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12 April 2012

Innovation in the Logistics and Transportation domain: Biju Nair, Four Soft

 




 In a chat with Cloud News India,
 Biju Nair, COO & CFO of Four Soft, talks about the initiatives  and offerings planned for India market.

 
Interview:
 
1. What are the new product initiatives you are planning to launch this year?
 
Four Soft has always been ahead of the industry in terms of introducing new technology and more efficient offerings to the global market. This year we have launched mobile technology for all products and our new product offerings are being planned for North America and Netherlands markets. We had launched our SaaS offerings last year which will see more prospects in current macroeconomic scenario.
 
2.    What will be the focus markets and TA for your new products and services that you are launching?
 
Four Soft has strong presence in Europe and North America and it aims to tap different geographies by strengthening its presence in global markets through direct sales force and partnering with local companies. Our focus market would be
 
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Japan & India in Asia
3.    How do you propose to attract new customers? What will be your USP?
 
Four Soft with its next generation products and technology is a recognized player with deep domain expertise in the Logistics and Transportation market space. It has successfully implemented licensed as well as SaaS solutions across the globe with customers ranging from SME’s to large corporates.
 
Our USP’s:
 
  • Niche player in the Logistics space with deep domain expertise and specialized products
  • Our software products facilitate efficient flow of complex business operations
  • Our business has transcended geographical barriers with our ability to customize services across regions, making us a preferred partner and resulting in de-risking of our business model
  • Ability to customize clients requirement by reducing time to market  and optimizing cost
 
4.    Who would are your key solution partners? Do you plan to bring some partners in the future?
 
We have no partners in product development. All the products have been developed in-house using J2EE Technology. However, we have Marketing and Sales partner supporting us in Japan, Middle East and Far East.
 
5.    What will be your plans for new markets in 2012-2013?
 
Our focus would be to target Shipper’s market and continue our innovation in the Logistics and Transportation domain. We are looking to increase our market share in North America, Asia and continue maintaining our strong presence in the European market.
 
6.    What is the kind of market share you are looking at with your products and services?
 
We are probably No. 1 Product Company already in the Logistics and Transportation, Service provider segment. We aim to grow and make our presence felt in the Shipper/Manufacturing segments as well.
 
7.    What will be your delivery model? Will your products be Cloud based? What are your views on cloud based solutions in India?
 
Four Soft sells its software products in various delivery models including Hosted, SaaS and Licensed basis. In the year under review there has been a growing demand for cloud based SaaS model for our products and this could be an interesting development for the company.
 
In our opinion, SaaS model in India will be a volume driven business. The customers in India are looking for low implementation costs, easy maintenance, easy up gradation and seamless integration.  More importantly they are looking for quick implementation and low upfront capital cost for which Cloud offering seems to meet their requirements.
 
8.    How big is your current customer base?
 
We have over 400 customers. Out of which, 60% are large companies which also includes Top 10 Global giants and 40% are Mid Sized and Small companies.
 
9.    How big your Indian operations and what are the projections?
 
India is the Corporate Headquarters and main Product Development and Delivery Center of Four Soft. There are over 500 associates based out of India. We expect to increase our headcount based on projects that are likely to be closed in coming quarters.
 
10.    What do you believe the bigger challenges in India will be? What is your outlook and are there any other sectors that you would look as opportunities?
 
India is a promising market and there exists a price pressure which makes it challenging. However, we would tide over this with our volume driven market strategy. The IT maturity of logistics organization and operations is low and a lot of market development needs to be done.  In other segments, we are looking at are the Shipper/Manufacturer market.

11. Would you be focusing on overseas markets?
 
Overseas market has been playing a vital role for Four Soft and from the long term potential of our revenue stream it could be observed that EMEA continues to be contributing to majority of the revenue share, given the number of logistics hubs it accommodates. We are also focusing on high potential markets like Japan and the US which are mature IT as well as mature Logistics market. Our actions have shown us results with us making breakthrough in these markets with world renowned marquee customers which are household names.
 
 
About Four Soft

Four Soft

Four Soft® is a public listed company which provides innovative software solutions, IT consultancy and BPO services exclusively for the logistics and supply-chain management market place. It is the market leader in the transportation and logistics segment with a large international client base including majority of the top logistics & transportation companies in the world. With regional operations strategically located worldwide, it supports customers including DHL, CEVA, DB Schenker, Panasonic, Flyjac (Now Hitachi Transport System Group) and Geodis Wilson. Additional information about Four Soft® is available at www.four-soft.com
 
Four Soft® offers a full suite of web-native products across the logistics supply chain. This includes 4S eTrans® for freight forwarding and logistics, 4S eLog® for extended warehouse management, 4S VisiLog® & 4S VisiLog plus® for track & trace, visibility and supply-chain management, 4S eCustoms® for customs brokerage, 4S iShipping™ for shipping line execution, 4S eConnect™ for business-to-business connectivity and 4S Infotips™ for informed decision making.

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