Export-import firm sees new business opportunities in IT

MANILA, Philippines - From being an exporter of ready-made garments and importer of hardware, office and sporting goods for over two decades, Visita Group has decided to diversify its operations to foray into the business of software development to meet the country’s growing demand for IT solutions.

Visita co-owner and managing director Prakash Dayaram, an Indian national who practically fell in love with the Philippines since he migrated here 33 years ago, said venturing into IT business is quite challenging.

“It’s not an easy move but we see a very good opportunity and an exponential growth potential for software development as businesses in the country need to automate to align their operations and prepare for the Asean 2015,” he said.

The Visita Group formed Visita Solutions Inc. (VSI) in 2010 but not until 2012 or two years ago that the company rolled out the business extensively throughout the country.

In 2010, VSI launched its widely-sold comprehensive biometric payroll software system. The product is seamless and computes attendance automatically, including quit paying, maternity leave and overtime among other considerations. 

Additionally, the biometric payroll system enables users to upload attendance in an encrypted file from the branch office and download data from the main office for payroll processing. The system can also be custom made to suit company specific requirements.

As a result of its intensified marketing initiatives, VSI was able to partner with major banks and corporations to cater to their IT needs in just a short time.

To date, the companies that have availed of VSI products include: Sodexo, Pilmico,  UCC, GNQ Industrial and Contracting Corp., Bridgestone,Oakley, Coach, BFG International, City Neon, Festo, SRJ Construction & Design, Ineng’s, MC Makati Club, Portal East, CPF, Lorenzana, Manila Golf, Pokphand, Iceland Drilling, Media Magnet Innovation, and among others.

VSI products are also being used by several health institutions like The Doctor’s Hospital Inc., East Avenue Medical Center, and Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Dayaram also took pride in developing homegrown software packages which are so efficient that made their customers satisfied and wanting to sign for long-term contracts. 

Aside from VSI biometric payroll, the IT company also offers VSI POS System, VSI Accounting System, VSI Production System, VSI Hotel Management System - VSI Payroll Outsourcing, VSI Barcoded Inventory System and VSI Door Lock System.

The VSI accounting system is a sophisticated management control system which allows the client to maintain all books of account starting from record voucher to ledgers. It inherits the principles of double entry system of book keeping.

VSI POS (Point-of-Sale) system allows for quick processes of sales ledgers. This product is so powerful that it also integrates inventory management system (IMS) into it.

Dayaram said all the other products of VSI carry with them an innovative high level system that surely meet the expectations of its clients.

Humble beginning

One interesting thing about Visita group, Dayaram said, is that their corporate name was born out of the love for their mothers. 

“Visita comes from combination of the first syllable of name of the mother of my business partner ‘Vi’ (Vishumbari Tulsiani) and the first name of my mother ’Sita’ (Sita Dayaram). That’s how we love our mothers,” he enthused.

During that time, Dayaram also recalled that one of its major trade partners was Panama where they would always encounter the word ‘Visita’ which means to visit.

As Visita is 100-percent owned by Filipinos, Dayaram said they would want to  live up to the expectation that Filipinos are loving and people-oriented individuals.

“From our humble beginning, we would want to grow our company which is an all-Filipino firm into something that would also help in uplifting the lives of the Filipinos by giving jobs to the IT graduates. IT (information technology) is the way of the future. This is where we are heading, so we would want to be part of this growth and at the same time, help in training and employing people,” he said.

The group currently employs 70 people and hopes to increase this to 100 by the end of the year.

He said hiring and training highly-qualified IT graduates/students would support the company’s thrust of constantly developing and updating its software products.

The company has been heavily investing in research and development (R&D) as this is the key to a constantly evolving business.

“We are continuously upgrading and updating our products. That’s the name of the game, we should be constantly improving what we have to offer our customers. While we offer products which are one of the cheapest, we would also like to be true to our promise  of delivering quality products and services,” he said.

Future targets

With the development of seven new products which are all competitively-priced, VSI is eyeing to triple its earnings this year.

Dayaram said, the company’s earnings growth would be sustained at 25-50 percent every year starting 2015.

The income growth would be driven by the company’s intensive marketing initiatives and would be supported by the continuing growth of the economy as well, he said.

In the near-term, VSI hopes to become a leader in the enterprise software industry and be the only choice of many companies in different business sectors.

Within the next three years, VSI, which is a member of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), also eyes to expand and tap business opportunities overseas.

“The PSIA would be hosting in the next years some international trade shows and we would be part of it. We hope to market our unique and innovative technology abroad. These trade shows would give us overseas exposure,” he said.