The cloud analytics software is used by more than 6,000 companies around the world, mostly in the US and the EU.
Four years since its launch in the US market with its own software, the Croatian IT company Qualia has increased its revenue seven times, reports Poslovni.hr on July 31, 2018.
The revenue reached 2.2 million kuna last year, and its net profit was 844,000 kuna. Qualia develops analytical software, which is comparable in its capabilities with the solutions offered by Microsoft, SAP, IBM, Oracle, Qlik, and Tableu. The company is now preparing for global expansion and has just opened an office in Ireland.
Hrvoje Smolić, the founder and director of the Qualia Group, says it was only after they entered the western markets that he realised the quality of their software. “We are often compared there with SAP’s BusinessObjects, Tableau, Qlik from Sweden, IBM’s Cognos and other similar products. That is why I opted for strong internationalization of our business activities,” said Smolić.
He added that his cloud analytics software, which connects to a database and then allows users to easily pull data into a graphical interface and analyse it, is used by more than 6,000 companies around the world. Most of them are in located in the United States and the European Union. Among them are different IT companies for the US, coffee chains in the UK and Ireland, and several financial companies in Italy. However, the most well-known users of the Croatian analytical software are some of the largest IT companies in the world and companies whose products are strongly linked with the analytics field: Google and Cisco. The technology giants use Qualia’s solution to increase sales in stores.
“Google has its own retail stores in the United States selling gadgets, and it uses our analytical software at cash registers and POS devices. Cisco uses the software in the similar fashion,” said Smolić. He pointed out that he is now finally in a position to hire developers solely to develop their own technology. That is the reason why he will soon increase the number of employees. Qualia started with two employees, and by the end of this year, it will employ ten people. His plan is to further double that number in due course. Moreover, he will open additional jobs in Ireland.
“I opened an office in Cork, the second largest city in Ireland because I am preparing for intensive expansion. Dublin seems too hectic and crowded. Since many companies are moving their headquarters to Ireland due to Brexit, Cork is a great option. He is one of the best cities in the world with less than 350,000 citizens for doing business,” Smolić explained.
“There are about a dozen companies in the EU which are evaluating our BusinessQ software, so I believe we will expand the partner network to several other EU countries in the autumn,” said Smolić. His company is also working on specialized software products for POS cash registers, such as Analytics App. Qualia noticed the opportunity and made the best software solution for the Clover POS platform. This made it possible to cooperate with other global POS giants such as Verifone and Ingenica. “Verifone saw the success of our Analytics App on the Clover POS platform and contacted us. They were interested if we wanted to offer our solution to their customers,” Smolić explained.
He pointed out that they have entered the fields of data science, blockchain and Industry 4.0, all areas where databases are used and analytics are needed. “The plan is to double the number of EU countries we operate in during the next two to three years and to raise revenues to more than one million euro annually, perhaps over 10 million kuna,” Smolić concluded.
Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Bernard Ivezić).
