Atos Origin, a Netherlands-based IT consultancy and services firm, has formulated a plan to help European and Asian companies develop operations in the world's most populous country.
Called "Go to China", Atos' approach brings together a diverse consortium, thereby providing the much-needed spectrum of services.
"It will be a multidisciplinary team consisting of management consultancy, corporate finance, legal and technology capabilities," said Neoh Kok Cheng, Atos' CEO for Asia-Pacific. "They can help the client not only to set foot and stand up (in China), but also to hit the streets running."
Expected to be formalized by May, the effort is forecast to net revenues of up to 20 million euros (US$24 million) for Atos within the first 12 months of operation.
"It's one million per customer, up to 20 customers," he said. "Is that difficult? No."
This confidence stems from its many years of partnership with multinational companies in China, albeit under less expansive arrangements. Its clients include Alcatel, Philips and Proctor and Gamble.
Despite its focus on large enterprises, Neoh is open to the idea of serving the middle-market, which the Singapore government has been actively promoting.
"We work mainly with large companies, but I'll be happy to do national service," said Neoh, who is based in the city-state.
"We are happy to meet with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), look at their needs, and tailor (solutions) for them. We can start with one or two SMEs and maybe scale up," he added.
Having recently completed a 1.3 billion euro (US$1.6 billion) acquisition of rival services provider SchlumbergerSema, Atos now boasts a headcount of 50,000 and annual revenues of over five billion euros (US$6 billion). In Asia-Pacific, the company employs about 2,100 employees.
Last month, Atos also clinched a seven-year deal with Standard Chartered Bank to manage the latter's global data center infrastructure. Valued at over US$200 million, the project will be based in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
While Neoh is buoyant about business in China, he is more cautious when it comes to India.
"The rate of companies setting up businesses in India and wanting to capture the Indian market is far, far lower than in China," he said. "They see India as an opportunity for offshore outsourcing."
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