While the pandemic has affected many companies in different ways, it is essential to remember that the pandemic is not over yet. That means companies need to stay strong and find alternative ways to combat the pandemic crisis at hand. Many IT companies are focusing on various strategies to keep their business up and running while taking the safety of their employees seriously. Let’s see how a software development company in Chennai can stay strong amidst the pandemic in this blog.
Pandemic Crisis and Software Development Business
The COVID outbreak was unprecedented and it has created and is still creating one helluva mess in our lives. So many businesses have faced a huge loss due to the pandemic and many have even shut down. The software industry took a huge blow just like any industry. But it started to face the crisis head-on gradually. Though there have been so many problems, the software development business started seeing opportunities amidst the crisis situation.
The world had no other choice, but to go digital at once due to the pandemic. And most of the businesses had to go online. And for any business to survive online, software support became a mandate. This is how the software development business started to make the best use of the changes and thrive amidst the chaos. Though there were so many changes required in the working pattern, slowly and steadily, the IT industry has started to face the pandemic crisis head-on in its own way.
Chennai has been hit hard by the pandemic being the capital of Tamil Nadu. Thousands of people have fallen ill and many organizations are feeling the effects. Software development firms are always on the lookout for the next big thing to keep them going. What are they doing to stay strong during this pandemic? Let’s dig deeper.
Picture Credits – Unsplash
Pandemic Crisis and the Scope for a New Digital Era
The pandemic wave forced the majority of the IT workforce to shift to a new working mode – Work from Home. So many changes had to be quickly adapted to keep the flow of work up and running. The management had to shift their priorities very drastically. Compared to 2020, this 2022 has brought about a lot of opportunities amidst the pandemic.
More digital initiatives had to be embraced, and many R&D works had to be released and tracked in real-time. Digital transformation was predominant. And customer relationship management and partnerships & collaborations were forced to adapt to the new digital trends. This has paved the way for a variety of opportunities for the IT sector which was a big boon amidst humongous challenges.
A typical young software development company in Chennai has faced humongous challenges due to the pandemic crisis and yet has managed to survive the multiple waves. Now, it has started to thrive slowly and steadily. Let’s check out the interview with its founder and CEO.
Interview with the Founder and CEO of a Young Software Development Company in Chennai
Mr. Khuzema Siamwala is the CEO of Siam Computing. His passion for using technology as an enabler to build better businesses led him to start Siam Computing. He has worked with companies from across the world and has helped build technology products for both startups and enterprises alike. A stickler for details, nothing pleases him more than a solution that’s well designed and crafted with the end-user in mind. Being the founder and CEO of a software development company in Chennai, let’s now see what Khuze has got to share about his journey during this pandemic time.
Ryan (Interviewer): Hello Mr. Khuzema Siamwala. Thank you for accepting our invitation to do this interview for us.
Khuze: Pleasure is mine, Ryan. Please call me Khuze.
Picture Credits – Unsplash
Ryan: Alright Khuze. Seeing your steady growth, I’m amazed. Even amidst the pandemic, you were able to get into a new office. I’m curious to know how you managed.
Khuze: (Smiles). Two words. Commitment and Consistency. It was really challenging. But, that was not all. I always fully trusted my team. I very well know about their ability to work wonders and true to my belief, they did work wonders amidst the pandemic.
Ryan: How did you manage the whole work from home culture?
Khuze: Work from home wasn’t alien to us when the pandemic started back in 2019. It was used on and off. The pandemic forced us to embrace work from home completely. That was that. And of course, it was super challenging especially when my team started to get affected with COVID. But, we all stood by each other apart and made sure that we weren’t alone in this.
Ryan: That is wonderful Khuze.
Khuze: Yes, from a management perspective, my employees’ safety became the top priority for me. So, I focussed on workforce safety and security measures extensively. My HR team closely monitored the health of my team. We sent COVID kits to our employees’ homes. We stayed connected apart from the formal meetings as well because the mental pressure was an all-time high factor during this pandemic time. We made sure that our team members’ families were safe as well. Precautionary steps were given utmost importance.
Ryan: Awesome Khuze. A true leader takes care of his team members and you have proven to be a good leader Khuze. Kudos.
Khuze: (Smiles) I just did what I had to do Ryan. Nothing much. There were other areas on which I had to focus on. My next priority was to focus on was Customer Retention. Once I made sure that my team was safe and up for work, I had to concentrate on my clients and customers. So, my employees’ safety and customer retention were my top two priorities during this pandemic period.
Ryan: Makes sense and it is appreciable that you shifted your priorities to tend to the need of the hour Khuze. So, what were the other areas that you prioritized?
Khuze: Well, the next factors that needed special attention were Cost Management, Cash-flow and Liquidity Management, Enterprise Agility, and Digital Transformation. These are pretty important factors when you look from a business and management perspective.
Picture Credits – Unsplash
Ryan: True Khuze. I agree with you. How did you manage the factors that you mentioned?
Khuze: Our brand – Siam Computing’s tagline is – Engineering Possibilities. I strongly believe that “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.” The pandemic was hard but it presented itself with solutions as well. The Digital era is here for real and we need to start embracing it like never before because only then can you make the best out of it. I’ve worked with clients worldwide and they trust me and my team. It all starts off with the trust factor, right? We have a clean portfolio. Our previous clients have given good feedback and positive testimonials. These have helped us to showcase ourselves to new clients.
Ryan: That’s neat and to the point Khuze.
Khuze: Well, apart from just that, once we have a free consultation with our clients, my team takes it from there methodically. From an operations perspective, accelerating process automation, shifting to cloud-based business activities, making crucial changes to organization strategies were other important factors that I had carefully taken care of with the advent of the COVID pandemic.
Ryan: One thing that is crystal clearly visible now is that Khuze, you have taken extreme care of each and every single minute detail to have made it work. Opening a new office amidst the pandemic shows your hard work and sincerity. Congratulations Khuze.
Khuze: Well Ryan, today we can witness the heights of digital transformation but there are chances that things like what we’ve witnessed in Sci-Fi movies can also happen in real life. So, it is essential to have the right mix of humans and automation. Being an engineer, I’m trying to give the best engineering solutions to mankind and at the same time maintain the human touch element because there is more to life than just business.
Ryan: Wow, beautifully said. Thank you so much for the wonderful insights you shared with us Khuze and it was an absolute pleasure interviewing you.
Picture Credits – Unsplash
Winding up with how a Software Development Company In Chennai can stay strong during the pandemic
The world has seen a lot of pandemics in the past and it will see even more in the future. It’s important to remember that the world was not prepared for the COVID pandemic. Many industries and businesses were impacted by the pandemic including the software industry. Unlike the healthcare sector, the IT industry could embrace work from home and thereby have managed to survive the pandemic to some extent. However, many IT companies faced severe loss and some were forced to shut down too. This blog fathomed the impact of the pandemic crisis and has figured out how a software development company in Chennai can stay strong amidst the pandemic.
Are you a software development company in Chennai or anywhere on planet earth that has suffered the impact of the pandemic? Or are you a startup having seconds-thoughts to proceed further? Reach out to us. We work closely with startups and help nurture them until fruition. C’mon, let’s engineer possibilities together 🙂
