Business ICT

BOI venture to develop high tech software

A Rs. 52 million venture to develop high tech software for mobile communication was approved by the Board of Investment (BOI).

The venture specialises in providing Caller Ring Back Tunes (CRBT), Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRS Platform), Interactive TV using SMS and Unstructured Supplementary Server Data Browser (USSD).

Chairman / Director General Dhammika Perera, signed the agreement and formally presented the BOI Certificate of Registrations, to Director Nanda Kishore Gottumukkala, and Managing Director of WiFi Networks (Private) Limited India G. N. Mohan Raju.

The parent company WiFi Networks, India, provides ready-to-deploy mobile products and services.

The company partners with broadcasters, production companies, satellite and cable tv networks, advertisers, brand-owners, mobile operators and enabling them to generate revenue by offering interactive entertainment, interactive TV program formats and mobile Value Added Services (VAS) to the end-users.

Eureka provides complete information security solution to Asian Cotton Mills

Eureka Technology Partners (ETP) has provided an end-to-end information security solution package to Asian Cotton Mills Ltd (ASCOT) following a security assessment of ASCOT's IT infrastructure.

The move comes after a preliminary IT security assessment, which covered areas such as perimeter security, router and firewall configuration, remote access, server security, desktop security and network security, with the goal of enhancing the clients existing security posture.

"While most clients have good security solutions in place, this type of security audits play an important role in terms of identifying vulnerabilities that remain outside the purview of day-to-day security practices," said Vice President of IT, Eureka Technology Partners Sulaiman Razmik.

Following the audit, the ETP team developed and implemented a security plan for ASCOT in conjunction with their internal team.

Beginning at the perimeter, ASCOT's IS architecture was optimised with the implementation including gateway filters, optimising server security, standardising the desktop environment, and roll out of internet access guidelines and rules.

Currently managing ASCOT's infrastructure, ETP has brought issue resolution times down, with a goal to reduce it further in the next few months.

Once the complete strategy has been implemented, the in-house team will take over the day-to-day management of the infrastructure while the ETP team will offer support with on-going audits, security management and strategic direction in terms of IT updates.

Browns browses Sri Lanka with eSys Computers and Laptops

eSys Computer Corporation, a Singapore based computer giant recently announced their partnership with Brown and Company PLC as their official retail partner of eSys personal computers and laptops in Sri Lanka. eSys Computer Corporation believes that the alliance with Browns Group will help them immensely in entering new markets while satisfying customers better.

eSys, a company that focuses on providing quality, reliability and affordability to customers, has made available the facility of paying in monthly instalments through Browns.

These PCs built with the consumer firmly in mind, are configured to suite a wide range of needs & necessities.

The desktop models include Ultra Light, Power, Movie Centre and Browns and the Power and Movie Centre models are equipped with LCD Monitors. The Movie Centre model is equipped with state-of-the-art Core2Quad processor from Intel. The Ultra Light and Browns model comes with genuine licensed Microsoft Vista operating systems free-of-charge.

eSys operates in 30 countries around the globe from USA to Asia covering all European countries and is also distributing computer components and peripherals to over 30,000 computer dealers worldwide while manufacturing about a million computers a year of their own brand, Business Process and IT Services.

Currently, eSys has established manufacturing plants in five countries around the world which has a capacity of manufacturing three million computers a year and they are looking at starting the sixth plant in Sri Lanka.

The company has already finalised on the location and is on the verge of applying to the board of investment in Sri Lanka for their approval.

Softlogic with Dell celebrates 15 years

Anuradha Kodagoda

Softlogic Trading (Pvt) Ltd recently celebrated their 15th successful year as the authorised distributor and service partner in Sri Lanka for USA's No.1 computer company Dell Computer Corporation.

Established in 1992 Softlogic Trading initially began working direct with Dell Computer Corporation USA in 1993 with all imports of Dell directly from the USA.

CEO/Director of Softlogic Trading Roshan Rasool said that the company's close affiliation with Dell helped it to specialise in selected areas such as vertualisation, security solutions, messaging solutions and high-end storage infrastructure. Softlogic Trading currently markets the range of Dell products, which includes Desktops, Notebooks, Graphic Workstations, Servers, ISCSI and Fiber Storages etc.

General Manager/Director, Developing Markets Group, Dell Asia Pacific/Malaysia Siva Ananthan Sundram, who specially flew into Colombo for the event said, "We at Dell have observed an aggressive and progressive growth in Softlogic's performance over these past fifteen years.

Thanks to Softlogic's excellent and proven track record, Dell is now a household name in Sri Lanka. We certainly look forward to an even stronger and more successful partnership in the years to come."

Softlogic, is today, one of the largest importers of PCs to Sri Lanka. Among its customers are MAS Holdings, Dialog Telekom, John Keells Holdings, Commercial Bank, Peoples Bank, Hatton National Bank, Sri Lanka Telekom, LOLC Group, Nestle, Ministry of Education, Central Bank, the University Sector, UNDP, USAID, Hemas Group, Star Garments, TIGO, AMBA Research etc.

Softlogic, a global player with operations in Australia, Singapore and Pakistan, is one of Sri Lanka's leading companies. It has diversified into IT, telecommunications, consumer electronics, office automation, automobiles, power solutions, furniture, property development and healthcare.

hSenid promotes HRIS at Katunayake

hSenid Business Solutions HRIS Solutions Provider and Microsoft Sri Lanka, jointly organised a knowledge sharing session on HRIS, SQL Server and Business Intelligence at one of Sri Lanka’s biggest free trade zones, Katunayake.

The outcome of a quality HRIS solution is to provide the capability to more effectively plan, control and manage HR costs, achieve improved efficiency,quality in HR decision making, improve employee and managerial productivity and effectiveness.

The gathering was addressed by some of the key people in the HR community, where the main focus was to introduce a bundle offer on HRIS and SQL Server between hSenid and Microsoft.

The two companies have been working together for the past few years to provide quality software solutions to the corporate domain in Sri Lanka.

‘We are proud to organise an event like this with Microsoft which contributes immensely to the HR and IT community’ said Director/ General Manager, hSenid Business Solutions Sampath Jayasundara.

He was addressing the gathering on how latest organisational practices can be put into effect and how the benefits can be capitalised to obtain the maximum output.

hSenid with over 11 years of experience has made a tremendous impact on the HR and the IT industry in Sri Lanka with its award winning solution ‘HRM Enterprise’ and has been able to enforce productivity and efficiency in day-to-day organisational practices.

Sampath wins accolades for In-house Software

Sampath Bank’s Credit Approval System won the Gold Award in the In-house Development Category while Sampath eRemittance System won a Merit Award at the National Best Quality Software Awards 2008 held by the British Computer Society Sri Lanka Section.

“Sampath has always been proactive in delivering innovative IT solutions with the aim of elevating service quality within the banking industry. I congratulate Team Sampath for highlighting this aim and displaying true professionalism” said Managing Director/CEO of Sampath Bank, Anil Amarasuriya.

“During the last five-year period Sampath Bank adopted a steady branch expansion programme. In this process, the paper based credit approval method became a major constraint to servicing our customers. Our credit approving officers increasingly demanded a fast, reliable and cost effective Credit Approval System to meet the customer demand and worked closely with the Systems Development Department to develop a web-based system that integrated with the Bank’s Core Banking System in providing detailed and up to date customer positions to enable users to make credit decisions more prudently and speedily. I am delighted that the effort put in by our team has been correctly rewarded” said Chief Operating Officer of Sampath Bank, Aravinda Perera.

Sampath’s fully- fledged eRemittance System comprises modules facilitating connections to all external remittance channels. This has enabled the Bank to link with all major cross border fund transfer companies.

National best quality software awards

The 10th National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) was held at Water’s Edge Hotel Battaramulla and the Gold Award in the Overall category was clinched by Microimage Mobile Media (Private) Limited while Silver and Bronze were won by Dialog Telekom (PLC) and Epic Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, respectively. The “Lifetime Achiever” award this year recognised Dileepa de Silva, a longstanding ICT professional who has made outstanding contribution to the local ICT industry.

NBQSA - the only ICT related competition in Sri Lanka is organised by the British Computer Society (BCS) Sri Lanka Section. Select NBQSA winners automatically become eligible to participate at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA), an international awards programme initiated to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide in the region.

John Orton, Director Membership, BCS main body in UK was the Chief Guest at this prestigious ICT awards ceremony and he said ICT is vitally important for the world. It saves more lives in hospitals than through traditional medicine and its importance would be greater in the future.

Orton said: “At the heart of the BCS lies its branches and international sections and I have no hesitation in saying that the Sri Lankan section is the most successful of all of our sections. I congratulate all of our members here tonight for that achievement”.

He said that there should be more professionalism in the ICT Trade. Their key objective is to improve professionalism within ICT and thus there is so much in common between these awards and the BCS.

These events highlight the key contribution made by the ICT profession to the country’s economic prosperity, to business efficiency and to public services.

Chairman, BCS Sri Lanka Sujeewa Dissanayake said their main aim of organising NBQSA is to recognise significant technological development in the software industry in Sri Lanka , and benchmark these products with the best in the world. Over the years, through this annual event many individuals and companies have already obtained well deserved recognition locally and as well as internationally.

There is continuous growth in participation and competing categories are proof for the presence of quality ICT solutions to drive our society for innovation.

This year, 40 commercial products and 70 tertiary projects from 31 companies and 5 universities and tertiary education institutions competed in 14 judging categories. Among them, category and overall winners are recognised, along with special awards from Microsoft as well as APICTA nominations.