Global Business Management Plan for Checkpoint Software in Germany

This project presents a comprehensive global business plan for Checkpoint Software, outlining the company's strategy for entering the German market. The plan begins with an introduction to Checkpoint, a leading cybersecurity solutions provider, and includes a detailed evaluation of the external environment in Germany using a PESTLE analysis, considering political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. The project then analyzes the competitive landscape using Porter's Five Forces model, assessing competitive rivalry, bargaining power of suppliers and customers, and threats of new entrants and substitution. A SWOT analysis is conducted to evaluate Checkpoint's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The project defines specific goals and objectives for market entry, followed by a discussion of potential market entry strategies. The plan concludes with a review of the implementation process. The assignment incorporates relevant frameworks and models to provide a strategic roadmap for Checkpoint's expansion into Germany.

Global business
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
Company overview..........................................................................................................................3
Evaluation of external environment of country...............................................................................3
Analysis of competition status:........................................................................................................5
SWOT analysis:...............................................................................................................................6
Goal and objectives:.........................................................................................................................7
Market entry strategy.......................................................................................................................8
Review for implementation of plan...............................................................................................10
CONCLSUON...............................................................................................................................12
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION

External environment of a country consist of many opportunities and threats that are
affecting the functioning of various industries that are part of their economy. Present report is
based on understand the key challenges that arise while a organisation is willing to establish their
operation's globally. For this there is a need to develop a overview of global business
environment. Check point is a multinational software provider brand that is dealing in software
products like IT security. They are offering multilevel architecture of security and offerings
services like threat prevention and protection. Present report is based on the discussion of
evaluating external environment of a country that is the new target market and further there is a
analysis of competition that is part of the chosen target market (Kalasin, Cuervo‐Cazurra and
Ramamurti, 2020). Further there is use of SWOT analysis to understand the challenges that are
part of new market. All this information will help in development of a business plan and
identification of resources that are required for purpose of achievement of such laid down
objectives.
TASK
Company overview
Checkpoint is a leading brand in offering cyber security solutions to different corporate
enterprises across globe. They are protecting over 10,000 enterprises of different sizes. Their
mission is to secure everything of their client organisations (Li, , Zhang, and Shi, 2020). It
consist of activities like cloud transformations, protection from imminent cyber threats and
defending from critical infrastructures. In present case, this technology organisation is willing to
establish themselves in a new European country that is Germany where they are not having
presence. For this purpose there is discussion of different aspects so that there can be formulation
of a business plan by use of different identified models & frameworks.
Evaluation of external environment of country
For the purpose of making a detailed evaluation of the external target market country
there is a need to develop a detail overview of various aspects that form part of external macro
environment as mentioned below:
Political: Germany is a federal republic and chancellor is head of government. It is
considered as one of most powerful players of EU. They have been recently ranked by political
turmoil. Checkpoint has to considered some of elements that are caused because of changes

taking place as there is brexit scenario that is leading to upheaval in political landscape of this
country. The presence of stable government since long period of time will help in laying down
their functions in a more appropriate manner.
Economic factors: There are some economic factors that are going to create favourable
condition for check pint. Such as Germany is 4th largest economies of world (Xu, X., Zeng, S.
and Chen, 2018). They have nominal GDP forecasts that is dollar 4.2 trillion and there is a
forecasting of robust economic growth. They have a low rate of unemployment that is 3.2
percent. Recently the refugee crisis has carted some amount of unsuitability but they have a high
established economic power.
Social factors: Germany is country that is considered as best locations. The life
expectancy is very high that is 83 years of women and men it is 78 years. They have a modest
birth rate but with a diverse lifestyles. This will help in creating a favourable market scenario for
Check point as there will be strong culture of ethics. They are having a welfare state and citizen
welfare is their primary objective.
Technological factors: Germany is considerer as 5th most technologically advances
nations. They are leading in terms of IT and have made advances in machine learning and
Artificial intelligence (Yoder, Visich,and Rustambekov, 2016). All this creates a situation of a
developed market for Check point but at same time they will be facing situation of high
competition because of presence of many competitors.
Legal factors: There is a legal landscape that is promoted by Germany by establishing of
business ventures of both foreign investors and citizens. Check point will have a positive
environment for making investment with a presence of top notch infrastructure. There is also a
structural reform of corporate tax rates that is leading to country becoming a attractive
destination for worldwide investors.
Environment factors: Germany with all countries across world is facing the threat of
global warming and climatic conditions. There is also a scenario of environmental pollution
because of rapid industrialisation and use of fossil fuels that has top be adopted for having
alternative energy sources. They are working towards solution of making sustainable resources
utilisation that is playing a very important part in international climatic cooperation.

From the above discussed pestle analysis it can be said that PESTLE analysis is a tool
that is very helpful in understand of the factors that can be favourable for check point while they
are willing to lay their operations in Germany.
Analysis of competition status:
For the purpose of developing a detail overview of the competitive position there is a
need to use porters five forces for purpose of analysing different competitive factors as
mentioned below:
Competitive rivalry: The concentration ratio in Germany in the technology industry is
very high that is 61 percent. There are few brands that are dominating this industry (Mohr, and
Batsakis, 2018). Price changes by one brand affects the competitive position of all other brands,
there are Companies such as oracle, SAP that have already established goodwill in market and
are having presence since year 2014 in Germany. So there is a need to make appropriate
strategies by check point to deal with already established technology brands in Germany.
Bargaining power of suppliers: Technology industry is highly capital intensive and they
are heavily depend on capital and not labour. There are many university who are helping in
having large number of skilled individuals who are working in organisations like SAP, oracle.
Illustration 1: Porters Five forces model

So, there is a low bargaining power of supplier because of presence of large number of
developed who are available in market.
Bargaining power of customers: There are few large organisations who are having
majority of market share. Products are having differentiation because of their functionality and
the features that they are sharing. Buyers in this industry have more focus characteristics as
compared to price. Only one ERP is used by a brand. So, because of limited number of options
there will be low bargaining power of buyers that quill be experienced by Check point in
technology industry of Germany.
Threat of new entrants: Technology industry requires high amount of technological
enhancement and up gradations to enter into a new market. The start up cost is generally very
high for nay new software organisation (Tsang and Yamanoi, 2016). They have to also deal with
high amount of competitive response. Customers are also having preferences for already
established brands who are having high goodwill. Industry is highly capital intensive that needs
very high financial resources. There is very low threat of new entrants in Germany for Check
point to lay down their functionality.
Threat of substitution: In Germany there are tow main giant brands that are lading the
whole software & IT industry that is Oracle and SAP. They have difference in their core
characteristics (Rottigand de Oliveira, 2019). They are also dealing in large amount of
diversified segments . But there are very limited brands so there is threat of substitution but it can
be tackled by Company by using of appropriate quality standards and their established brands
names in countries like Australia & Nigeria.
From the above discussed points of porters five forces model it can be said that there is
low threat of new entrants and the overall bargaining power of suppliers & buyers is also very
low. So, it is very favourable time for check point to target Germany as the most appropriate
country of central Europe to establish themselves.
SWOT analysis:
It is very important to develop a detail overview of a organisation by understand its
strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. SWOT analysis will be very helpful for Check pint in
understand their core strengths as mentioned below:

Strength:
 Check point is having high expertise in development of IT security solutions and strong
team of research and development that is helping them in making timely innovations.
 They are working towards development of new security solutions
 There us a strong distribution network that is helping them in reaching to their potential
market.
Weakness:
 Check point software Plc is functioning in a extremely competitive environment that is
why they have a very limited market share in their existing markets.
 This brand is having concentration on one segment of IT that is developing security
solutions as compared to other competitors like Oracle , SAP who are covering a large
variety of different functions.
Opportunities:
 There is a high prospective demand for IT security system in database and network.
 They are having opportunists to expand in untapped global market
 There is a option to use strategic options for expanding in countries where they are not
having any presence.
Threats:
 There is presence of high threat of changing pricing policies
 There is always a increasing threat of new entrants and development of more low price
options for their target segment of corporates.
 There are large global competitor who are working with established goodwill in market
and customers are not able to switch easily.
Goal and objectives:
Checkpoint is a software technology brand that is dealing in providing cybersecurity
solutions to various corporate enterprises and government (Curchod, , Patriotta and Wright, ,
2020). They are dealing in marketing of products and developing of security measures to secure
their transactions over internet for their consumers and various enterprises. They are offering a
portfolio of endpoint security network security, management solutions and data security. The
online platform of security is helping them in extending their capabilities with security software

applications and third part hardware. Presently they are having operations in middle east, Africa,
UK, Europe and Asia pacific. Now, they are willing to expand in some more countries of Central
Europe and their new target country is Germany. For this they have set some strategies based on
the STP analysis of this leading software brand.
Objectives: They are willing to increase their market share by 10 percent by laying their
functions in Germany by the ned of year 2021.
Segmentation: They are dealing in providing security solutions for this the target market is
organisations that required solutions for security problems by leading corporates and government
to protect their data. They are using demographic segmentation as they are targetting their
customers based on size of company, job function and industry type. They are dealing in
corporates as their customers so they are having focus on targetting those organisation who
require high security measures.
Targetting: They are having main target market of small . Medium sized and large organisation.
The main source of revenue is also from government as their main target segment of customers.
There are some major competitors of Check point software that includes ADT security services
N.V Nederlandsche apparatenfabriek, Sentry technology company. There is a need to create a
differentiation position from these existing brands (Barbulescu, 2016).
Positioning: Check point software limited is willing to create a different and strategic position in
their target market by delivering of end point solutions so that they are able to deal with the high
amount of Network threats.
Market entry strategy
Many organisation are willing to select new target market for the purpose of building up
of economies of scale to expand in new target markets (Hunt, Watts, and Bryant, 2018). There
are some strategy that can be used for expanding in new markets by using sustainable income
opportunities (Du, Chang and Wu, 2019). International expansion strategy consist of making
crucial choices by selection of channel strategy, allocation of resources, brand positioning and
creation of a appropriate operating model. There are certain steps that are part of overall business
plan and that will be used by Checkpoint software linked in order to enter in their new target
country that is Germany.
Value proposal: The overall value of Check pint software technologies Ltd. Is that they
are original equipment manufacturing brand that is having speciality in hardware manufacturing.

They will be providing value to their customers in form of firewall services and top quality
network security options.
Positioning of brand: Check point will be creating a differentiation position by adopting
a zero trust security approach so that they are able to create a business of high data protection.
They are having a practical and holistic approach towards zero trust implementation to avoid all
the risks and complexities. It also help in having a Single consolidation architecture of zero trust
security.
Target customer: Checkpoint software is having a structure for a structure of cyber
security they are having customers is leading corporate brands like Askoll, Banseco, Avnet,
MTR, Blue coat, BCA, Cadence, Cbetrify, Montreal etc. apart from these brands they are also
fulfilling the requirement of government of countries in which they are having presence. They
will be targetting similar corporate brands of Germany while they are willing to enter in a
complete new market of Europe.
Determination of pricing Strategy: The pricing Strategy of check pint will be depend on
the ultimate value of products for their target segment of customers. The pricing strategy will be
having more focus on the credit terms, list price, discount and payment period (Ji, 2016). If in
Germany they will be using a price penetration strategy then they will have to set lower price as
compared to all other brands that are already existing in Germany and are part of software
industry. They will have to build up a customer base by using a discounting strategy. In case if
they are willing to adopt the price skimming strategy then it will require a clear communication
of the higher value that will be provided to their customers.
Channel strategy: There are many different channels that can be used by Check point for
purpose of entering in their new target country that is Europe. For this some of major options that
are available for checkpoint software is mentioned below:
Franchising and licensing: while a organisation is willing to expand in international
markets there is presence of legals and financial risks that have to be consider. So, in order to
avoid these licensing is a very appropriate options where there is a licensing agreements that is
build between a franchising brand that is licensee and the licensor for the purpose of making use
of intellectual propriety rights (Seidenstricker, 2016).
Strategic alliance: It is another method that can be adopted by formation of a strategic
alliance with any local established brand. It will help in deciding about the value local partner

can bring for the organisation. It has advantages as it will help in understanding of the local
culture. The main disadvantage with this is the loosing of direct control and the possibility of
partnering with different goals. There are some required documents like industrial licensee and
foreign collaborative agreements, import license that leads to high regulatory requirements.
Acquisition:
It is a transaction that can help in having more control of another organisation by
purchasing of stock and it is a effective strategy of the industry is consolidating. It is a good
Strategy that can be used by organisations while they are consolidating.
Strategic alliance can be a suitable option for checkpoint software purpose of forming
partnership with existing brand in Germany. Then there can be use of innovation technique for
being a top choice for cloud security. The partner growth program will help in having a close
alignment with their check point channel team with speed, agility, best practises, time to Market
and creation of high customer value.
Review for implementation of plan
Financial resources:
According to the financial performance of check point software in the year 2020 there has
been a total Revenue of 486 million dollars that is it was a three percent increase across a year.
They have deferred revenues of 1,349 million dollar and a GAAP operating income of 201
million dollar that represents a 41 percent enhancement of their revenues. They are saying a view
that they have achieved success in first quarter because of their high commitment for their
partners, customers and employees in these unprecedented times. They have been able to
sustained their business even if there was a COVUD-19 impact. They have seen a enhancement
in demand for Network security gateways and this has supported them in increasing their
capabilities for having access to VPN solutions. They are willing to provide high security to their
customers that helps in running their business.
It can be said from above made analysis that Checkpoint software has sufficient availability of
resources that is helping them in expanding their functions across borders (Luo, and Bu, 2018).
There will be a estimation requirement of 359 million dollar as the financial resources for the
purpose of expand in to their target company. They have announce a transformation of appliance
security to a new Quantum security gateways that is delivering a premier security. The new line

of security models will be used for extending their infinity architecture from their branch offices
to the main data centre.
Non Financial resource:
There are certain non financial resource that are required by Checkpoint software that
have to be considered for the purpose of their international expansion that consist of significant
market research. So that there can be reduction of risk and cost. It is also helpful in better
management of resources like time, skills and financial resources. Intellectual property rights is
also a tool that can be used by Organisations like Check point for the purpose of protecting their
brand name while they are approaching a new target market.
Implementation:
It is a process of concerting strategies and plans in actions so that various goals and
objectives can be achieved. Organisation have to develop strategic plans to incorporate process
in a plan. There has to be continuous monitoring system that will be laid down in order to
develop a detail overview of the progress made ta different stages.

CONCLSUON
It can be summarised that every organisation requires some resources for the purpose of
expanding themselves to other international borders. These resources are classified in two
categories that is financial and non financial that are very important for smooth functioning of a
organisation. Further, there is classification of business plan by making a detailed analysis by use
of models such as Porters five forces for understanding of the competitive positioning, pestle
analysis for getting insights of the macro environment and SWOT analysis for getting insights
into the internal functioning of business.

REFERNCES
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