The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
International sales rocket for Fife tech firm Exterity
TECHNOLOGY: Dalgety Bay firm supplies internet protocol video and digital signage to worldwide clients
I founded Exterity with Mike Allan, our chief technology officer, in 2001 – the year the dotcom bubble burst.
At that time, many video providers were relying on cabling to distribute TV content around buildings - something we believed to be an expensive, inflexible and unsustainable solution.
In our view, streaming video would eventually become the standard for the delivery of TV and video content.
At the time, this idea was fairly radical and about three to five years ahead of the game.
Today, IP video streaming is the main method for delivering TV and video, with a wide range of users around the world – from primary schools in Dundee to banks in China, hotels and oil rigs in the Middle East, and stadiums in Europe – all of which we count as customers.
In June 2015, we opened our new headquarters in Dalgety Bay, providing us with a facility that is custom-designed to our needs and large enough to support our growth plans. Our team in Fife develops and delivers world-class video streaming products.
That move three years ago was the midpoint of a significant transition for Exterity as we worked on strengthening our global business.
Investments made in staff and facilities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia-pacific, Africa and the US have allowed us to deliver effectively to our global customer base and to be always available.
This transition was accompanied by a number of significant software product development activities aimed at enhancing our end-to-end solutions.
Our new software products and professional services have helped generate 48% sales growth over the last five years.
Much of our success has been achieved overseas.
Our sales have evolved from 56% international and 44% UK in 2012 to a much more global picture in 2017 – 80% international and 20% UK.
Yet two-thirds of our 95 staff are still based in Scotland, which is the centre of our software development and product-design activity.
Over the next five years, we expect to see our Fife-based team grow further as we continue our drive as market leaders in IP video streaming solutions.
We feel positive about the future and we have ambitious plan to increase the team at our Dalgety Bay headquarters – focusing on talented software engineers who will help implement our next generation of video streaming systems.
Our jobs site currently lists a number of engineering, technical and sales vacancies for our offices in Scotland, France, Central Europe and the US as we continue to grow in the UK and abroad.
Talented people and innovative new ideas are what started our story.
The next stage of the Exterity journey will explore newer technologies and concepts which we believe will help us keep developing solutions that respond to new market demands, while providing an environment where our team can continue to grow.