Synchronoss Technologies

Synchronoss Technologies helps telephone companies synch up a variety of customer service efforts. The company provides hosted software and services that communications service providers use to manage tasks such as phone service activation, account changes, and customer transactions, including credit card billing, inventory management, and trouble ticketing. Customers include service providers such as AT&T Mobility, Level 3, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Vonage, as well as equipment manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, and Nokia. Synchronoss was founded in 2001.

Sales and Marketing

Synchronoss is heavily dependent on its largest customer, AT&T, which is responsible for about 60% of sales. The company's five largest customers (AT&T, Level 3, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Vonage) combined account for about 80% of its total revenues. Reliance on a relatively small number of customers for a majority of sales can be risky for companies such as Synchronoss, as the loss of a single customer can dramatically impact sales. To that end Synchronoss has been working to diversify its customer base in recent years, which has grown past its core base of telecom service providers to include mobile device makers such as Apple and Nokia.

Strategy

While the majority of its sales come from North America, Synchronoss has announced strategic plans to expand its international sales, with a focus on Europe, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific. In late 2010 the company opened a research and development in Ireland with incentives from the country's investment agency, IDA Ireland. In early 2012 the company paid more than $45 million for France-based Miyowa, which provides social network and messaging software for mobile devices. Miyowa's customers include Orange and ZTE.

Ownership

Company co-founder and director James "Jim" McCormick owns about 15% of Synchronoss' stock outright and controls another 5% through his Vermont-based consulting firm, Vertek Corporation.