Sri Lanka’s uphill climb towards prosperity needs an elevator, not a ladder

Veteran IT leader Jayantha De Silva reminisces his 21 years at IFS Sri Lanka, touches upon fake ERP consultants and ineffective politicians

By Hiyal Biyagamage

They say no legacy is so rich as honesty. If Jayantha De Silva is known for one rock-solid reason in the local information technology and business process management (IT/BPM) industry, it is the honesty he showcased towards the sector to transform it into a growth catalyst of Sri Lanka’s economy. 

For the last 30 plus years of his career, and of that 21 years at IFS Sri Lanka, Jayantha had been a key figure who worked the extra hour and walked the extra mile to build one of the fastest-growing business sectors of the country to what it is today – $ 1.2 billion export revenue, over 100,000 employees and a passionate target set for 2022 to become a $ 5 billion industry. 22 years ago, the IT/BPM industry recorded just $ 100 million worth of export revenue.

Last September, IFS announced the departure of this iconic leader after he spearheaded the global enterprise applications company’s local office for more than two decades as the President and CEO. The beauty of Jayantha’s legacy at IFS Sri Lanka is that as the head of IFS Sri Lanka, he carved his name on the hearts of his employees. His legacy is etched into the minds of people at IFS as well as in the local IT/BPM industry and how he built IFS Sri Lanka with only six people is still one of the legendary stories that people get to hear when they join IFS office in Wellawatte. 

Birth of IFS Sri Lanka

“30 years ago, Sri Lanka’s social, economic and political situation was not attractive at all. However, we had a few visionary leaders in the Government as well as in the industry who could deliver results, transform ideas and put them into the operational layer of things,” Jayantha reminisced with Daily FT. “This was not an easy task at all but this cream of the crop had the capacity to sustain these ideas within this operational layer so that these ideas actually delivered results.

“Though the context was unfavourable for many foreign investors, many companies wanted to enter Sri Lanka because the country had smart people with skills and wit. That is how IFS decided to come down and start their research and development (R&D) centre in Colombo.”

The multinational enterprise software company, headquartered in Sweden, was trying their luck in the Asia Pacific region for years to set up their R&D centre. At a time where Air Lanka (now SriLankan Airlines) operated direct flights from Stockholm to Colombo, Sri Lanka was the perfect port for IFS to put the anchor down. Jayantha remembers clearly how IFS reached him. The memories are etched in the back of his mind clear as he recalled them with us fondly.

“It was 19 June 1997. I was at my sister’s birthday party when the call came from IFS. They wanted to meet me and discuss how to continue their operations in Sri Lanka. Top level IFS team visited Sri Lanka to look into the feasibility of establishing the R & D centre in Sri Lanka. To cut a long story short, IFS agreed to set up their R&D centre in Colombo after the initial discussion. They were impressed about the plans and steps proposed to recruit the best of the best,” said Jayantha.

With six people on board, IFS Sri Lanka built up their business with some strategic business models and plans. The R&D concept itself was novel in Sri Lanka, which helped the company to spark interest among university students who were following computer science and experienced software engineers who were already working for other companies. At that time, IFS was not selling a lot of software solutions – and there were a small number of local companies who actually sold IT products during that period – but rather offering the service of their employees for BPO-based (business process outsourcing) projects that was a major source of revenue generation for the industry at that time. 

High salaries at IFS Sri Lanka was turning many heads toward the organisation and for once, Jayantha was afraid that this would destabilise the entire sector. 

“When we did the math, our salaries were beyond par that the industry was offering at that time. We wanted a level playing field for everyone,” opined Jayantha. 

While trying to devise attractive models to recruit people, Jayantha came up with ‘Industry Placement Scheme’, which went onto, revolutionise the IT sector and later, it was adopted by other business sectors as well. 

“Many people did not understand this concept and a lot of them resented the idea. People asked me why we should do this. Some asked whether I am going nuts to offer industry opportunities for kids who just left school. But today, it has become one of the best models to attract high-quality, talented people. Over the years, we have recruited some brilliant minds through this initiative and we still do. I still remember some students who were selected to do engineering at Moratuwa University joined us without joining the faculty. The beauty of that was within five years, we were able to develop a professional who understood IFS’ sentiments as well as the dynamics of the industry.” 

People resenting towards unique ideas was not the only challenge Jayantha faced. Technical challenges, slow internet, overhead costs of employees and unreliable infrastructures (power shortages and interruptions happening on a daily basis) were hampering IFS Sri Lanka’s progress. However, Jayantha and his team were confident that they could overcome these challenges one by one. 

“Obviously, technologies were very limited at that time. The challenges we faced 21 years back are not showstoppers anymore. Luckily, bureaucracy levels of the country were very low. I remember visiting the Board of Investment office and they were so much helpful to set this up because it was a novel thing for them. Moreover, we had the ability to build capacity to run our operations here and IFS believed in that a lot. Challenges we had at that time are not in existence anymore but there is a new wave of obstacles today. My belief is that we cannot hide behind those challenges; you should have the gut to overcome them. That is why IFS boldly came here and established themselves.” 

IFS Sri Lanka is different from other IT companies in Sri Lanka in many ways but they do not shout about it at all. While marketing, selling, implementing and supporting IFS applications – world leading ERP software – into different industry verticals, IFS Sri Lanka provides first line, second and third line support for all ongoing operations, directly from Sri Lanka. As Jayantha calls it, IFS Sri Lanka is an extension of the head office in Sweden. The word ‘outsourcing’ has been deleted from their dictionary a long time back. 

“Today, we have more than 1,000 Sri Lankans working for IFS. Our R&D centre is the largest outside of Sweden and Sri Lanka is the home to IFS’s global support and training centre. Many companies followed our path when we entered Sri Lanka in 1997 and they used to call and get advice from me on whether to enter Sri Lanka or not. I was able to boost their confidence and helped many big companies to enter Sri Lanka. In a way, IFS Sri Lanka has significantly helped to shape the local IT industry as well,” Jayantha said proudly. 

Simple ERP versus technical jargon

IFS is known for their excellent enterprise resource planning software (ERP) and it is their core business. IFS applications boast that their ERPs are not complex and rigid like some other suites. Rather, it is designed to rapidly adjust to changes in technology and business, maximising enterprise agility. Moreover, these applications are capable of delivering more than just ERP. It has native functionality for enterprise project management (EPM), enterprise asset management (EAM) and service management.

Many present ERP vendors in the market are trying their best to marry emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning, with ERP solutions to bring out a sense of novelty. However, Jayantha believes that this technical jargon only adds complexity to these solutions.

“ERP solutions need to be always simple. If it is difficult to use, what is the point of that ERP solution? That is why IFS puts huge investments to design the best ERP software for organisations worldwide that can be used easily by anyone. Our ERP solutions are fun and a joy to use. When you use them, you will feel like getting into a luxury car that has all the tools; so comfortable that you will feel better than home sometimes.”

The easy to use, quick to deploy ERP solutions has helped IFS to grow their license revenue by 52% Year-on-Year (YoY) in Q3 2018 with 68% coming from new customers. The company is currently crushing its competitors in the cloud ERP space, offering their customers a wider suite of solutions to choose. This push has paid off, leading to a six-fold growth in this business and has underpinned their increase in net revenue 37% YoY.

Local ERP consultants are fake

At the very beginning of our conversation, Jayantha told me that he would touch upon some controversial subject matters. Intrigued by this comment, I asked whether these comments have anything to do with Sri Lankan politics. 

With a gentle laugh, he said, “In Sri Lanka, controversy is always tagged with politics is it not? I will not talk anything about politics but I would like to talk about a few debatable topics that industry people would not like to talk about at all.”

One of the controversial things he spoke with us was that a portion of people who call themselves ‘ERP Consultants’ are of no use. “Most of our ERP consultants do not know what an ERP is. We do not have good consultants; a lot of them are fake,” an exasperated Jayantha told us.

He said he would challenge these consultants anytime, anywhere. “They are a vital layer of this ERP business. Like a solid ERP solution, which can predict what changes will happen for the business next month, the consultant should be able to perfectly integrate the ERP solution into the business ecosystem so that the ERP solution could provide solid predictions. Many of our consultants complicate things for customers from the time they sell the solution. It is a huge challenge for the industry. That is why at IFS we train our people extensively to become proper ERP consultants. Even when they leave IFS, we are confident as a company that they will become great assets for the industry as professionals who know what they are doing.”

If you take a step back and think about your business processes, there are plenty of them, which are essential in running a business. These include supply chain, order and inventory management, human resources, accounting, payroll and beyond. At its most basic level, ERP software integrates these various functions into one complete system to streamline processes and information across the entire organisation. The central feature of all ERP systems is a shared database that supports multiple functions used by different business units. In practice, this means that employees in different divisions – for example, accounting and sales – can rely on the same information for their specific needs.

“The person who interacts with the ERP also plays a key role because he is the one who will be empowering the built-in intelligence module within the solution. When he blends his knowledge with the ERP, the system will start to provide on-point predictions about the business. The ERP will create a platform for the user to take timely decisions,” Jayantha opined. 

Why we failed as a country

Jayantha told me, “An intelligent person starts his journey from today. If you have been given something to kick start it [journey], do not waste your time by giving lame excuses; start it today and move on.”

However, Jayantha says that politics and politicians have been holding this progress for Sri Lankans for the last 30 years or so. “In Sri Lanka, everybody has their work cut out for them now with these ineffective politicians. Every citizen in this country hates politicians and see how people have been ridiculing them on social media. Progression of a common person in a country with full of futile politicians is just a myth.”

He remembers how some politicians bashed him for the comments he made on the controversial Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) deal two years back. When he was the Chairman Emeritus of SLASSCOM (Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies), the IT industry body of Sri Lanka, he said in an interview that opening the industry to highly skilled IT professionals from India will help build capacity, but controls are needed to give the industry here space to grow.

“At that time, SLASSCOM requested that the government include three conditions into the ETCA agreement. The first is to cap salaries, so only highly skilled IT professionals from India can be hired to work here. Second, we suggested contracts be limited to a specific period. Last, we asked the government to set limits on the number of visas issued to IT professionals each year. All this will help keep entry and low-level jobs free for Sri Lankans. I was not afraid to say that the concept of IT in ETCA is not something we should worry about as long as there is transparency and the Government incorporates SLASSCOM’s conditions.”

After these comments, some politicians asked why he did that. “My belief is that either you go out there and do something for the company, the industry or you keep your mouth shut. After my comments, some politicians called me and condemned my act. The world of politics is vicious. You praise one government and the other government will come and ask you why you said that.”

In need of an elevator

At one point, Jayantha mentioned that if the person were going to act in the same way within the organisation – from Monday to Friday – he would be regarded as a useless person.

“An organisation has several layers: Individual, company, industry and country are four of the most important in my opinion. A person who is considered exceptional should be involved in all these layers. If your company is not doing well, you as an individual will not survive. If your industry does not perform, your country and its progression will be affected. It is a lifecycle on its own and most of the time I say to my employees that the reason IFS is doing so well because the IT industry as a whole is performing brilliantly.”

“I greatly believe that the industry is in safe hands now. If you look at all the young guns at industry bodies like SLASSCOM, they are ready to serve the country without any payment. They are ready to come out and help Sri Lanka as they see infinite opportunities outside Sri Lanka. All of us in the industry should come together and act smartly by devising a proper plan. People should come forward and speak for the industry with integrity and honesty. Otherwise, we will be doomed.”

Concluding our hour-long chat, Jayantha said it is high time for Sri Lanka to use an elevator to reach the level of prosperity we wish as a country – not a ladder. 

“We are used to climbing ladders. We climb one, look around, and climb the other ladder and wait. We cannot do that anymore. We should think of a huge leap. We should have a fast elevator that would take us to the top of the peak.”

“We should think the Government as a single organisation and a strong CEO should take the reins to run it. Under this, there will be different SBUs (strategic business units) and IT should be one of the biggest SBUs. I say get together and push it because IT will never retire, neither as an industry nor as a revenue generator. We have successfully highlighted our capabilities over the years. We have achieved $ 1 billion export revenue now and achieving $ 5 billion within the next four years will not be a tough ask. But the push needs to be there.”