Specifically, investments include recruitment, marketing, advertising and training resellers.
Durham, New Hampshire-based Aprisma provides infrastructure management software to enterprises and broadband access, data/applications hosting service providers. Its flagship product is called Spectrum.
The company, which was spun off from Cabletron, today launched its regional headquarters in Singapore and Sydney with a total of seven staff.
Aprisma plans to increase the headcount by 50 in the next 12 to 24 months, said its Asia Pacific president Alison Higgins-Miller at a press conference this morning.
"We need to support our global customers, many of which have offices in Singapore, Japan and Australia," Aprisma general manager and senior vice president Katrinka McCallum explained.
"We are also here to acquire new customers," McCallum noted, adding that funding will come from Aprisma's cash reserves of US$57 million.
The company, which sells its software via resellers, has so far lined up 20 resellers in Asia Pacific. These include Compaq in Hong Kong and Beijing, Siemens in Australia, PowerNet in Korea, and Borchorst Consulting in Singapore, she said.
Aprisma will also be rolling out a series of print advertisements across the region as part of the investment plan.
Revenues
These investments are expected to help the company generate sales of US$6 million to US$10 million in the next 12 months from the region, said Miller. Expected sales from Asia Pacific will make up 5 to 10 percent of worldwide revenues in the next 12 months.
For the third quarter ended November 2000, Aprisma's sales was US$19.7 million, of which between 1 and 2 percent came from Asia Pacific, she added.
During the quarter, Aprisma made a loss of US$1.9 million but Miller expects the company to breakeven within three to six months. Broadband access and applications/data hosting market has been identified as key growth areas in the region.
Aprisma has 200 to 300 customers in Asia Pacific, said Miller, who declined to name them except for SAP which has deployed Spectrum globally.
Other worldwide customers include Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Sprint, Worldcom, British Telecom and France Telecom.
Aprisma, majority owned by Cabletron, is planning for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq in 12 to 18 months, said McCallum. Other shareholders are Compaq Computer Corp and US-based venture capital firm Silver Lake Partners.
Cabletron is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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