SnapLogic CEO says reputation is key for global expansion

The current economic climate is seeing many tech vendors struggle with massive layoffs and tighter budget constraints. They’re looking to do more with less. Not only is SnapLogic a company that is thriving during this economic downturn, but it’s also helping organisations from a variety of industries do the same with its leading iPaaS (integration platform as a service) solution.

With the pressure to do more with less, organisations acknowledge the benefits of connecting data in their core systems through system integration, sparking a growing appetite for data integration and business automation to improve operational efficiencies. Thanks to this hunger, the iPaaS market is witnessing soaring growth. Valued at AU$3.82 billion in 2020, it’s projected to reach AU$35.2 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 37.2%.

Headquartered in California with offices around the globe, SnapLogic is on a mission to bring enterprise automation to the world while having a little fun along the way.

SnapLogic CEO Gaurav Dhillon recently spoke with AZK Media Managing Director Azadeh Williams to discuss SnapLogic’s opportunities and challenges as it expands globally to help organizations transform, automate, and improve their productivity in new and innovative ways. 

The opportunity for technology companies to expand globally 

Like many companies based in Silicon Valley, SnapLogic began in North America and expanded into Europe. Now its sights are set on the rest of the world. It’s an exciting journey that Dhillon can’t wait to see unfold, especially given the past year’s success. 

“It has been just a great year for us. I look back at where we were a year ago and where we are now, and we've nearly doubled in size with many new people joining,” he says. “I'm excited to bring some of the work that we've been doing, really groundbreaking work for some of the largest companies in the world, to other parts of the world.” 

There also couldn’t be a better time for SnapLogic’s expansion, he says. “It's timely because the innovations that we provide in Europe and North America also apply in Australia, New Zealand and in other parts of the globe where organisations have to connect large and complicated things, either by hand or with technologies from yesteryear. 

“Doing this manually creates friction and additional cost. But more importantly, it slows down digital transformation. SnapLogic has an opportunity to turn that on its head, rapidly solving the challenges businesses face that impede their growth. We've seen the benefit of SnapLogic so many times — hundreds of enterprises in about 12 countries across the globe — and we hope to get these challenges to zero one day.”

Expanding across borders in an economically challenging time

Tech companies of all sizes went on a hiring spree over the past several years as demand for their solutions and services skyrocketed with millions of people suddenly working remotely. However, with recent economic conditions, many of those same companies have been in the news for massive layoffs. SnapLogic, on the other hand, has managed to navigate each passing storm with relative ease. Dhillon attributes this to being “steady”. 

“In the boom, we saw so many companies hiring like crazy. At SnapLogic, however, we tend to be steady people. We approach things in a steady way,” he says. “There was a time when you could hire any number of clever women and men to connect the systems in your company. And that was fine because you had an unlimited budget.”

However, in a slowdown, all of that changes. “One of our customers, a large music streaming service, found it was losing millions because it wasn’t able to reconcile the currency fluctuations quickly enough. It had a layoff and brought in a substantial SnapLogic installation at the same time because it wanted to automate the calculation of currencies in a multi-system world where all these fluctuations were, otherwise, setting it back,” Dhillon explains.

“This is only a recent example of some of the things that we're seeing, which I think we will continue to see on a massive scale. Fortunately for us, it’s a positive force for good to be able to remove friction and speed up the benefits of technology investments. 

PR and marketing: A worthwhile investment

There’s no doubt, businesses across the globe need technology like SnapLogic to turn their mountains of data into valuable insights. The challenge for SnapLogic, like any business, is getting our message and solution in front of the right audience and organizations. Awareness is key.  

Leveraging PR and a dedicated local Marketing team can help drive awareness and global expansion.  “We now have a large presence in Europe that continues to grow. And we have some iconic customers in the Middle East like Emirates Airlines, IKEA, etc. We also have some wonderful customers in Australia and New Zealand, including Xero, George Weston Foods, Woodside, REECE, Abano Healthcare, ACCOR, Adobe and Melbourne-based Pact Group,” he says.

“Having said that, in an industrial business like ours, reputation matters. When an organisation is trying to make all of its systems work together fluently in an agile way without a lot of effort, having something like SnapLogic, which has done it before, is important. So as far as reputation goes, being a well-known and well-regarded company is absolutely critical.”

When it comes to global expansion, what would Apple do?

With the right PR strategy, building a solid, trustworthy reputation becomes easy. Look at Apple. It wasn’t always the well-regarded company it’s seen as today. From a formerly bleak outlook to a company that dazzles with groundbreaking innovations, PR has played a huge role in its success. Now, even Dhillon approaches integration by thinking, ‘What would Apple do?’. 

“We think, ‘What would Apple do if it wanted to be in the integration business? How would it make something beautiful, easy to use and very powerful at the same time?’” he shares. “Well, we’ve done that. And we’ve built that reputation in some parts of the globe. Now, we want to have that same reputation here in Australia and New Zealand as well.”