When Triangle Technologies project manager Ariel Frischoff met Fujitsu's ASP project manager to tell him about Israeli start-up Exent Technologies, he realized he came just in time. Fujitsu (Tokyo:6702) was already working on the final items of an "acceptance test" for a partner who would provide an applications-on-demand (AoD) platform.

Frischoff says Triangle Technologies and Exent decided to cut to the chase, and sent Fujitsu a man to help write the tender. Their competitors, mostly Americans, did not think to send someone for this task. In retrospect, says Frischoff, the direct link between the companies was a key factor behind the Fujitsu-Exent deal.

Exent effectively won the tender even before it was published, and opened exhaustive negotiations with Fujitsu for a contract, that lasted over six months. Frischoff was intimately associated with the negotiations, traveling to Japan 16 times in the past year, while helping Exent to amend their business model and understand their potential partner, whose business language was utterly different than what Exent knew from Europe and the US.

Frishoff says, “Naturally, Exent managers went [to Japan] to promote the deal. I was there to help in the negotiations and bridge the parties’ differing expectations in price, technical support, etc. By the way, most of the problems in the negotiations concerned the security situation in Israel. We managed to bring Fujitsu executives to Israel at a critical stage in the negotiations, so they could carry out due diligence on Exent.”

Exent supplies AoD platforms for Internet service providers. The company’s customers include Deutsche Telekom (NYSE:DT; XETRA:DTEG) subsidiary T-Online, AOL (NYSE:AOL), Telia (Stockholm: TLIA) and Bell Canada (TSE:BC). However, there are market segments the ten-year old start-up simply does not consider. Vertically, it does not work in the private consumer market, which demands online games. Following the Fujitsu deal, Exent will provide platforms enabling Fujitsu to provide its customers with distance learning, multi-dimensional imaging and other services.

Exent VP sales and business development Europe and Asia Pacific Eyal Ben-Ari says Fujitsu plans to provide these services to 100 business customers within two years. He declined to comment on the financial scope of the deals, but they open the large enterprise market for Exent, especially in Japan.

“This is a strategic partner who check us from every which way, technologically and organizationally. They examined the stability, survivability and security of our systems. The examinations were unbelievably exhausting. But the result was that Fujitsu is launching a major project, and Exent will be the exclusive supplier for it,” says Ben-Ari.

Triangle Technologies president and CEO Dr. Daniel J. Isenberg notes that Fujitsu cannot allow the project to fail in Japan’s corporate culture. “Failure is terribly shameful in Japan, so it’s impossible to imagine that Fujitsu is developing this particular market segment just to make a few million dollars more. In Japanese terms, these are blue-chip companies, with combined sales of $41 billion. They are looking at multi-billion dollar markets. When you associate with this sort of giant concern, it reflects back on you.”

“Globes”: OK, there’s a deal. Where does Exent go from here?

Ben-Ari: “Look, this is not just another client. We wouldn’t have worked so hard for just another client. We already have big and important clients. In this case, we took a very big risk in taking on the Fujitsu project, opening a new horizon for the company and moving it forward.

“We are now advancing on two tracks. One is this deal. We have a signed contract and reciprocal commitment, and the proving stage begins now. From our perspective, we still have an obligation, because Fujitsu gambled on us, and we still have to supply the company.

“The second track is developing our traditional market, the consumer market. The games industry is big business. It’s bigger than Hollywood. At the same time, the broadband market doubled in size last year. The combination guarantees us many opportunities.”

Isenberg says his company reduces risks for its clients, by helping them form relationships with Japanese concerns. He adds, “We also reduce costs, because opening an office or maintaining staff in Tokyo is very expensive. Another savings factor is our ability to optimize our clients’ relationships with the Japanese. Exent CEO Avi Lev-Goren made only one trip last year to Japan.”