Following on from a highly successful 2012, wide-format software developer Caldera is refocusing its sales strategy for 2013 to capitalize on its growth in Europe and explore new markets. A number of senior and international appointments have been made in order to meet demand, as well as the incorporation of a US branch of Caldera.

"Caldera has reached an excellent level of market penetration somewhat organically, and we're now able to turn that into a global strategy," says Joseph Mergui, CEO, Caldera. "Our year-on-year growth has been consistently strong and has put us in a position to take the challenge our international competitors with this new approach. Already 80 percent of our turnover comes from outside of France, so we are responding to that demand with a strengthened sales and service plan."

Florence Pierre has recently been appointed Vice-President International Sales at Caldera, having spent more than 15 years with the company managing its business development in France, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the UK. She will now take responsibility for promoting Caldera's growth in regions the company has identified as strong propositions, in particular Latin America, Asia and the USA.

"The realignment of our sales department is a critical step at this point in Caldera's growth," Pierre says. "2012 was a very big year for us in Europe, and we're aiming for 2013 and beyond to be as important for us throughout the rest of the world. We have many opportunities to increase our global presence and there has never been a better time for Caldera to expand. I am very much looking forward to this new challenge."

In addition to Pierre's appointment, Caldera also took on a dedicated Business Development Director for Latin America last year, Gaston Giudice, and now has two technicians in the region, located in Brazil and Mexico. These countries have shown strong demand for Caldera's products and now benefit from the training and support to complement them. Caldera Inc, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the recently incorporated US arm of the company which employs a sales representative, a business development manager and three support specialists in order to better service Caldera customers in the USA.

Parallel to its business expansion plans, Caldera will also pursue a program of product development including print-and-cut workflow, business management, digital signage and web-to-print software. This broadened focus reflects the transition of print from analogue to digital processes and the growth of the industrial printing sector. Glass, ceramic and textile printing are becoming increasingly important markets, and Caldera will look to grow its presence in these areas with strategic partnerships. A new OEM Director for industrial markets, Jeremy Spencer, formerly of Xaar, has been appointed to lead Caldera in its expansion into the industrial printing market.

"Caldera's core competences of highly accurate image rendition for all types of wide-format print are now reaching into new areas," Mergui continues. "In the applications sense, that's reflected by our pioneering moves into digital signage and the extension of our process control and color management handling for print, while in the geographic sense it's seen in the formalization of our sales and support at the global level. For Caldera it's always been about marrying practical innovation with superb customer support, and we're excited to amplify that on the world stage."