IFS assures business growth and outperformance in Sri Lanka
While transparency plays an integral part of an organisation’s growth, the connections built based on transparency leads to business growth and outperformance, it was stated this week.
During celebrations marking 21 years of IFS’s establishment in Sri Lanka at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo last week, IFS Regional President, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Middle-East and Africa, Stephen Keys made this remark.
Shiraz Lye – Managing Director / Vice President Sales IFS South Asia (speaking): Others in the picture from left: Stephen Keys – President – IFS Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa; Thomas Säld – Senior Vice President Research and Development and Ranil Rajapaksa – Senior Vice President/ Head of World Operations – Sri Lanka
“Transparency is very important as a private company and it must be seen in government institutions as well. We at IFS are growing quickly, we are outperforming in our industry and we are using the growth opportunity to invest in our future success and in our community,” he said.
Mr. Keys stated that IFS saw a six fold increase in cloud and software as service revenue in Q3 2018 compared to Q3 of 2017. “In the last couple of years we have recognised a shift in the consumption and buying habits of our customers. Organisations are looking to reduce the capital expenditure and offload the responsibility for IT infrastructure management.”
Total revenue generated in Q3 of 2018 was US$ 143 million, a 28 per cent growth compared to Q3 of 2017. The company’s consulting revenue has grown by 9 per cent in Q3 this year. Net revenue for the company from January to September 2018 was $411 million which is a 23 per cent growth compared to 2017.
Across Asia-Pacific, Japan and Africa, IFS license revenue has grown by 25 per cent in the Q3 2018 versus 2017. “We are committed to invest in this part of the world especially in Sri Lanka. We look at the growth opportunities throughout the region. Today 70 per cent or more of trade is taking place intra-regional. Trade growth is happening business to business within the Asian, West Asian and African context. We are tapping into those market opportunities,” he noted.
IFS Research and Development Senior Vice President, Thomas Sald said that IFS saw one of the best quarters in terms of growth where the license growth was more than 50 per cent in Sri Lanka. Some 60 per cent of product development is done in Sri Lanka in addition to 80 per cent of product support. Engagement and efficient user experience and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the reasons why companies are investing in IFS products and services, he added.
IFS labs is a special unit in Sri Lanka that looks at new technologies and trends in IT, business and society to see if that can provide business value to all customers. They are in the forefront of technology and working with artificial intelligence (AI), hollow lenses, drones and so on. “As a global company IFS has chosen to place its development labs in Sri Lanka because of the technical talent and the quality of universities. The company is looking at AI, where robots and automation will replace certain jobs. It will make a big impact in the future and new kinds of jobs will be created instead, for humans. AI within IFS is seen as a tool to reach the goal, using technology to make better solutions to customers. We have chosen three areas within IFS, human machine interaction, maintenance of service and automation,” noted Mr. Sald.