Gold Magazine December 2013 - January 2014, Issue 33 | Page 64

technology

Workplace. This is rewarding in many different ways, especially for
a technology company
which has to constantly
strive to stay on the edge
The CEO and main
of technological innovashareholder, Iacovos
tion. The WebAward was
Zachariades.
particularly rewarding since, as a
technology company, we are constantly
striving to remain on the cutting edge of technological innovation and this was an indication
that we are succeeding.

working on the same projects in distant offices. Meridian also allows us to establish clear
responsibilities and roles, and standardize the
quality of our communication, products and
results. Furthermore, we take full advantage of
the minimum of 2 hours of overlapping working hours between our two locations by frequently scheduling online meetings, allowing
our teams to discuss all mutual project issues
“face-to-face”. This not only enhances our
efficiency, it also enables us to be sure that no
time is wasted on the unnecessary whilst one
office or the other is away from work.

Gold: Why was Cyprus chosen as the
unique location of new offices outside the
company’s US HQ state of Iowa and what
does a presence in Cyprus offer to the company as a whole?
M.L.: Global Reach had flirted with the idea
of establishing operations in Cyprus for many
years. In addition to the sentimental connection of the CEO to his home country, there
were several business incentives that we found
attractive. The availability of highly skilled and
educated personnel in Cyprus, the low corporate tax rate (especially compared to that in the
US), the lack of a language barrier, a relatively
underdeveloped Internet market on the island
and its location within Europe made it the
appropriate option. Another important factor
was the specific time zone difference between
Cyprus and Iowa; working hours overlap sufficiently to allow the two locations to communicate during the working day and when one
work day ends, the offices in the other location
are still open, and vice versa, essentially offering
clients round-the-clock support.

Gold: Despite the current troubled economic climate in Cyprus, you began expanding
your operations in January of this year. In
retrospect, was it an appropriate time to
take such a step?
M.L.: It is our fervent belief that a time of economic slowdown is actually the best time for
taking strategic business decisions in order to
take advantage of the positive aspects of a crisis
and emerge stronger. This has always been the
strategy of Global Reach. In 2013 we opened
our office in Cyprus and the fact that one year
later we are making plans for expanding our
operations even further is our way of saying
that we have no regrets so far.

Gold: Do the US and Cyprus offices work
together with the same international clientele? How do the two locations collaborate?
M.L.: Global Reach offices, whether in the US
or Cyprus, or any other part of the world for
that matter, are considered part of the same
pool of resources that can be utilized at any
time to execute any internal or external project.
So resources in Cyprus are fully integrated
into the organisational structure of the parent
company and personnel collaborate with other
team members for the execution of any project,
irrespective of whether the project is in Cyprus
or in the US. A key factor of our success is the
efficiency of our online collaboration platform,
Meridian, which we ourselves developed and
which has the ability to handle the logistical complexity and management of projects,
as well as being able to supervise employees

Gold: Has the financial turbulence in Cyprus or the US affected your business in any
way?
M.L.: Global Reach has a very large and
diverse client base so we are, fortunately, not
financially dependent on any particular industry segment or group of clients that we service.
We lived through the US Dot-Com Bubble of
1999-2001 and the financial crisis of 2008 and
we have seen many of our competitors go out
of business. Every move that we have made so
far, in the form of an acquisition or an expansion of our presence in a place like Cyprus, has
always been carefully evaluated, planned and
executed. Financial turbulence, such as that
affecting Cyprus right now, can also be seen
as an opportunity for a company to take advantage of favourable business conditions that
would not have otherwise been presented.
Gold: You’re continuously adding to your
team of web developers, designers and support staff. How do Cypriot professionals
compare with those in the US?
M.L.: We consider our people to be the most
important asset in our business. Before we hire
anyone at Global Reach, we put them through
an extensive interview process which also in-

64 Gold the international investment, f