Top Italian ICT company to relocate to Malta

Malta Enterprise has just secured a deal for the setting up of an ICT company which will be relocating from Italy, creating around 100 jobs over four years in two separate projects.

The CON.NEXO` group has submitted two projects under the name of CON.NEXO` Malta and I Cube+ and will be investing €500,000.

CON.NEXO` provides information and communication technology solutions and services using the Oracle and SAP platforms. Its main clients come from a wide range of sectors including retail and distribution, manufacturing, telecommunications and high-tech industries. Large client portfolios include Alitalia, Costa Crociere, Swisscom, Pirelli, Candy, Canon, Bulgari, BNL, Poste Italiane, DHL, Gruppo Fiat, GoodYear, Lotto, Autogrill and TNT among others.

I Cube+ is the branded name given by CON.NEXO` to Columbus Mail. Columbus Mail is a Unified Messaging software platform, completely Internet Protocol (IP) based. Unified Messaging is the integration of different streams of communication (e-mail, Fax, FAXoverIP, SMS, MMS, Hybrid Electronic Mail, Telex, Telegrams, Voicemail, Voice Recording, Alert, On-Demand, Mobile and Wireless Solutions) into a single interface accessible from a variety of different devices. With Unified messaging all types of messages are stored in one system.

Voicemail messages, for example, are delivered directly into the mailbox. It is therefore a software where one can see at a glance all inbound and outbound messages (it keeps track of all communication).

I Cube+ is a B2B application. Its main advantages are that it unifies mail and telephone systems, concentrates information and makes it available everywhere and anytime.

Other evident advantages are more effective communication at lower costs, higher control on communication flows, easier monitoring and traceability of exchanged documents, data processing safety and a better service in terms of customer relationship management.

The platform has been in existence for the past 15 years. The software's origin was a military intelligence application which has been adopted, in time, as a commercial solution. Acquired by CON.NEXO` in 2006, Columbus Mail has been deeply transformed and re-engineered to become an SaaS (Software as a Service) solution and a private label product and service. SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the internet.

I Cube+ principal clients are RAI, Goodyear Dunlop Tires Italia (Roma), Lotto Sport Italia (Treviso), HSBC Bank Milano, Gruppo Antonveneta, Alitalia, Kraft Foods Italia (Milano), Hewlett Packard DCS (Roma), Edison (Milano), Autostrade SpA, Tirrenia, the Italian army and INA Assitalia among others. I Cube+ international competitors are CISCO, NORTEL, Alcatel, Siemens, Microsoft, IBM, AOL, Yahoo, Google and J2GC.

CON.NEXO` Malta is forecasting an employment of a minimum of 45 persons, which could increase to a maximum of 90 employees by the fourth year of operations. It is envisaged the recruitment process will start at the end of this month.

CON.NEXO` will also transfer the whole operation relating to I Cube+ to Malta.

The company will be carrying out R&D activities to continuously update its Unified Messaging solutions known as I Cube+ in addition to the marketing and distribution operations. The company is expected to hire 15 employees.

The CON.NEXO` Group was founded in 2004 by Roberto Portelli, the group's chairman and CEO. In March 2005 the Service Division was created and its mission is to provide remote support through long term contracts. In November 2006 CON.NEXO` acquired Columbus srl, a company specialising in unified messaging solutions copyrighted by Con.Nexo`.

In February 2008 it signed an acquisition agreement with Datalore SA of Switzerland. The latter has recently been re-branded Co.Nexo` SA. The group now has four offices in Italy, one in Switzerland and will shortly open three new offices in Barcelona, London and Amsterdam.

CON.NEXO` has a workforce of 150. Its turnover grew from €1.5 million in 2004 to €12.5 million in 2008.

The CON.NEXO` Group is owned and run by a group of experts with years of experience from a mix of IT companies including O. Group, Olivetti, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Oracle.

Alan Camilleri, chairman of Malta Enterprise, told The Times Business: "This project is in line with our current policy to attract research oriented and innovative ICT activities to Malta. The company develops and customises software systems to an array of high profile international client companies and follows some of the highest international quality standards.

"The company's main objective is to continue its ambitious international expansion plans through the Maltese company. The attractiveness of such projects is greatly enhanced by the potential spin-offs, in terms of innovative product range, transfer of IT skills as well as the consolidation of the software development cluster base in Malta."