Deployment abroad

Any job, be it in Malta or anywhere else, requires dedication, professional approach and commitment, says Christopher Demicoli, Smart Technologies business development manager.

In the past few years, Smart Technologies Limited has embarked on an ongoing strategy to expand its operations beyond the local market.

People working on such projects need to have the right attitude to resolve issues that arise. Our staff are very proud to have participated in the project

One successful project that has kept the company very active abroad involves its collaboration with EC Language Schools to install an IT set-up at EC’s newly acquired schools in Canada, the US and the UK.

What led Smart Technologies to expand its operations abroad? Although Smart Technologies was established five years ago, the company has been growing at a steady rate – looking at potential opportunities to expand our operations internationally was a natural thing for us.

We have in the recent past been entrusted with a number of jobs in the UK for other Maltese companies operating there. We have, in fact, worked on services ranging from networking set-up to equipment sourcing and implementation.

What qualities does a local company need to operate abroad successfully? So far we have not set up offices abroad as most of the business we have done so far was ad hoc and not all in one particular country.

We are taking this approach one step at a time as a lot of preparation and logistics are involved to guarantee that such jobs run smoothly and within the expected timeframes.

Luckily, we have great resources and experienced professional staff who share in the company’s values that any job, be it in Malta or anywhere else, requires the same dedication, professional approach and commitment.

Why was Smart Technologies entrusted with the EC Language Schools project? EC wanted to standardise the equipment teachers use in the schools in order to facilitate maintenance and also to help streamline the day-to-day operations of the company.

Smart Technologies had already been entrusted with the classroom set-up in the St Julian’s school. EC were satisfied with the level of workmanship and support that our company had provided, so when they were considering the international deployment we were asked if we would be interested in handling the implementation of a similar set-up in the international schools as well – by then, they were perfectly aware of the level of service we would have delivered to them.

The first international deployment was of EC Canada – here, we did installations in schools in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Currently we are working in parallel on the installations in EC schools in the US, namely Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, Miami and San Francisco, and also in the UK schools in Manchester, London, Oxford and Bristol.

What expertise was needed to make this project successful? Resources need to be conversant with the technology being deployed.

Most importantly, the people working on such projects need to have the right attitude to resolve issues that arise. We have used our internal staff, who are very proud to have participated in the project.

What was the scope of this project and how was it achieved? Besides the delivery of the technical project as requested by the client, for us it confirmed that we have the knowledge and resources to meet the demands such undertakings require.

Can this project be replicated in other education systems, including locally? Yes – in fact, we have already had the opportunity to work and collaborate with other local schools on similar projects and we are now trying to tap into other lines of business where we can replicate this model – this can prove cost-effective for companies setting up operation abroad.