Ivia: internationalization and growth

This teaching case presents the internationalization process of a firm that distinguishes itself in three aspects: it is part of the services industry, sells software (an atypical product in Brazilian exports), and has its headquarters in the Northeast of Brazil. Founded in 1996 in the city of Fortaleza, Ivia was the first company to launch an Internet Banking service in the Northeast of Brazil and the first Internet access provider targeting the corporate market of Fortaleza. Ten years later, the company had developed business tools for web applications, aiming to optimize management processes based on Internet technology. It had customers in Brazil and Portugal. The case describes Ivia's trajectory in its first decade, as well as the beginning of the firm's internationalization process. The central issue to be discussed is how the firm can keep up with its internationalization process and at the same time broaden its scope of activities in the domestic market. In addition, the case offers the opportunity to debate how government agencies can support the international development of small software firms, a priority of the current national industrial policy.