(Sharecast News) - Data specialist WANdisco has signed an initial agreement worth $12.7m with a "global Europe-based automotive manufacturer", it announced on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said the agreement was for internet-of-things (IoT) data residing in the client's data centre to be migrated to the cloud.
It said the deal would be a one-off migration, rather than a commit-to-consume contract, and as such, around 80% of the revenue was expected to be recognised in the 2022 financial year, with the balance falling into 2023.
WANdisco said it was chosen due to its ability to migrate petabyte-scale data.
Once the migration was complete, it expected the client would launch a range of IoT-related services.
With the advent of electric vehicles, WANdisco said automotive manufacturers were increasingly seeing data as an important revenue opportunity.
It said it was seeing "significant interest" in its solutions from vehicle producers globally, and was expecting further progress in the industry vertical as a "core and growing market" for the company.
Following the new agreement, the board said it expected 2022 financial year revenues would be "significantly ahead" of market expectations, and no less than $19m.
In addition, bookings for 2022 were expected to top $116m.
"We are delighted to have secured this agreement with a global automotive manufacturer," said chairman and chief executive officer David Richards.
"This contract shows that WANdisco is the preferred choice for customers that want to seamlessly and securely migrate large scale data from on premise and edge platforms to the cloud.
"The transport industry which includes automotive manufacturers, automotive component suppliers and rail companies represents a sizable opportunity for the company."
Richards said interest in the company's solutions had accelerated and included active discussions with several automotive manufacturers to use WANdisco's technology to move data to the cloud, enabling several additional services to be offered to its customers.
"As we exit 2022, we look forward to 2023 with confidence; not only do we expect to convert the significant opportunities we have in our pipeline but we hope to see increased consumption from all of the agreements signed in 2022, providing increased revenue visibility as we progress through the year."
At 1303 GMT, shares in WANdisco were up 1.92% at 883.66p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
