Business ICT

Epsi goes for Rs 50 m service centre

Anjana Samarasinghe

Epsi Computers will invest Rs 50 million on a service centre. The company also plans to setup a computer assembling plant this year.

Chief Executive Officer of Epsi Computers Niranjan Canagey told Daily News they will invest Rs 50 million on a service centre to facilitate after sale services of their computers, communication equipment and consumer electronic items sold in Sri Lanka.

"Today we are sending 75 per cent of our sold items to original manufacturers for after sale services. The new service centre will enable us to provide after sale services in Sri Lanka. The new service centre will be equipped with technical experts from original manufacturers", he said.

The company expects to integrate with world-renowned manufacturers for the supply of computer hardware for their new assembling plant.

The two projects will provide around 300 jobs.

"There was a five per cent market growth in the computer hardware market last year. "But there was a 15 per cent growth in other markets in the region. Lack of spending power of the consumers and economic condition in the country resulted in slow growth in the market", he said.

Talking about the prices Canagey said Computer prices in the local market was on par with prices of other markets in the region due to tariff reductions in the local market.

But Sri Lanka could further enhance its computer penetration by introducing 0% duty for computers.

Many multinational companies in the IT business are reluctant to invest heavily in Sri Lanka due to the size of the local market but they have confidence in the Sri Lankan market he said.

However lack of knowledgeable workers in the IT industry and high retention cost of these workers are the major barriers in the industry. Business expansion of IT companies has been restricted due to lack of office space available in Colombo.

Sri Lanka does not have successful venture capitalists. In other countries venture capitalists play a vital role in developing small scale businesses. In Sri Lanka venture capitalists still adopt traditional ways of lending. Local venture capitalists do not take ideas of small companies seriously which have high growth potential, he said.

According to Canagey IT infrastructure in the country has improved. But the public and the private sector needs to integrate further to develop IT infrastructure in the country. The company has gained 20 per cent growth last year and expects Rs 3 billion turnover this year.

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Microsoft poised to transform financial services in Sri Lanka

The Microsoft Financial Services Industry (FSI) Day is an annual event that is held in most of its subsidiaries worldwide.

This event was held recently for the first time in Sri Lanka under the auspices of Microsoft and is slated to become an annual fixture in the country's business calendar, ushering in new insights into the local financial services industry. Several Microsoft partners both local and regional presented their capabilities on this occasion to a gathering of the country's leading financial service representatives.

Industry Manager - FSI, Microsoft, Ryan Tan said: "Microsoft provides the software to make businesses truly 'people-ready'. This implies that financial firms can leverage technology to amplify the impact their people have on developing more profitable customer relationships, improving operations and reducing cost, creating innovative products and services, and building connections to partners and suppliers.

Microsoft is strongly committed to building deeper customer connections with financial services institutions in Sri Lanka. At Microsoft, we feel the FSI day in Sri Lanka is the ideal forum for Microsoft to establish fruitful relationships with Banks and other Financial Services Institutions, to understand their business better and to share global best practices, or how Microsoft can help them empower their employees to better connect to their customers and deliver results to power their business," Tan said.

Microsoft's Financial Services Group focuses on three core industry sectors: Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance. The company is responding to the rapid evolution in these sectors with the development of its Financial Services initiative.

The initiative is a solutions framework designed to guide financial services companies to think in new ways and thereby deliver the right solutions. The framework does this by aligning its platform, industry partners and people so that financial services customers can maximise their investment in technology, reduce their operational costs and compete more effectively in the marketplace.

When customers take advantage of these capabilities, the experience created, yields tremendous differentiation in the marketplace; and they can fundamentally change the customer, employee and operations experience.

Financial institutions globally have identified some key strategic focal points where substantial investments will be mandatory on an ongoing basis such as improved customer satisfaction, increased customer retention, the ability to extend current relationships through cross-selling and improved cost management.

Microsoft's global expertise coupled with innovative solutions will allow financial services institutions in Sri Lanka to maximise these strategic areas.

Moreover, financial organisations need to respond quickly to the burgeoning needs of their customers, and to effect this, they need quick access to all relevant customer information to assist with sales, marketing and servicing their customers.

By leveraging their systems on a Microsoft platform, organisations can offer valued customers world class product and service standards.

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Oracle ranked as leader in CRM Applications

Oracle recently announced that Datamonitor, a leading provider of online data, analytic and forecasting platforms for key vertical sectors, has recognised Oracle as a leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Applications for the life sciences industry.

According to Datamonitor's Decision Matrix: Selecting a CRM Vendor in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Competitor Focus), Oracle combines robust CRM technology with extensive market impact in the pharmaceutical sector.

According to the report, Oracle is recognised as the leading vendor in the categories of market impact, technology assessment and end-user sentiment, which propels it to a top position on the shortlist of CRM vendors in the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition, the report - which also evaluated Cegedim Dendrite, Salesforce.com, Stay in Front and Verticals on Demand - rates Oracle's Siebel CRM as the most recognised solution among surveyed respondents and the solution that received the highest scores across six out of eight end-user categories, including product quality, portfolio depth and financial stability.

"Because Siebel CRM 8 balances industry expertise with a robust enterprise-class technology that is customisable to every type of end user in pharmaceutical sales and marketing, life science companies should shortlist Oracle when considering a CRM product," wrote Markella Kordoyanni, Datamonitor analyst for Pharmaceutical Technology, and Nicole Engelbert, Datamonitor lead analyst for Vertical Markets Technology, in the report.

"Siebel CRM 8 is a harmonious fit for companies looking for enterprise-wide, global deployment of a comprehensive 'out-of-the-box' solution that offers a 360-degree view if its customers," the report said.

"Oracle understands the value of tailoring our applications to the distinct industries we serve. This is particularly important in the life sciences industry, which faces a set of unique competitive and regulatory challenges," said Neil de Crescenzo, group vice president, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Oracle.

"Datamonitor's Decision Matrix for CRM in the pharmaceutical industry - along with the fact that 20 of the top 20 life sciences organisations run Oracle applications - underscores Oracle's commitment to and success in delivering industry-specific functions," Neil Said.