Opentec looks to consultancy services for growth

Mexican hardware and IT services provider Opentec aims to grow consultancy services to represent 50% of its revenue stream in 2005 compared to 25% this year, company president Carl Rianhard told BNamericas. Consulting services include sales of various suppliers' CRM solutions, security services and e-learning services, the fastest-growing section,. About 30% of Opentec's e-learning clients come from abroad, particularly the US, Canada and Brazil. Rianhard expects the proportion of overseas revenues to remain the same, but the division is set for 100% growth next year to bill US$1mn. As a whole, the company expects revenues to grow to US$6mn next year compared to US$4mn in 2004. The core business at present is short-term renting of hardware, which accounts for 75% of revenues, typically for expo events and training programs. Opentec started building its own PCs, laptops and servers a year ago as a major partner for chip manufacturer Intel. The company now produces five PCs, three servers and one laptop model. Opentec brand machines now make up about 60% of the equipment it rents out, with the rest including machines manufactured by companies like IBM, Compaq and HP. Mexico is a relatively healthy market for brand-name hardware and Rianhard estimates that no-name clone machines have a market share of about 20%. Rianhard expects Opentec to produce about 800 machines next year but this is about 10% of the company's production capacity and he is therefore searching for sales staff to market the machines to the consumer sector. PC sales should remain around US$500,000-600,000 next year, he added. Operating mainly in Mexico City, Monterrey and Queretaro, Opentec has a pool of about 2,500 PCs it typically rents out to some 400 clients a year. The company aims to be technologically neutral and offer equipment according to its clients' needs, so Rianhard does not aim to grow the proportion of own-name machines. Opentec has probably a 30% market share of the short-term rental business in the above cities, he added.