Techimply Interview with Mr. Ashvin Gami, (B-TECH, IIT BOMBAY) Managing Director, StrategicERP

Ankit Dhamsaniya
Read Time: 4 Minutes
Techimply Interview with Mr. Ashvin Gami, (B-TECH, IIT BOMBAY) Managing Director, StrategicERP

In Techimply’s Exclusive interview series, we wanted to introduce to our readers -  someone who broke industry barriers and led his organization by adapting and innovating with market trends over a period. 

And we came across the managing director of StrategicERP, Mr. Ashvin Gami (B-TECH, IIT BOMBAY)

When asked about how it all started which today is a comprehensive ERP solution he took us back to his college time:

When I was studying at IIT Mumbai, our professor, who was our guide, had encouraged us to sell our supercomputer. It was to be used in a silicon locket for real-time monitoring of ECG. 

Before finding success with our ERP product, we had worked on Supercomputing, Linux, and other Java-based technologies by developing 8-9 products for internet security, mail solutions, and various enterprise-related security solutions.

In 2007, a customer approached us to create a Java-based web application, who then brought us an additional 6-7 projects for automation. In 2008, we started working on the initial idea that is now StrategicERP but was facing quality issues at the time. The number of developers needed was high, thereby affecting our delivery timelines.

We received our first client from the real estate industry who approached us with the need to automate their business processes. An ERP solution on the J2FX framework was the perfect fit and we worked hard to deliver the solution successfully and started focusing on the real estate sector.

From then on, our journey started in the field of real estate, expanding to the infrastructure sector. We successfully delivered our ERP product to an infrastructure client who was happy with it and appreciated the speed of development. 

In 2009, our focus shifted to the infrastructure industry and we began to enhance our product and continued delivering projects in the real estate, construction, and infrastructure industry. 

 

Who should buy your ERP? 

Any organization that would like to save time, increase productivity and streamline its business functions should buy our ERP products. 

We have delivered customized industry-specific ERP solutions to real estate, construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, ceramics, education, power and energy, façade systems, government sectors, and more. 

 

Can you tell our readers about one setback that Team Strategic turned into an achievement?

In 2008, we were switching to auto-programming functionality with the expectation to deliver projects quickly. Unfortunately, we could not complete a project on time and had to switch back to manual programming to complete it. That is when we realized we have a long way to go before we incorporate auto-programming completely. We had underestimated the complexities and decisions with backward compatibility.

Then, in 2009 we could successfully deliver 100% of a project using auto-programming. The customer preferred our product over our competitor’s and was quite impressed with the demonstration, resulting in a successful sale. 

 

So how do you make your day-to-day decisions and what are they related to?

A majority of my decisions are related to technology, say about 70% of the decisions I take involve StrategicERP’s products. To provide the best user experience to our customers, we choose to work on boosting our ERP solution with new features or improve upon the existing ones. 

My decision mechanism mainly involves problem-solving. Based on the market demand and feedback from our ERP users, we work on the software to add new features to make it more customer-centric and enhance the user experience.

 

When do you think that a product is a success?

I always look at 3 parameters:

  • The cost to develop should be less

  • Time to develop should be less

  • Quality of development should be high 

 

So what sets you apart from other players? 

Programming can be done in many ways. The way we do it is very different from other players. The way we define and measure success based on 3 parameters is what sets us apart. Our cost and testing take up one-tenth of the budget when compared to our competitors while maintaining the same standard of quality.

Our ERP features are definitely on the higher side which provides our customers with more options and us with more opportunities to personalize.

 

How did you manage to deal with the Covid-19 situation so well? 

We figured out how to become digital quickly as the pandemic-enforced lockdowns began. It was a challenge to suddenly shift to remote working while maintaining seamless communication and collaboration.

Our customers and employees were very adaptable and responded to the change quickly. We found little to no difference in the day-to-day business except that most of it was online.

 

What changes do you expect in the Industry shortly and how do you plan to cope up with those? 

As people adapt to digital transformation, the demand for advanced technology will increase. People need software with the latest technology embedded within. After discussing with research companies that predict future trends, we can prepare our product today and show readiness when time demands. 

We update our customers with new features and inform them of new trends. We must safeguard them against the future. We realize that everybody may not start adopting new technology immediately but they can align themselves with it without disturbing their routine functions. 

The Covid-19 pandemic witnessed a major change in the construction and real estate industry. During the initial days, we had to push customers to adopt technology but now many appreciate the digital transformation. 

I believe when time demands, customers will respond.

 

How Techimply has added value to StrategicERP? 

Techimply has added value to the business by their exclusive lead generation activities for StrategicERP. That in turn has increased our overall lead flow up to 35%. 

 

One thing that you would like to tell everyone that you think has the power to change lives.

Many opportunities for improvement and a lot of talent are available but unless we create a bridge to use that talent in the right direction to provide value to our customers, we cannot showcase our full potential.  

Progressing in the right direction is important, keeping in mind the potential challenges faced in the future. 

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