Many self-assured suppliers, proud of and successful with their high-tech products in the United States, have dreamed of going international only to have those dreams broken on the rocky shores of language and cultural barriers, the high cost of maintaining a local presence, unfamiliar territories, weak relationships and politics.
As a one-time AT&T Inc. executive in Italy, former business development director for Telcordia Technologies Inc. in charge of alliances in Europe and a sales veep for a telecom manufacturing company in Switzerland, Gianni Burzi is familiar with the challenges of doing international business. Last month, his new sales outsourcing company, Adivent, launched in North America with a business model that takes the cost and risk out of going international, though perhaps not the challenge.
By outsourcing sales to Adivent, North American vendors can begin addressing European carriers in as little as four weeks and without the cost of setting up international operations. Adivent can sell business support systems, operations support system and network equipment.
