How Focus Softnet's ERP system helping SMEs reduce costs and improve profits

Focus Softnet has come a long way to become a technology-driven solution provider, helping businesses sustain competition. The company design integrated ERP (enterprise resource planning) suites that offer seamless data and process integration, unite organization-wide processes, and give visibility and insight into all aspects of the business. In an interview with Bizz Buzz, Ali Hyder, Group CEO, Focus Softnet, says, "the journey started with our first ERP product launch in 1992, and after that, developing something more powerful with every new release.

Our solutions helped our customers achieve greater business success through continuous enablement. We received a very positive response from our users. This made us take a baby-steps toward future expansion. In 1995, we got our first breakthrough in the Middle East market. And by 2019, we expanded our business operations globally, in 17 countries, by opening offices, and through partnerships".

How has the Focus Softnet evolved?

Focus Softnet is found by two engineering graduates from Hyderabad, Mir Hasnain Ali Khan and Mir Ahmed Ali Khan. They initially started the company as Softline Software Services in the year 1991. Their first project was to develop accounting software for businesses of all scales.

In 1992, the company was renamed Focus Softnet. Our first ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, Focus 4.8, was launched the same year. In 2014, Focus 8, a dotnet-based ERP with RESTful APIs, was released. We kept enhancing our product features in the form of updated releases. In the last decade, we released many software products to meet different business needs, a few examples being Centra CRM, CentraHCM, Focus WMS, Focus MRP, and AIFA, among others.

In addition to making numerous industry-ready versions available, our customizable ERP systems also cater to specific needs of industries such as retail, utilities, automotive, wholesale and distribution, education, and healthcare, to name a few.

In 2018, we came up with our new generation of software - Focus 9, a cloud ERP with in-memory computing on the Pronghorn server. The system is built with a state-of-the-art database to store information in a hybrid computing engine that can reduce complexity and improve the speed, accuracy, and accessibility of the stored data. The following year, we released AIFA, a powerful conversational AI platform that could be integrated with ERP to generate reports and get deeper business insights using voice commands. Moving ahead on the same path, we continued to expand our product portfolio and introduced the latest data-centric fourth-era ERP in 2021. We launched Focus X by merging all the traditional modules in the ERP with new-generation features.

What is the nature of your product/services that the company offers?

We have a comprehensive portfolio of business solutions for all business processes across industries. Our software systems are meant to make business management better and simpler.

Right products always help evolving businesses with better digital transformation and improved management of critical processes. We help our customers choose the best solution they need as their businesses grow.

Our featured products have a digital core that supports decision-making and enterprise-wide productivity. Built on the cloud, Focus X and our other industry-specific solutions include advanced technology to deliver exceptional, seamless user experiences by integrating all touchpoints onto a single platform. We also offer complete support to choose, deploy and maintain these business solutions.

Do you have one product for any size company or are they tailor-made?

We believe that not every business is the same, and so they cannot be best served with a one-size-fits-all solution. Our business applications emphasize making the most of our experience to provide the highest benefits to the clients. They are tailor-made, intuitive platforms that cater to the requirements of businesses of any scale and complexity. Adding to this, we value our clients, so we analyze their business objectives from the core and translate them into the design to offer out-of-the-box solutions.

How has the company grown over the years?

Focus Softnet has come a long way to become a technology-driven solution provider, helping businesses sustain competition. We design integrated ERP suites that offer seamless data and process integration, unite organization-wide processes, and give visibility and insight into all aspects of the business.

The journey started with our first ERP product launch in 1992, and after that, developing something more powerful with every new release. Our solutions helped our customers achieve greater business success through continuous enablement. We received a very positive response from our users. This made us take a baby-steps toward future expansion.

In 1995, we got our first breakthrough in the Middle East market. And by 2019, we expanded our business operations globally, in 17 countries, by opening offices, and through partnerships.

Is your product similar to ERP or the one offered by SAP?

We design and develop comprehensive ERP systems. They deliver reliability to businesses for operational efficiency and seize growth opportunities while decreasing the time to project closure and reducing dead or slow-moving stock.

What is your target audience, SME, MSME or unicorns?

Focus ERP is an ideal fit for the MSMEs who have one or combination of the following: multiple country operations with different statutory requirements; require consolidated reporting with multi-vertical operations; require multiple workflow for multiple verticals; need country-based servers due to governmental restriction at the same time need consolidated reporting; and tightly integrated CRM/HCM solution.

Can new companies or struggling ones afford your solutions?

It would be wrong to say that getting an ERP solution is a pocket-friendly purchase because the technology needs quite an investment. But we try to make the price as competitive as possible so that every company looking to get an ERP system deployed for their business can afford it. This remains the same for even new companies and startups.

What are your growth plans in terms of product and value?

At Focus Softnet, the R&D never stops. Technological advancement and the increased scope of ERP keep us engaged in creating something new every year. Despite continuous development for over 30 years, our products still undergo new additions and changes. Presently, we are working on our 10th version of ERP software to enhance the already built-in AI feature further and add blockchain to strengthen its contract management technology.

How dynamic are your solutions? Can they be calibrated to the new ethos of sustainability and environment friendliness?

Digitization, in general, and ERP, in particular, are keeping a tab on governmental regulations, ensuring a better environment for all. The integration with WhatsApp, e-invoicing, AI, RPA, and similar other tools is helping Focus ERP users to be environmentally friendly.

What are your global plans?

The past 30 years' story of Focus Softnet has been about growth and expansion coupled with untiring efforts from the R&D team to keep our users ahead in the ever-changing world of technology. The plan for the future seamlessly picks up the echoes of the past. On the growth and expansion front, we look forward to strengthening our market share in India and the Middle East regions while growing the base in North America. Regarding software development, we are looking at integrating more banking and payment gateways, e-commerce applications, social media platforms, and RPA tools to give even better user experience.