IDC picks 10 best Canadian firms to watch for

Adapting products to an ever-changing market and developing a partner ecosystem from which to expand and grow are among the qualities inherent in the 10 emerging Canadian software companies identified by IDC Canada.

The Toronto, Ont.-based research firm's report recently identified these picks as having the potential to make an impact in the information and communications technology (ICT) market.

Having a strong customer base upon which to grow, clarity of vision, and the ability to compete on a global scale are other qualities these local companies possess.

"They are addressing the changing market dynamics and adapting their products to keep up with what's going on in the industry, whether those are small enhancements to their technologies or significant changes to their entire platform," said the report's co-author Krista Collins, analyst for Canadian IT innovation and export.

IDC further identified the companies by measuring the technologies they delve in against the firm's global forecast numbers for these technologies, said co-author Joel Martin, vice-president of IDC's software practice.

"It's a great example of the kind of innovation across a variety of areas that Canada should be recognized for," Martin said.

Best practices that other companies should take away from the report, said the IDC analyst, include the importance of Canadian ICT associations in helping companies network and get access to industry events.

Such associations are a great opportunity to network with industry professionals and learn of new trends, said Chris Norris, product manager at Apparent Networks, a Vancouver-based provider of network diagnostics and analytics systems. Apparent Networks is among the 10 firms listed in IDC's report.

"It really gets us closer to the workings and the problems people are experiencing," said Norris.

Another company, Idée Inc., a Toronto-based provider of image recognition and visual search software, prefers a non-traditional approach by attending 'unconferences', a less formal gathering of emerging companies that share ideas and successes, said the company's CEO, Leila Boujnane.

Developing emerging technologies, she said, means "breaking traditional industries", which requires leveraging technology, tools and people. "It's hard to do that and network in an environment that's fairly established."

According to IDC, it's also essential to increase the visibility of products via non-expensive channels, like whitepapers, Web sites, case studies, and hosted Webinars.

The biggest challenge for a company without a brand, or with a limited brand, is figuring out activities to get some mindshare, said David Levy, CEO of Objectworld Communications Corp., an Ottawa-based provider of Windows-based unified communications software.

Objectworld Communications, he said, actively interacts with customers and channel partners, does it's best to win awards, takes advantage of customer references, and spends a lot of effort making the Web site "sticky".

Boujnane agrees such practices are very cost effective and can be put together fairly quickly and efficiently, adding "incredible" ROI has been reaped from Web demo showcases of the company's services.

Besides industry associations, networking with research groups are great for learning about technologies and problems being worked on several years before they hit industry, said Loki Jorgenson, Apparent Network's chief scientist.

Another company, Halogen Software Inc., an Ottawa-based provider of Web-based employee performance and talent management software, markets its products entirely online not only to cut costs for the customer, but to prove that the Web-based technology actually works.

"If it doesn't show well over the Web, it's a proof point for us," said Donna Ronayne, the company's vice-president of marketing and business development.

IDC also cites the importance of identifying partners to leverage products, be it large multinationals or local partners.

"Partnerships have to be very international and global because we do not operate in a closed environment anymore," said Boujnane.

According to Levy, the type of partnerships a company chooses depends on the target market segment. Objectworld has a multiplicity of partnerships ranging from well-known companies to smaller channel partners throughout North America.

"We spend a huge amount of time forming partner relationships both for building out and selling our product," Levy said.

IDC also cites the importance of remaining close to one’s customer base, while occasionally stepping back to keep an eye on the evolving market so products may be adapted accordingly.

Idée strives to remain accessible to customers by building against rival ERP vendors' weaknesses, said Ronayne. "It starts in your product design. It's your whole philosophy."

In addition, the company conducts third-party audits to ascertain customer needs.

According to Boujnane, staying close to clients is essential during the early days of the introduction of a new technology to "understand the pains [clients] go through to provide a service to their own customers." Besides that, she recommends paying close attention to the market because it "speaks in numbers."

She added: "If you can step back and analyse that, you can in a very agile manner change what you are putting in front of the market to get the traction you need."

Listening to customers is a good practice, but only when done "with a particular ear," warned Levy – by heeding only what is generally applicable to all customers.

Other emerging companies identified by IDC are Casero, Coveo Solutions, M-Tech Information Technology, Osellus, Privasoft and Loki Management Systems Inc.

-Casero Inc., Toronto, Ont.-based provider of broadband services allowing broadband operators' customers to store, manage and share user-generated content.

-Coveo Solutions Inc., Québec City, Québec-based provider of enterprise search engine applications for documents and rich media across the enterprise including in Microsoft SharePoint platforms.

-M-Tech Information Technology Inc., Calgary, Alta-based provider of identity management and provisioning software.

-Osellus Inc., Toronto, Ont.-based provider of software development process software and services to help companies manage, model, execute and analyze their end-to-end processes.

-Privasoft Corp., Ottawa, Ont.-based provider of web-based software to help businesses manage Freedom of Information (FOI) and Access to Information (ATIP) requests.

-Loki Management Systems Inc., Richmond, B.C.-based provider of workforce optimization and management software focusing on payroll, time and attendance, schedule and leave management, and employee self-service.