Platned expands in SL leveraging skilled IT workforce

Platned, a leading technology solutions provider headquartered in the UK, is tapping into the country's growing IT industry, and leveraging its skilled workforce through further expansion in Sri Lanka.

This is a strategic move to tap into the country's growing IT industry and leverage its skilled workforce, Chamara Arunoda, CEO & Co-founder Platned told the Business Times recently.

From a chance meeting of three strangers in a foreign country at a common boarding house to forming a global company, it was a no-brainer to expand in Sri Lanka as the country is the backdrop to expand the company's critical mass, he added. Joining in the conversation, Platned's non-executive director

Paul Massey noted that the company's DNA comes from this country and with such a great pool of talent, it was an easy decision to expand in Sri Lanka.

Platned’s focus on delivering innovative ERP solutions and exceptional customer service has earned it a reputation as a trusted partner for businesses worldwide, Mr. Arunoda added. Platned first expanded to Australia, then the US, followed by Singapore, Canada, and Dubai. It has offices in countries like Hong Kong, Finland etc where its employees who migrated for personal reasons, are based.

“We service IFS which is a global company where our main operation is based around. Due to our employees moving into other countries, we expand into that economy,” Mr. Arunoda noted.

The company is giving back to the

Sri Lankan economy. Mr. Arunoda added that he has got free education from his birth country - Sri Lanka and has a long-standing partnership with the University of Jayawardanapura, which the company hopes to extend to other universities and institutions to employ graduates, train them, and give them permanent employment.

By hiring 100 new members in the next financial year too, it’s already 90 plus employees in Sri Lanka for its global support team, the company aims to provide even better support to its global customer base, Saminda Gunawardana, Chief Operating Officer & Co-founder said.

Mr. Arunoda added the company decided to move to Maharagama from its original location at Colombo 1 due to the areas that the employees travelled from. “We mapped the areas that they came from and realised they were from Piliyandala, Maharagama towns. It was really difficult for them to travel to Colombo for work and we decided to set up in the Maharagama area initially. Then we grew out of that office due to expansion and decided on a larger capacity in the new office, also nearby,” he said.

Steve Borham, Chief Customer Officer of the company with a quarter-of-a-a-century relationship with Sri Lanka, noted that Platned always was a customer-centric business. “We manage talent migration and approach it in the culture we have in the company. All employees are deeply invested in Platned. The company has an extremely low turnover and high loyalty. We approach migration in a very mature way.”