ALIDATA GIVES THE LEAP OF INTERNATIONALIZATION
Alidata, the ancientest portuguese software house created in 1984, was honored in the "SME Heroes" initiative, which recognizes companies and managers who have met demanding business challenges. After a difficult time during the still recent economic recession, the internationalization effort paid off: Alidata will close 2017 with about 3 million turnover, have offices in six countries and projects in more than 20.
The CEO of Alidata, Fernando Amaral, tells the story of an inspiring journey.
What prompted Alidata to apply for the "SME Heroes" initiative?
We decided to compete for thinking that we have a different story, which is linked to the history of the country in recent years, where the main themes were the crisis and the deficit.
I worked for 20 years in a multinational company with 150,000 employees, Capgemini, and in the midst of the hurricane of the national crisis, me and a group of people in their 40s decided to leave our comfort zone and start a project of our own. It was a disruptive attitude.
At the time we went out with Sendys, which was a product of Capgemini, and in 2012 we acquired a position in Alidata, a management software company originally from Leiria, with more than 30 years. I knew the old partners because I had worked in Alidata with 18 or 19 years and, as Alidata was experiencing some economic difficulties, the opportunity was given.
It must be realized that Alidata is the first Portuguese softwarehouse and that this is a business area that has undergone enormous transformations, where it is necessary to always be at the cutting edge of technology, which is very different today compared to what it was 30 years ago.
Today, Alidata has projects in 20 countries on five different continents and is a specialist in the development of business management software in the industrial, maintenance and car repair sectors.
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“The customer base is always the software, but we also consult, diagnose customer needs, and audit systems. (...)
Our business vision focuses primarily on tailor-made work and we develop solutions for niche markets that we identify as strategic."
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SME Heroes
Alidata awarded in the first edition
On October 24, Alidata was one of the ten winning companies of the first edition of the initiative promoted by Yunit Consulting. The company was honored for having excelled during the period of severe economic recession in Portugal and having "made the leap" in recent years.
In 2012, when the current CEO, Fernando Amaral, acquires Alidata, the company faced economic problems due to the economic crisis that the country was facing. This year, it will earn around 3 million euros, with 60 employees, offices in six countries and projects in 20 countries worldwide.
In highlighting stories like Alidata, the "SME Heroes" initiative wants to give visibility to cases of success that often do not come to the fore and inspire other SMEs to invest in the future.
"We want to highlight companies that stand out and are successful, whether due to the course of the partner, their origin, the way they were built or the impact they have in the region," explains Bernardo Maciel, one of Yunit Consulting's partners. "It is important to take advantage of this phase in which you breathe a different economic climate, psychologically more attractive to invest, to bring stories that serve as inspiration.
We have examples from different parts of the country, if different sectors of activity, which show that the routes are not all linear and easy, and yet it is worth investing and making the leap".
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