Openet has ambitious goals for the future, explains its CEO, Niall Norton.
Grow, diversify and become a global market leader, is Openet’s aim for the future, and according to the CEO Niall Norton, this is achievable.
“We have done an incredible job of evolving our technology and our business skills in all areas to out perform the industry leaders in the areas we consider to be important, and have had amazing shareholder support in doing this. We are now working very hard to deliver on our promise and potential,” he says.
Openet is an innovative provider of telecoms software and since its establishment, has worked with some of the worlds largest digital service providers, across wireless, wireline, cable, MVNx and WiFi first.
Norton attributes the success of Openet to the team that are constantly innovating to reach new milestones. “Motivating the team is about challenging them to do extraordinary things and helping them to achieve it. Enabling them, and helping them realise their potential, is the major factor towards really motivating them.”
INNOVATION
Openet serves the telecoms industry, primarily the wireless and cable operators. According to Norton, the industry is at the front end of being challenged by advances in numerous evolving technologies, from cloud, through automation of business processes and the Internet of Things.
“At Openet, we need to evolve quickly and so are hungry for innovation. This has profound implications for our customers and how they do business – both in terms of their revenue streams and their business processes and costs. So the good ones will evolve and profit from this by being more adaptable to the changes and others will likely struggle,” he explains.
A team is all about a group of individuals coming together for common purpose. Having the best members of that team and helping them to work together is a very large part of a CEO’s job
EVOLUTION
In turn, this has meant Openet has needed to evolve what they do, and how they serve their customers. “This has driven us to re-examine how we sell and generate revenues, but also how we support the selling effort right across the business. The development of our people and processes is also being refined to reflect our culture of innovation.
“This ongoing transformation continues to impact on all of our people, so far it has been both challenging and incredibly rewarding as we begin to see the benefits of realigning our business within this fast moving market place,” Norton says.
Norton also points out why the Openet team is the primary reason for the success of the company. “I ask people to do incredible things”, he says. “A team is all about a group of individuals coming together for common purpose. Having the best members of that team and helping them to work together is a very large part of a CEO’s job.”
Niall Horton
GROWTH POTENTIAL
The company’s success Norton maintains can be defined in a number of ways. “Success can be measured in terms of the profit and loss account at one level, at another level in terms of how ready and capable the business will grow and develop in the future, and also in terms of how meaningful the business is and what it stands for.
“We built Openet from the start to be a substantial, long-term company that would create value for customers, employees and shareholders. That’s an ambitious goal for a small software company selling against competitors orders of magnitude bigger and better resourced than we are. But we have succeeded so far and anticipate that our ability to evolve will keep us winning in the years ahead. That is meaningful success for me.”
According to Jim Dowdall, CEO of GloHealth: “There are a number of key factors that drive Norton and his team to succeed. Openet has proven it can succeed, and in so doing, is inspiring other Irish companies to strive for similar success.”
Business & Finance, A View from the Boardroom
