Despite emerging challenges, global spending on information technology (IT) products and services is set to grow at a healthy pace. Industry analysts forecast global spending on IT products and services to grow to $386.7 billion by 2009, a compounded annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent from 2007 to 2009.

IBS Software that recently completed ten years of existence plans 100% increase in staff strength to meet its target of USD 225 by 2010. IBS has posted a CAGR of 47.5% in 10 years, resulting in a 700-fold increase on capital invested in 1997, as against a 30 fold increase in staff strength over the same period.

IBS recently inaugurated its first fully owned campus at Technopark, Trivandrum, and plans to shortly set up two new development centers in India. The company currently operates out of 11 global centers around the world. IBS holds IP rights to 15 software products that manage the mission-critical operations of airlines, airports, cruise lines, oil & gas companies, leisure resorts and seaports across the globe.

With Private Equity firms shaping corporate performance standards, governance and consolidation across industries, IBS made news when General Atlantic LLC (GA), one of the top 20 Private Equity investment companies in the world, invested $60 million (Rs. 242 Crores) in IBS for a minority stake.

The influx of funds will be used to further accelerate the organization’s growth through global mergers & acquisitions, and ramping up IBS’ sales, business consulting capability and infrastructure. Being a global growth investor in the technology sector, General Atlantic would provide IBS with strategic assistance for its next phase of its aggressive growth. Abhay Havaldar, Managing Director of General Atlantic, has joined the IBS’ board of directors and will assist the company in evaluating growth opportunities globally.

This is the largest private equity investment till date in Kerala, and is also one of the largest investments going into a products company.

The airline cargo industry has shown a trend towards adopting new-generation IT systems to replace decades old legacy systems. The technology revolution in the industry is a widely discussed topic in recent years.

In one such strategic move, All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd (ANA), Japan’s second-largest domestic and international airline, inked a multimillion dollar 5 year deal with IBS for iCargo, an integrated end-to-end supply chain management engine, for their cargo business. ANA is one among the top 30 of the world’s air freight carriers based on Freight Tonne-Kilometres, operating in the 3rd largest market economy in the world. iCargo will address the current and future business requirements of ANA’s entire airfreight operation, which has grown in revenue and load by over 20% in the last fiscal.

Current air cargo IT solutions in the market are relatively efficient at handling basic functionality. However they cannot scale or adapt to dynamic business environment. iCargo integrates all the requirements of an airline’s cargo/freight business from shipper to consignee. With scaled down versions of the product also available, the complete suite of offerings cater to the cargo management requirement of airlines of all types and sizes. iCargo is gaining market acceptance as the system of the future that can help cargo carriers remain competitive in a dynamic market. iCargo is also used by Japan-based Nippon Cargo Airlines.

With sea ports being transformed into areas where highly sophisticated logistics activities are coordinated, disparate events ranging from the pre-notification of vessel and cargo arrivals, marine operations, container and cargo discharge/loading cargo receipt/delivery to invoicing of the various services rendered, form part of a larger single entity. Use of IT for managing ports has therefore become essential. The primary area where IT can make a real difference is Port Operations. IT systems can help track services requested by port customers and send responses in real time, deliver to their satisfaction, bill for the services rendered and collect charges. In addition, they can help provide quick turn round time of vessel and cargo, ensure high productivity, and monitor the Key Result Areas in real time.

Maldives Port Authority and IBS have come into an agreement for iPort™, a port operations management solution, to optimize the management of core port and marine operations at the port of Male. This is to reduce the throughput time of vessels and cargo. The Port of Male, governed by the Maldives Ports Authority, is the primary port of call in the Republic of Maldives. The port handles 90% of the imports into the Republic of Maldives.

iPort will identify & locate specific cargo and track revenue loss and services for Maldives Port. The paucity of yard & warehouse space in the Port of Male makes storage of cargo & containers a challenging task. The resultant difficulty in tracking and tracing cargo & containers has been a pain point for the Port as well as the customers. By implementing iPort™, it will be possible for port authorities/customers to identify and track the cargo/containers at any point of time. This feature will also help in better planning and optimal space utilization at the yard. Tracking the various services provided by the Port of Male and invoicing the same in a fool proof manner is a challenge for the Port. “Revenue leakage” which is a result of largely manual nature of the existing operations is also an area of major concern for the port. The implementation of iPort™ will enable foolproof invoicing. iPort™ has workflows with relevant checkpoints that eliminate the possibilities of any revenue leak. In addition, the configurable rules and tariffs which is tied to the physical activities and the corresponding workflows results in revenue maximization for the Port as every activity/service provided is tracked and accurately billed.

“Our decision to choose iCargo was prompted by our need for a system that would help us address the rapidly growing air cargo business around the world. We believe that iCargo, with its advanced functionality and adherence to industry best practices will help us improve service quality, enhance profitability by optimizing capacity utilization and conform to the future requirements of the industry”.
Toru Sato, Senior Vice President, Information Technology Services, ANA.

“iPort™ will help us manage our resources optimally while helping us adapt to changing business needs at a time when we are looking to emerge as a prominent port services provider that caters to the needs of national and regional trade . iPort™’s unique feature of being customisable to our business challenges has been its winning point. We look forward to the successful implementation of iPort™ and to a productive partnership with IBS.”
Mahdi Imad , Managing Director, Maldives Port Authority