TODAY

Currently IT Industry changes are only one among others happening in competition internationally. TODAY has asked, as follows, of Dr. Tun Thura Thet of Myanmar Information Technology Pte Ltd on the criteria how to assess a software company’s success, his company’s status, management style, etc.

How MIT began

MIT origins goes back to 1997, or 18 years ago. Time was Internet was just new to Myanmar, with very few software companies. Our idea to take up software work was much advised against.

Company in Singapore

We achieved realistic growth and success only by 2001. But we ran into difficulties at about 2003 when banking got hit in Myanmar: big customers like AsiaWealth and Mayflower banks were no more. Without an income we were hard pressed to even give salaries to employees sometimes. So we went overseas, and opened a branch in Singapore in 2005. Through it, our jobs for Europe, ASEAN, were sent home. Lately considerable work of ours has shifted home also.

MIT’s Business Scope

Software market segment is two _ Enterprise and Customer. MIT opts for Enterprise Software.
The market has sectors – Banking sector, Retail Sector, Hospitability, Healthcare, etc. Then it is regional – Yangon market, Mandalay market, other regions. We provide Software service as well as software product. It is Diver-sification in our parlance, as we cannot exist on one alone. We try to take care of big sectors like Banking, Retail. Sometimes our products go through Distribution Channel. Our presence currently is in Yangon and Mandalay. Other regions should follow with each level of national development.

How MIT Manages HR Turnover

Rarely our employees leave for other domestic companies. They would, for example, go to Singapore, US, for work where they enjoy fringe benefits besides salaries. It can’t be prevented.

What is crucial is recruitment goes on with training of the employees. Keep them happy, then their needful satisfaction will be fulfilled. For our smooth running 20-40 percent of old hands should remain, while 60-80 percent could be in the turnover.

Normally new employees and programmers need 3-6 months to train. About 2-year experience in our company should do the employees good, whether they migrate or continue training abroad.

In my vision a lake should have water flow. If it is stagnant the water goes foul and useless. The old man will be replaced by the new, always. Resilience for an entity means interdependence among members. There is the long leave, besides dropping out. A long leave could be a personal or vacational family trip. The company should have a prior arrangement for an employee to take over the leave-taker’s work. We are HR based, but should be flexible in that respect. We practise job rotation so that an employee is appreciated as well as dispen-sable.

Difficulties you have overcome

Every successful entrepreneur needs to have perseverance on being faced with difficulties. He is not afraid of difficulties. It is important spirit is not sold off. One’s professional view, vision and confidence must be in tune. Success for long term means good ethics on his part.

Dos and Don’ts for a software company

A present-day software company is different than the MIT 18 years ago. But a common component is Idea, which is to be accompanied by vision, and passion to accomplish it. For example, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma has passion to the full, while lacking in know-how yet. He proceed mainly based on Idea. A schoolteacher, Jack Ma is a natural leader. His advantage: he speaks persuasively and keeps employees happy and wins their confidence. These are his base. Vision and Passion are constant in any enterprise. Still, difficulties will appear, only to be overcome for the achievement of success. Elsewhere start ups do not have 10-15 years to try something. Internal and external change is going too fast. Their motivation to be successful. It not, they try another idea. But Alibaba’s is a one-attempt success. Technology alone is not enough. Understanding of the market, solutions for people’s problems, are called for. Vision is all important, with reference to the market. For example, social media like Facebook is successful for satisfying the market _ a solution to the communication problem between one another. So vision leads to Solution, which is to be realized with full confidence.

Criteria to assess the success of a software company

There are various measures to assess the success of a tech company. Revenue is one, Market Capitalization is another. They refer to big companies. Some companies, without revenue yet, claims to have User Base, like, how many users resort to their software. For a Mobile App company a growing number of users makes the company more valuable. Roughly speaking, a free App used by a million people during the day is worth million dollars. Number of user as well as Installation must be great.

Then a company, without user Base yet, will have much value on account of the investor’s great faith. This is the significance of later com-panies. Normally an IT company with sales of a million units could be deemed successful, and I would like to urge them to achieve that target. I worry some may slacken for a little success.

Our era was a bit hard to get by. The present-day era has a lot of competition, but Technology plus improved infrastructure have made it easy.

MIT’s Future Plan

We have foreign branch and foreign Customer. Our whole system, on cloud, is software as a service (SaaS). We awaits customers who are about to go on Cloud. Software in use at hotels are being run by us on Cloud.

If Cloud and Internet connection are not good enough yet we can have our product installed in Customer’s machine as what we call onpremise. By the time infrastructure are in full swing our cloud service, or Saas, will be ready. The same goes for Banking and Retail. One and all will go on cloud later on. All of our Major software products are on cloud, as Saas.

Dr.Tun Thura Thet

Tiles:

• CEO of Myanmar Information Technology Pte Ltd (MIT).
• Co-founder and executive director of Myanmar ICT Park, Myanmar ICT Development Corporation.
• Joint Secretary of Myanmar Computer Federation (MCF), the federation of computer industrial associations (MCIA) and professional associations (MCPA).
• Chairperson of Myanmar Software Industry Development Committee (SIDC)
• Chairperson of Myanmar Software Alliance (MSA),
• Visiting lecturer at the MBA program at the Institute of Economics, the Ministry of Education.

Education

• PhD in 2009, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore,
• MSc in 2005, Nanyang Technological University of Singarpore,
• MBA in 2000, Institute of Economics, Yangon
• B.Com in 1995, Curtin University of Technology.