US firm specializing in remote work technology expanding to the Philippines 

By Patricia Mirasol 

GoTo, a Massachusetts-based company specializing in remote work technology, is expanding to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The Philippine market’s demographics are ripe for opportunities in the remote work sphere, according to the company in a March 16 briefing. 

“This is a good place for us to double down and focus, because of the landscape of SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) in the Philippines and Southeast Asia (SEA),” said Lindsay Brown, vice-president and general manager of Asia Pacific for GoTo. “It’s ready for disruption. This is why we are positioning ourselves here.” 

SMEs make up 99% of all businesses in SEA. In the Philippines, GoTo’s figures show 58% of employees prefer full-time remote work. An additional 35% are satisfied with the technology that can support such a work arrangement. 

“Employees are looking for flexible work, but also the tools that allow for it,” Mr. Brown told the audience at the briefing. “From an employers’ perspective, if you want to keep your key talent… offering flex is paramount. Otherwise, they will leave and go elsewhere that can offer it.” 

The company’s SEA team established a local channel program over the past year with partners including Ingram Micro in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, as well as VST ECS in the Philippines. It also plans to hire locals to support its regional expansion plans in 2022. 

“The advantage of GoTo is that it is bandwidth-friendly. It doesn’t consume lots of bandwidth,” said Jimmy D. Go, president and CEO of VST ECS Phils., Inc., at the event. “It also has great security and is easy to use… A lot of SMEs don’t have IT (information technology) departments. This is the kind of solution they’re looking for.” 

“Our annual IT Decision Makers survey revealed that more than 81% of businesses in Southeast Asia will have more than 50% of their workforce working remotely on a part-time or full-time basis,” added Krishna Baidya, director of digital transformation practice at Frost & Sullivan, in a press statement. “Such a shift will continue to change how businesses support their employees’ changing requirements for flexible work.” 

GoTo’s rebranding from LogMeIn on Feb. 2 also signaled the company’s simplification of its portfolio into two flagship products: GoTo Resolve, an IT support product that features zero trust security and has functions like system diagnostics; and GoToConnect, a communications-as-a-service product that allows for calls, meetings, and messages from any device. 

The company’s roots can be traced to Hungary two decades ago, when its co-founder, Michael Simon, found himself always running late because of the traffic he had to contend with daily when going from Buda to Pest. The first iterations of GoTo’s cloud-based remote access tools were borne from this pain point. 

The company has over 3,000 global employees at present and counts Siemens, Hilton, and Isuzu as among its clients.