The Hindu Business Line : ESS keen to expand overseas presence

TO expand its presence in the overseas market, Delhi-based IT company Eastern Software Systems (ESS) Ltd is planning to appoint distributors in Malaysia and Thailand for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, `ebizframe.'

"We are trying to appoint distributors in Malaysia and Thailand. ESS already has installations in 12 countries and we intend to increase the number to 20 countries by the end of this year," said Mr Anil Bakht, Chairman and Managing Director of ESS. The company already has a product installation in Thailand but is yet to firm up a distributor for the market.

"We may sign up two distributors, one each for Malaysia and Thailand. We may also have one for Singapore, but that is not an immediate priority, as the market there is developed and the spend is high," he said.

ESS currently has 30-40 ebizframe installations outside India including Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Mauritius. The company is also trying to open up markets in Ghana, Nigeria for which it recently appointed distributors. "We are also in talks with a firm in South Africa for distribution agreement," Mr Bakht added.

At present, 70 per cent of the company's revenues come from the Indian market, and the balance from the overseas market. The company is eyeing revenues of Rs 13 crore for the year ended March 2005. Its revenues during 2003-04 stood at Rs 9.5 crore.

ESS's ebizframe automates all the core functions of an organisation like sales, procurement, stock management, accounts management, human resources, payroll, production and planning. Besides the ERP functionality, ebizframe also offers value additions such as a Web site builder, knowledge management, Web-based e-mail and chat, e-transactions, self-service applications that can enable total automation of the global value chain (supply chain management , customer relationship management and employee productivity).