Orel IT beats traditional exports by becoming Most Outstanding Exporter of the Year 2018

In the past, it has been mostly manufacturing companies that have walked away with the ‘Most Outstanding Exporter’ Award at the National Chamber of Exporters Sri Lanka (NCE) Awards. Household brand names, companies that export tea to the four corners of the world have been the predictable winners in the past. However this year it was a young company engaged in Information and Communication Technology that was awarded the Plum. Orel IT Ltd. stood tall among the traditional exporters of 2018 and beat them all. OREL IT was also honoured with the ‘Gold Award Winner in Extra Large Category of Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) & Related Services Sector’ at the NCE Awards. 

The judging process at NCE Awards considers a range of evaluation criteria to select the winners. Apart from financial and export performance, it evaluates market development, value addition, effective management efforts, innovation, and quality management. Orel IT Ltd., who scored high on all the above-mentioned counts, was adjudged the most outstanding exporter of the year. Since the company was the clear leader in the ‘ICT, BPO & Related Services Sector’ it also won a Gold award. During the last year Orel IT has increased their revenue by 107% over the previous year. 

According to Orel IT and Orel Corporation Managing Director Kushan Kodituwakku, understanding global demands, as well as specific customer requirements, has been the key to the success and progress of the company. “Those who work closely with clients at Orel IT make every effort to swiftly communicate the customer expectations to every single member of the team. Internal communications play a vital role within the company in executing the work requirement in line with customer expectations,” Kodituwakku stated. Speaking of the organisational culture he also states that it has resulted in establishing a highly motivated team who think for the client, the organisation and last but not least, the country. “We take pride in the fact that we are a 100% Sri Lankan company. We are so thankful for the education, health care, and other welfare schemes that we have enjoyed as citizens of Sri Lanka and therefore we believe that we owe it to our nation to perform to the best of our abilities and create wealth and sustainable revenue schemes,” he added. 

The Export Development Board in its national export strategy has identified the ICT sector as one of the six sectors that have been selected for innovation and export diversification. The EDB strategy aims to transform the country into a global IT-BPM destination and Asia’s favourite centre of excellence. The success of the plans will depend on the overall performance of the industry which is made up of players like Orel IT. 

During the last 10 years, the ICT Sector has grown by more than 300%. Today the annual revenue of the industry is approximately $ 1.2 billion. Over 80,000 professionals are employed in this sector. According to the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM), the industry will achieve $ 5 billion in exports by the year 2022. Approximately 200,000 direct jobs would be created in the ICT and BPO sector alone. When Orel entered the booming ICT and BPO sector one of the key challenges that the company faced was to figure out as to how a highly skilled team could be retained within the organisation, maintaining high engagement levels. 

The company did not go after professionals, neither did they attempt to draw and attract staff from the competitors. The strategy for Human Resource Development was to hire talented young persons with basic Advance Level Qualifications. Kodituwakku believes that Sri Lankans have the necessary competencies for a knowledge economy and the ability to compete globally especially in the Information and Communication Technology Sector.

“The strategy has paid off and today we have a multi-talented, youthful and dynamic set of young professionals who have played a key role in bringing about success to the organisation during such a short period of time,” Kodituwakku added. 

Orel IT provides a range of IT solutions under one umbrella. The company offers knowledge and business process outsourcing solutions, software development, mobile application solutions, digital solutions with an extensive range of revolutionary devices and gadgets, with an extensive offering spanning smart mobility solutions, multimedia devices, wearable-tech, digital surveillance, and 3D display solutions. The company also offers IT infrastructure solutions that facilitate a stable and secure working environment, powering growth across many industries. 

During the last year, the company provided services to industries such as KPO/ BPO, software development, research and development, wearable assistive technology, networking solutions and smart mobility solutions for global market.

Orel IT KPO/ BPO projects are enhancing the value of a customers’ life in terms of safe technology. Driverless cars/motor vehicles being the main BPO service of Orel IT, it is guaranteed that passenger’s safety, protection of motor traffic rules and transportation advancement with a revolutionised product.

Orel IT has also developed a host of high end technological ICT products and services for visually impaired and challenged persons such as wearable assistive technology and high tech auto readable artificial intelligence devices. The company is already working on smart building management systems, home automation, and workspace automation systems that are to be introduced to the market in the near future. Through these products and services, the company believes that they are undoubtedly enhancing the lifestyle and standard of living of the end-users.

Winning the NCE Award now gives the company the impetus to aim for bigger goals. “The greatest service we could provide the community we work in is not only to give jobs to the youth but to also develop and upgrade their skills so that they would be able to secure jobs that would give them better salaries. At Orel IT, we have created an environment and culture for people to grow and do their best. It is an integral element that has brought about excellence. At the end of the day, we export that component of excellence and we will continue to raise the bar,” Kodituwakku summed up his thoughts in this manner.

Orel IT is a subsidiary of Orel Corporation involved in manufacturing and marketing electrical, lighting, industrial and IT products and services.