. As well as providing management expertise, the advisors have opened doors to decision-makers at foreign telecoms.

iBwave’s success might appear to be the product of perfect strategy and flawless execution, but Bouchard learned at least one exporting lesson the hard way when he attempted to shake hands with a conservative Muslim woman at a trade show in the Middle East—a big no-no. “You cannot underestimate the importance of cultural understanding,” says Bouchard. “Trying to impose your way of doing business in a foreign country just doesn’t work.”