Small Ontario Company Makes Big Impact on Communications Networks

TIERONE awarded the Verizon Testing Partner Program certification.

Revenues and customer satisfaction ratings are on the rise at some of the world's largest communications service providers, thanks to a small Ontario firm.

TIERONE OSS Technologies Inc., a private software and services company of 35 employees outside of Toronto, provides software and consulting that allows these companies to diagnose and fix network problems more quickly. And fewer network disruptions means more satisfied customers.

"It's all about efficiency," says Paul Vedam, founder and President of TIERONE. "The communications industry is highly competitive and efficiency is the crucial success factor in broadband, wireline, and wireless."

TIERONE's answer to the efficiency challenge: its NETPortal product suite. It's a solution that generates an accurate, real-time view of the network and its services so that service providers can quickly answer network related queries. The traditional manual process for answering questions from operations, finance, marketing, sales, and customers is costly and time consuming. With NETPortal, those groups access a customized interface to get the answers themselves.  Unlike competing product suites, NETPortal immediately notifies the service provider of a network fault and the root cause so it can be rectified quickly. This proactive service management is the heart of NETPortal's functionality.

"If you know your customers, you understand what's important to them - what they value in your services - and you can work to ensure you deliver that value," Vedam explains.

Founded in 1999, TIERONE perfected its product suite and services in Canada - building knowledge, expertise, and practical experience - before expanding into export markets in 2010.

The company's first target was the U.S. where it recently recorded a major win, beating out international competitors for its first NETPortal sale while at the same time becoming the first operations support system vendor to be awarded the Verizon Testing Partner Program certification.

The certification helps get innovative technologies like the NETPortal product suite into the Verizon networks faster, by giving them an internationally-recognized seal of approval.

TIERONE chose the U.S. because it was a huge market that was close to the company's home base in Mississauga. But the U.S. is also extremely competitive because all major vendors are targeting a share of the market there.

"It was the perfect place to benchmark ourselves against the world's best," says Mr. Vedam.

In competing against world leaders, TIERONE was able to refine its approach, maximize the effectiveness of its software, and prove that its technology ranked with the best.

TIERONE now earns 20% of its revenue in foreign markets. Although the United States is its largest export customer, the company also targets Europe, Asia, and South America.

"The challenge for a small company in export markets is a lack of local presence and, for TIERONE – because we are a new vendor – a lack of brand awareness," says Mr. Vedam.

To counter this, TIERONE turned to the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to open doors for the company, establish its credentials, and provide needed visibility.

"Marketing globally is a very expensive proposition. Without Ontario's help we wouldn't have been able to do it - it would have taken us years to get there by ourselves."