Bangalore based GEOGO Techsolutions aim to simplify technology adoption for the MSMEs by faster development of software solutions at attractive pricing. The company’s consultative approach helps the customer to decide the kind of technology needed to address their problems. GEOGO has also developed a platform for industry-student connect and skill development for students.
As the start-ups and MSMEs are getting ready to provide the new age technology and solution for the market, technology adoption for these companies is often halted by the prohibitive cost and off-target solutions. Few companies have taken up the cause to empower start-ups and MSMEs by offering technology solutions that address the specific need of a particular enterprise.
Digital Transformation: Need of the hour for Indian Manufacturing
Founded in 2014, GEOGO Techsolutions Pvt Ltd, Bangalore is one such solution provider with the objective of digital transformation and business process automation for the MSME space. Through faster and easier technology adoption at an affordable price, GEOGO is an Agile software company working on an iterative approach to project management and software development. Speaking to Machine Maker, GEOGO’s Founder and CEO Suvajit Sengupta and Director Ajai Prabhu shared the story of their journey so far. Suvajit acts as the chief technologist while Ajai looks after the sales and marketing at GEOGO.
Suvajit Sengupta says that GEOGO is an Agile software services company that focuses on maximizing efficiency and reduce wastage for projects. “Initially we were targeting MSMEs which had the ideas and wanted to take them to the market by leveraging technology, but their means were very limited. GEOGO helped to take their idea take the shape of a product. Subsequently, if they were able to retain us, we were involved to develop their next level of products.” Today with GEOGO’s solutions the MSMEs can develop products and reach the market at a much lesser cost with the right set of quality.
All the while GEOGO’s focus has been on the manufacturing segment. Ajai Prabhu says, “When it comes to the solutions that GEOGO has developed, we cover the discreet manufacturing domain especially for the automotive components and engineering industry. The lion’s share of the industry is in the MSMEs which basically supply to the big players.” So that is going to be the prime focus for the company.
MSMEs need Futuristic Approach; Change from remaining complacent with the Earnings
The issue of MSMEs not adapting to the technology has been in the discussion for quite along. Ajai explains that a few years ago when cloud technology was not available, it was more of an on-premise sale, so the total cost of ownership of software was very high. “Another concern was that the MSMEs remained complacent with their earnings (and that is still a problem!). The attitude is if things are happening why does one need the technology? The futuristic approach is not there. Also, for these companies, the idea of technology is pretty limited.”
But things are changing faster. For the big manufacturers, the pressure to roll out new models and variants faster have increased manifold. And this pressure is going to compound and add up onto the suppliers and the MSMEs. Ajay says, “So unless they do not adopt the technologies they are not going to survive in the market. And the cost of technology adoption now is pretty much lower. Today with the cloud technology around one does not need an IT infrastructure per se. How long are we going to say that the MSMEs are not into technology adoption? The change has to happen.”
Customer-centric Model for Technology Adoption
GEOGO has such kinds of models which are affordable and can be accessed via the cloud or on-premise. Affordable price is one of the major strengths of GEOGO solutions. Ajai says that the company is very well prepared with the range of solutions that the customer might need. “We take the consultative approach while meeting the potential customers and try to understand their specific problem. GEOGO helps the customer decide the kind of technology in the lines of what would help them to address their problem.” GEOGO already has a platform from which the MSMEs can start and gradually grow to higher levels of technological involvement in their processes.
It is about the MSMEs who are unable to afford the proprietary software. This is where GEOGO comes in. Suvajit Sengupta says, “GEOGO is committed to the open-source community. It is more about the democratization of software rather than limiting it to a certain level. So as a company we belong to that kind of background and that is why you find a lot of quality software’s available in the open-source space. By saying cheap does not mean the quality has been compromised. It means by leveraging the open-source software available we can reduce the turnaround time. That is how the quality is ensured.”
The mindset among the Indian manufacturers is to bring in five more people to get a problem solved rather than fine-tuning the processes that the system demands. “Even if we offer the solutions at zero cost to these companies, they are still reluctant to adopt. Because in India, the notion is about being more people-oriented and less process-oriented. That is the reason why we are good at services.
A software system inherently demands a process in place. But the companies are so random with the people that it acts as another hindrance to the technology adoption in the smaller organizations. From the technical point of view, this is another challenge. “It is not only the price,” Suvajit adds. Companies need to change in terms of becoming a process-oriented organizations. Suvajit Sengupta believes unless we develop in the process aspects, no matter how many numbers of software are offered even at zero cost they will not work. GEOGO’s mission is to simplify the adoption process by offering solutions that are, as Ajai Prabhu puts it, “rightly suggested and rightly priced”.
The gradual shift: Transformation towards Automation
If one looks at the supply side of the MSMEs and engineering per se most of the core fields are moving more into technology. Ajay points out that, earlier mechanical engineers were working in the fields of software, so that was a new kind of brain drain. “Technology can bridge that gap and help to get the right people. There is a gradual paradigm shift. It is like breaking the jinx of the traditional model and move to the next level. Companies can take to technology as they grow and feel confident and that shift is visible since the time we started.”
The brain drain was going on for the last fifteen years. But in the last couple of years, the companies are looking for people with specialized faculties. Suvajit says, “So there are a lot of jobs in IT but the entry for the non-IT engineering students are very limited because everyone has to know a certain level of programming.”
The Industry-Student Connect & GEOGO Impact
But technology adoption needs the right people to continue with the new systems. Companies have highlighted it a point of concern, the right skill for the new technology. Suvajit Sengupta’s experience has been that companies feel that it is a challenge to get skilled human resources for the new technologies. “Attending to that we have built our information technology platform to connect the industry to the students directly. It is a tool through which one can conduct remote hiring sessions be it in terms of assessments. And for the students who are coming onboard, GEOGO has models through which the students can get engaged and learn. It helps the students hone skills which the industry asks from them.”
The students can keep practising on the models and the platform has monitors to measure and assess their skill set. When a company looks for a person with a definite skill set, GEOGO searches its database and refer the student to the company. “The companies with whom we are working, we have helped them to bring fresh talents and groom them up to the level of skills they needed,” Suvajit adds.
