Vedaleon - Case Study
From the Asialink Business Indonesia Country Starter Pack
Vedaleon Technologies has been selling its customised internet reservation systems to Lion Air since 2008.
Having a permanent representative or branch office in Indonesia is expensive – and, in some circumstances, quite unnecessary. Vedaleon Technologies, a Melbourne-based aviation software company, has been selling its customised internet reservation systems to Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air since 2008. Vedaleon was formed two years after the 2001 collapse of Ansett Australia. At last count it employed 35 people, including three to five staff dedicated to servicing Lion Air Group.
In the early years of the relationship, Vedaleon had a representative based in Jakarta, in addition to a small team in Melbourne working on the Lion Air account. But daily communication between Jakarta and Melbourne now takes place remotely. Vedaleon co-founder Mac Smith says it was never a pre-condition that the company have an office in Indonesia. "Lion is one of the most progressive airlines in the world at the moment," Smith says. "They knew exactly what they wanted and they could see that we could deliver it and we now have an ongoing relationship."
"We don't need to have a presence on the ground."
"We don't need to have a presence on the ground. It might be an advantage if we had someone [in Indonesia] as an ambassador for the company, but in practical terms we don’t need to have someone there."
Smith also plays down the importance of having in-house Indonesian speakers, although two of the Vedaleon team servicing Lion Air speak Bahasa Indonesia. "It's a plus [having Indonesia speakers in-house], but I wouldn't say it's a necessity," Smith says. Regular teleconference meetings are generally held in Bahasa Indonesia, but informal conversations are often in English.
Vedaleon's foray into Indonesia started with an unsolicited phone call. "Lion Air had heard that we had developed an internet booking engine for Jet Airways in India and they wanted to know if we could customise the product for them," Smith recalls. "The answer was yes." Since then, the relationship has grown, with Lion's new international offspring, Batik Air, and its Malaysia-Indonesia carrier Malindo Air also becoming clients.
As well as regularly updating the internet reservation systems – including adjustments around marketing campaigns and fare variations – Vedaleon is developing self-service check-in kiosks for the group.
The key to servicing offshore clients, says Smith, is trust. "It always comes back to trust and the strength of relationships."
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