News

Adapting to a new Reality with Enterprise Software

Published

5 years ago

2020/11/8

The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging on, threatening businesses as well as economies as it has brought unprecedented challenges that the world must grapple with in the coming years.

The pandemic brought with it the need for organisations to relook at business models for continuity, safeguard employees and ensure products and services are delivered to customers.

Shiraz Lye, Managing Director/Vice President Sales, IFS South Asia, explains how global enterprise applications company IFS adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, and ensured its enterprise software continued to deliver value to customers through operational flexibility and resilience.

“Agility is an essential catalyst for business transformation. It allows an enterprise to embrace market and operational changes—and realize new opportunities when faced with unforeseen challenges. Companies that have invested in agile enterprise software are in a much better position to manoeuvre challenging situations like this.”

Here are some learnings shared by the global enterprise applications company on how it withstood these challenges and ensured its enterprise software delivered value to customers:

Serving Customers against all odds

Lye explained that, when the lockdown was imposed, customer-facing teams, predominantly sales and consulting, were called upon to pay special attention to customers in order to help them sustain their business. With that in mind, IFS continued its operations during the pandemic with a well-planned work from home (WFH) model.

Certain customers wanted to slow down operations while others needed to accelerate their projects, so it was a matter of identifying the customer’s requirement and repositioning the projects accordingly. With a high-spirited WFH team, we were able to continue our go-live projects and sign new deals despite the challenging market conditions.

Realigning go-to-market strategy

He went on to say, “the pandemic was truly a test of the disaster readiness of companies. Top of mind for many business leaders has been “How do I manage my business now and in the near future, even as immediate priorities are to protect employees and ensure business continuity?” Our customers were able to see a snapshot view of operations right from their homes when the lockdown was imposed.

Based on such information, customers were able to plan in the new normal without disruptions and subsequently realign and execute go-to-market strategies.

IFS Runs IFS

Shiraz Lye pointed out that the company had already implemented its own ERP solution across the entire business, thereby connecting regional teams to a single version of the truth across its 50 plus offices worldwide. By unifying the business on a central platform, all front-line and back-office staff were able to continue operations, giving management full visibility of the entire business operations and enabling quick and well-informed decision making. This was one of the key enablers of the WFH model globally.

Adapting to a new reality

Companies also need to frame a near-term strategy that prepares businesses for recovery. The near-term moves are mostly tactical improvements that allow a company to operate better in the current landscape by tackling certain challenges head on. The imperatives include:

Digital Supply Chains—Companies need real-time visibility to better manage supply chains. This will allow them, for example, to incorporate weather patterns, port delays, and supplier issues into their decisions, and to take immediate action. Because of social distancing requirements, they also need to run operations and supply chains with fewer workers and reconfigure warehouses and warehouse management systems.

Digital Finance, Procurement, and HR Functions—Companies need advanced automation that enables employees to operate from home. For example, a supplier would be able to submit an invoice online which would go through the standard approval process and get paid for an item that had been procured, without the hassle of physically delivering invoices to the premises.

Consumer and Go-to-Market Trends—

Companies need to cope with an explosion of consumer data as consumption patterns change. They need to be able to adapt to the changing volumes of orders, realign production lines and be able to produce goods in demand arising due to the crisis.

Open, Collaborative Ecosystems—

Companies need to collaborate digitally with suppliers, for example, to forecast demand for future orders or even look at replacing offshore vendors that have been cut off from transportation.

Operational Visibility—

Enterprise software can help address all these business challenges as it provides companies real-time transparency with respect to sales, operational costs, inventory, production, and financials. Powerful data-driven analytics enables more agile decisions, such as adjustments to the supply chain to improve resilience.

Shiraz Lye concluded, “Companies need to frame a long-term strategy to win in the new environment that emerges after the pandemic. Businesses should cut out the complexity arising from traditional processes and embrace technology as an enabler for future growth. Enterprise software should be looked at as an investment in creating business that are future ready, enabling organization-wide collaboration, simplified business processes, and real-time visibility of business operations.

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Latest News

Sun directly overhead Beruwala, Gurulubadda, Rakwana, Godakawela, Udawalawe and Thanamalwila at about 12:13 noon today (06)

Published

15 hours ago

2026/04/6

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (06th) are Beruwala, Gurulubadda, Rakwana, Godakawela, Udawalawe and Thanamalwila at about 12:13 noon.

Latest News

Heat Index at Caution Level in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district

Published

15 hours ago

2026/04/6

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 05 April 2026, valid for 06 April 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

News

West Asian conflict benefits China-managed H’tota Port

Published

15 hours ago

2026/04/6

Thilina Walpola

Extended yard facility, HIP (pic courtesy HIP)

The ongoing West Asia war, triggered by joint Israel-US attack on Iran on 28 Februar, has benefited the China-run Hambantota International Port (HIP).With Iran imposing restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz shipping, in retaliation for unprovoked attack, thereby choking vital shipping routes, particularly for crude oil and refined oil products, HIP situated, along the East-West shipping corridor, has received the anticipated attention.

Soon after the sinking of an unarmed Iranian frigate, just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, in India’s backyard, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar categorised HIP as a foreign military base, along with Diego Garcia, Bahrain and Djibouti, where both the US and China maintained major bases.

HIP, in a press release issued on Sunday (05), declared that the Port has significantly expanded its operational capacity, in response to a sharp surge in global shipping volumes, resulting from the West Asia conflict.

The company asserted that the developing situation reinforced its position as a key alternative hub along the East–West shipping corridor.

The port has doubled its Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) yard capacity and increased its container yard capacity by 30%, as shipping lines divert operations away from disrupted routes in search of stable and efficient alternatives.

HIP is situated just 10 nautical miles from the main East–West shipping route, allowing vessels to divert with minimal deviation while maintaining schedule integrity.

The Chinese government-owned China Merchant Port Holdings (CMPort) under controversial circumstances acquired controlling interests of the Hambantota port in 2017 during the Yahapalanaya administration. Although the Sri Lankan government repeatedly said that Sri Lanka was paid USD 1.12 bn according to the HIP website CMPort invested $974 mn in the HIP and held 85 percent of the shares.

The 2017 agreement granted CMPort a 99-year lease to develop, manage and operate the Port area. The Supreme Court dismissed a fundamental rights petition filed by lawmaker Vasudeva Nanayakkara pointing out that the original agreements pertaining to the Hambantota port had been signed in 2012 and 2013 during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as the president when he was a member of the Rajapaksa Cabinet.

The HIP press release quoted CEO of HIP Wilson Qu as having said: “What we are witnessing today is a structural shift in global shipping patterns. At HIP, we have focused on building the capacity and operational agility to respond to such changes. Our ability to scale quickly, combined with our location, allows us to support global shipping lines when reliability becomes critical. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in infrastructure and capabilities to strengthen Hambantota’s role as a key logistics and transshipment hub in the region.”

The rise in both vehicle transshipment and container volumes has driven yard utilization levels to the highest in HIP’s history, highlighting the scale of ongoing supply chain disruptions and the port’s growing strategic importance in global trade.

To accommodate increased throughput, HIP has rapidly expanded yard space across both cargo segments, enabling it to handle higher volumes while maintaining operational efficiency and minimizing congestion. Expanding capacity within a short time frame in a live port environment presents considerable operational and technical challenges and requires significant investment. However, through close coordination across management, engineering and operational teams, HIP was able to deliver these enhancements in step with rising demand.

The HIP statement added: “The expansion reflects Hambantota International Port’s continued development as a resilient logistics platform in the Indian Ocean, as geopolitical developments reshape established maritime routes and increase demand for alternative hubs. As infrastructure scales in tandem with demand, HIP is increasingly positioned to capture a larger share of regional transshipment volumes while supporting the continuity of global supply chains.”

Amidst the continuing uncertainty caused by war and growing threat to international shipping the Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) the owning group of HIP recently finalised an agreement to invest USD 108 mn to procure new container handling equipment- six quay cranes, 16 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) and 40 trailers, under the initial phase of the port’s Phase II container terminal development.

By Shamindra Ferdinando