Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM: Beacon of resilience amidst COVID-19
As Sri Lanka confronts the COVID-19 crisis, the country’s Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Management (BPM) sector has emerged as a shining beacon of resilience and hope amidst unforeseen challenges.
This was mainly due to order cancellations, suspension of on-going projects, inability to collect due payments, inability to travel to provide on-site services, etc as well as diminishing opportunities in the local market (what ICT companies used to enjoy).
The IT–BPM sector has adapted their business and work models to cope with the global disruptions caused by the pandemic facing challenges to remain in the spotlight while holding overseas clients amidst a cash-flow crisis due to project cancellations.
This was revealed by the Sri Lanka Association for Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM).
The ongoing pandemic has affected the industry relentlessly testing business continuity plans and disaster recovery strategies but the sector is now weathering the COVID-19 storm.
Overcoming obstacles, approximately 90 per cent of IT-BPM companies in Sri Lanka were ready to act to ensure zero or very minimal interruptions to their regular operations, SLASSCOM Chairman Ranil Rajapakse told the Business Times.
Responding to the crisis local IT companies have quickly resorted to allow work from home for their employees ensuring their safety and business continuity for most of their clients.
SLASSCOM has already appealed to the Government to provide necessary assistance to the sector; in the form of allowing for essential operations to continue such as access to servers and movement of essential personnel for troubleshooting and mission critical systems maintenance.
Following the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, foreign IT customers will begin reconsidering their expenditure and outsourcing arrangements, reducing budgets, industry sources said.
Present challenges to the Sri Lankan ICT industry are the possibility of collapsing markets and therefore the risk of uncertainty for survival and sustaining businesses (at least to secure revenues sufficient to cover the overheads).
Procurement of ICT products and services by government and banking sectors, the largest buyers in the local market, will be reduced at least by 50 per cent as both these sectors are badly affected, Chairman/ Managing Director of EPIC Technology Group Dr. Nayana Dehigama told the Business Times.
Many countries to which local companies used to export products and services might soon impose embargoes on importing foreign products as a measure to prevent repatriation of foreign exchange and providing more opportunities for local industries, he said.
In the post-COVID crisis market, it will be extremely difficult for companies to grow due to the hostile factors such as depression in market potential, reduced revenues and especially the fierce competition for limited opportunities and price wars, etc.
Due to the significant reduction of revenues, many ICT companies will struggle to retain their highly paid key/expert employees who possess distinct competencies.
These experts may migrate to find opportunities in foreign countries where they can find better opportunities. Migration of employees with distinct competencies will create major disadvantages to the ICT sector.
Under the present setup it is essential to explore the possibility of generating new ‘market trends’, which will create new business opportunities (due to behavioural and lifestyle changes of the public), he said.