During his first trip to Orlando in 2016, Avin Mansookram contemplated making Central Florida the spot of his Johannesburg, South Africa-based tech firm’s expansion into the U.S.
Mansookram reached out to the Orlando Economic Development Commission, the Orlando Economic Partnership’s predecessor, and was shocked by how quickly he was connected with the right people to expand MFT Executive Advisory Services internationally, he told Orlando Business Journal.
“I think it was probably a Monday or Tuesday that I sent the email out to OEDC, and probably by the next day, I had lined up meetings with lawyers, accountants and bankers.”
All that work eventually led to the June 8 announcement that the cloud services firm will open an office in Central Florida and create 35 jobs by 2026. While the initial meetings were easy to set up, MFT navigated several challenges to prepare itself to build its local team this year.
Difficulties overcome
An Amazon Web Services-partnered cloud consulting and technology risk management firm, MFT helps businesses prepare for and launch cloud-based operations. The 11-year-old business recognized a major opportunity to expand to the U.S., where the market for its services was bigger than in South Africa, said Mansookram, director of MFT.
The company hit an early snag when it came to opening a U.S. bank account. Mansookram, who didn’t realize he had to be physically present in the U.S. to set up the account, returned home to South Africa after the initial OEDC meetings. He flew back to the U.S. months later to resolve the issue.
Then the launch of MFT’s local operations, which was on track for early 2020, was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. “We weren't even allowed, in our country, to leave the boundaries of our property, much less fly across the world.”
Travel from South Africa to the U.S. still is banned. However, MFT only plans to hire U.S. citizens in Orlando and is accustomed to virtual work, Mansookram said.
Plus, MFT needs to build up a customer base for its U.S. operations. That’s why the firm’s initial focus is to hire account managers to compile lists of potential customers. Tech workers, administration personnel, human resource managers and change managers will follow, Mansookram added. “We're establishing an entire business from scratch.”
These jobs pay higher-than-average wages. The positions created by MFT will pay more than 135% of the average wage in Orange County, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership. Based on the county’s average wage of $51,501 listed in state documents, the jobs will pay at least $69,526.
The ease of working with economic development officials was one factor that attracted MFT to the region, but it was not the only one. The weather, which Mansookram said is similar to South Africa, and the growing pool of young professionals in Florida contributed, too.
Amazon partnership
MFT is part of Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary Amazon Web Services' partner network. The AWS Partner Network accepts select companies and provides business, technical and marketing support for those firms that use Amazon Web Services solutions to help other companies migrate to the cloud.
The benefits of being an AWS partner can go even further, Matt Garrepy, chief digital officer at Orlando-based cloud services firm Solodev, previously told OBJ. Solodev also is part of the AWS Partner Network.
"When you've done enough of it, and you've earned multiple competencies, you're really focused on their cloud solutions, you get kind of invited behind the curtain with some of their more advanced teams. As an example, throughout 2018 and 2019, I was going out to Seattle and working with their AI and machine learning teams to deploy a recommendation engine service."
Contact point
- Anyone interested in learning more about MFT can tune in to its introductory July 8 webinar or visit its website.
Sign up here for our free morning and afternoon daily newsletters. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
