What is a business intelligence (BI) AnD finAnCiAl systems provider and how useful is it in the business world?
Award-winning tech company, Acton (Fiji) Pte Ltd, is a business intelligence (BI) and financial systems provider located in Des Voeux Road, Suva.
In early December, the company conducted its Annual General Meeting.
And while the results weren’t what was expected because of the COVID-19 second wave, company director and cofounder Sanjesh Kumar said, being able to keep standing and report a strong showing was remarkable in itself.
Mr Kumar, alongside Acton’s cofounder and director, Mukesh Lodhia, were recognised in Enterprise Technoloy Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2020.
This is a competitive and sought-after list that celebrates and recognised young individuals leading and managing companies and tackling major global issues.
In this New Year’s Q&A with an executive, Mr Kumar tells us more about the business.
He also gives us an insight of what this arm of the technology means and how useful it is in the business world.
Discuss the results of the AGM and what do these results mean for Acton?
2021 was an incredibly challenging year for most businesses and people alike, and Acton was no different.
The extended periods of lockdown meant business was hard to come by, but despite the deteriorating commercial climate, Acton did manage to pull off a successful financial year.
Although not as good as expected, just being able to keep standing and report a strong showing was remarkable in itself.
Prudent decision-making, astute management and the incredible support of our people and partners kept us going.
We were lucky to have been able to ride out the second wave without any furloughs.
So I am quite happy in that Acton’s people-first and Fiji-first shone through – in fact, we established a new department for full-stack development and intellectual property creation, as well as data analytics, creating five more jobs!
Obviously, keeping a practical yet optimistic outlook helped greatly, too.
This lends merit to Fiji’s incredible talent in the technology space and the potential it has on a global scale if we took the KPO industry seriously as a nation.
How did the company pan out during the pandemic (highs and lows)?
In a rather eventful year, we did manage to continue mostly uninterrupted from home and through virtual conferencing tools.
While local business here in Fiji slowed a little bit, our offshore business took flight.
There were challenges in finding good people to join, as we extended our service portfolio with a new department.
Towards the end of the year, the local scene sprang to life as a rebound effect of the pandemic, and we are optimistic this will carry on into the new year.
The year provided an opportunity for introspection and redesign business units for leaner operation.
Obviously, our portfolio was expanded to include a new software engineering and data analytics department with the purpose of bringing ever more so adaptability and business intelligence for digital transformation projects for our customers.
Acton provides cloud services to its clients and more. Tell us about this.
While we are a business intelligence and financial systems provider, our services span beyond that.
Being a Microsoft Gold Partner through our offshore partners, we predominantly offer state-of-theart Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Applications suit, the strongest of which are Business Central (previously Navision) and Finance & Operations (previously AX).
Full end-to-end implementation services (business analysis, scope, design, develop, test, quality assurance, deployment and on-going support) are offered in these products in both pure-cloud and on-premise flavors.
Beyond that, we specialise in curriculum management services for tertiary institutes, fully-tailored ground-up development of business applications (web and mobile) deployed as SaaS, as well as data analytics and process automation services.
Is cloud service solution on demand in Fiji? How and why?
While it is still relatively new for a place like Fiji and the Pacific, COVID-19 has actually struck a jolt of realisation for its benefits, especially for the critical application of business continuity management.
The radical transition of the workplace from offices to homes has brought to light the indispensable benefits of cloud services, and we are seeing that, not only here but globally, too.
Why Acton? What is the point of difference?
Acton is all about Fiji, and helping Fiji realize its immense potential in the business intelligence and financial systems space.
Since Acton is 100 per cent Fijian and employee owned and operated, every dollar earned by the company goes back to our people and is injected into the economy.
We also have the largest and most experienced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Finance & Operations teams in the region, who constantly rub shoulders with some of the best in the entire world.
Resultantly, we bring the same level of world-class digital transformation experience to our customers in Fiji.
Additionally, we specialise in the verticals of retail, manufacturing, distribution, services, financial services, and public services to name a few.
What is your clientele like and what does it mean for the company?
We have major partners (as we like to call our customers) in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Europe, and of course here at home in Fiji.
Because we regularly and actively engage in large digital transformation projects internationally, Acton is able to offer a unique blend of world-class business intelligence services at local rates to businesses in Fiji and the region.
Where to from here? What is the future for Acton?
Acton will continue the pursuit of its vision to build Fiji into an ICT hub of the region with renewed conviction in a post-pandemic world. We will strive to educate and help Fijian businesses leverage the power of cloud technology to gain competitive advantage and mitigate risks.
Evaluating services to add to our portfolio is an ongoing activity as part of our strategic plans, as we continue to seek ways to create more and more employment and grow the industry in Fiji.