JKCS creating benchmark in software industry

JKCS has created a benchmark in Sri Lanka’s software industry by providing services to some of the world’s star class airlines. Initially JKCS started operations with its software services arm and later penetrated the aviation IT industry. Today it has spread its wings across the hospitality frontier as well with the revolutionary Zhara Hospitality Suite.

In 1998 JKCS was incorporated as the software subsidiary of Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate – John Keells Group. During the past decade the company has specialised in providing services to the aviation industry. JKCS has earned its wings by engineering core systems for some of the world’s biggest airlines. The customer portfolio includes Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, SAS, Air Arabia, Kingfisher Airlines and SriLankan. The systems offered by JKCS cover several aviation domains such as commercial, flight operations, ground handling, crew management, engineering and safety.

The company recently ventured into the hospitality industry as a means of re-defining its market space. A decade of aviation software expertise was put to use in developing a 100% web-based hospitality suite Zhara HS, which enables a hotels to manage their entire business by leveraging on the latest e-technologies. The company operates offices in Sri Lanka and the UK with development teams in Colombo, Dubai, Oslo and London.

Following are excerpts of an interview with JKCS Chief Operating Officer J.C. Ekanayake, who shares some insights into the success of the company:

Q: JKCS is a well known name in the software industry today, what do you feel about this success and what are the factors which have made this a reality?

A: JKCS attracts and employs the cream of software talent in the country to develop best of breed solutions for all its customers. Despite the competition we have faced up to date the constant commitment to serve our clients while adhering to strict standards have lifted us to the position we are in today to serve a prestigious global clientele.

At JKCS we strongly believe in innovation and continuous improvement of our products and services to our clients. All these values and principles collectively have raised us to the pinnacle of the software industry in Sri Lanka and have helped us acquire clients such as the world’s best carrier – Qatar Airways.

Q: What is the nature of your product offering to the aviation industry?

A:  The aviation arm of JKCS categorised under the Evinta brand basically provides the Internet Booking Engine (IBE) and Departure Control Systems (DCS) to both airlines and airports respectively. Both these solutions are completely web based and comes with ‘round the clock’ support.

The Evinta Internet Booking Engine (IBE) is a complete online reservation solution offered to Airlines from JKCS with competencies such as well over 99.5% uptime, speedy and easy implementation, integration with all common global distribution systems, and the ability to handle extended modules based on customer requirements such as holiday booking engines and car rentals.

The Evinta Departure Control System (DCS), on the other hand, caters to airports and automates the functions carried out by an airport. It is certified with SITA (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques) and ARINC (Aeronautical Research Incorporated). It is guaranteed to reduce passenger services cost for an airport and has the same competencies as the IBE.

This was mainly built keeping in mind the needs of modern airports and is capable of handling aspects such as web check-in and self service kiosks; we have even gone the extra mile by introducing an innovative fully portable suitcase solution in the form of a mobile DCS that can be set up anywhere and operated in an airport.

Q: Evinta IBE is well known in the software industry for bagging some of the biggest airlines in operation up to date. What is the secret of this success?

A: Well, as you rightly mentioned, we have been working with some of the most prominent players in the aviation industry such as Qatar Airways for some time now and it has been a challenging task. But the constant focus on quality and commitment from the teams working here at JKCS made the journey smooth.

Although the needs of an airline may be similar, each client has a unique operating model: our aim is to help them enhance that differentiating factor to deliver the best to their customers. Our ability to focus on each client this way and give them a personalised experience has been the main reason for our success.

Q: What are the latest developments in the aviation product offering from JKCS?

A: Apart from the existing product offering, the aviation portfolio is flexible enough to cater to any customisations our clients may require, such as adding excursions to their online reservations.

Q: You have just ventured into the hotel industry. What can you say about your product?

A: The Zhara Hospitality Suite was recently introduced to the hospitality market from JKCS based on the Cloud computing concept. For the first time in Sri Lanka we were able to offer a complete web-based hotel solution for any type of accommodation provider equipped with an internet booking engine, central reservation system and property management system.

Zhara was created using the expertise JKCS had gained through the years by developing aviation solutions, which was the same reason the name Zhara was used as it denoted the essence of the expertise JKCS put in when developing it.

Q: Many customers have come on board with Zhara HS since its inception in 2010. What are the reasons for this despite the strong competition both locally and internationally?

A: Zhara HS was able to offer many unique advantages to its users starting from the point where it could be accessed via the Internet anywhere anytime. It’s implemented easily, and of course the fee structure is a pay-as-you-earn model. The Zhara HS system is built in such a way that it can be adapted to any type of hotel operation.

The IBE was also first introduced to the local market by Zhara HS where guests can book and pay for their accommodation online. These are the main reasons Zhara HS was able to pick up despite the competition, and it continues to grow its market share further.

Q: What is the core functionality of the Software Engineering Services (SES) arm of JKCS?

A: JKCS’ product portfolio stems from SES which caters to various software requirements of different industries. The main services we provide through SES include application support, offshore development, quality assurance testing, mobile applications development, and re-development of legacy applications using new technology.

The SES arm of JKCS is able to handle a wide spectrum of projects spanning from those as small as 100 man day projects to 5,000 man day projects. SES delivers its services with a stern focus on quality and standards, and we adhere to service levels at all times in every project we undertake. Due to this reason we are proud to say that most of our customers come back to us repeatedly seeking our services.

Q: What are the most prominent projects you have handled through your services arm?

A: Some of the benchmark projects delivered successfully through SES were the IBEs for Qatar Airways and Kingfisher Airlines and the Accelaero LCC (Low Cost Carrier) reservation system developed for our subsidiary, Information Systems Associates (ISA) of UAE. Accelaero is now deployed by Air Arabia and many other LCCs in the region. These were some of the largest airline IT systems ever built by a Sri Lankan software company. The applications facilitate passenger services solutions to some of the region’s leading airlines.

We also developed recently a full-fledged quality information system for an MNC in the South Asian region. This helped them to monitor the quality levels at each point of the process. Saving time, ensuring information accuracy, and traceability were the main benefits achieved through this system.

We are still providing software services to Emirates Group IT, which is also recognised as a tier 1 business partner of JKCS.

Q: What does JKCS offer to its current and future employees?

A: We offer a challenging environment in terms of complex world class applications in best in class businesses. We take pains to develop talent by investing heavily in raw talent and mould them into IT professionals and thereby developing the overall quality of people in the industry. We maintain around 10-15% of trainees and interns from leading universities to give the undergraduates a good grounding in technologies and processes. As a fully owned company of John Keells Group, we also offer our people intercompany transfers: an opportunity to work in other companies owned by the Group.

Q: Final thoughts on the overall operations of JKCS and its future?

A: Our vision for SES, Evinta and Zhara HS is to take them to a wider global arena by expanding our current clientele and developing product capabilities further with innovative features to suit the ever changing demands of the business world.

Our greatest strength here at JKCS is our people who contribute in different scales to bring out the best in IT services for our clients. As we did with the recent ‘Perfect Moments 2011’ – staff photography competition and exhibition, we hope to build further a supporting and caring environment for our staff, focusing on their development and recreational needs. We have many programs lined up including CSR projects and team building and motivational activities for 2012 and beyond to strengthen our HR vision of being ‘More than just a workplace’ for our current and future employees.