ISM eCompany opens Colombo office

By Gamini Warushamana

Internationally renowned e-commerce solution provider, ISM eCompany, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, opened its Colombo office and R and D Centre ISM Apac (Pvt) Limited last week. ISM eCompany is a global player and specialist in innovative e-commerce solutions with offices in USA, Ukraine, Singapore and Australia.

The company aims at employing 160 local IT professionals by 2018 and further expand the software development operations in Sri Lanka.

Founding partner of ISM eCompany and former finance minister of the Netherlands, Jan Kees de Jager said, “We are developing e-commerce platforms and high end software that can be easily integrated with the ERP systems of our clients.

With this 100 percent integrated and truly innovative solutions you can use the business logic and information whenever needed.”

Jager said that Sri Lanka has been selected from a list of 20 countries through a long process involving scientific research.

“We used the World Bank's ease of doing business index and other international rankings and parameters such as labour cost, availability of highly skilled labour, governance system including tax structure. We short-listed four countries, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Egypt,” he said.

“Then we advertised for software architecture and programers and checked the quality of the workforce through the CVs and technical ability by interviews and the cost of labour by the salary they expect to,” Jager said.

“Sri Lanka came on top in all the rankings. ISM Apac in Colombo will serve as our Asia Pacific regional office,” he said.

Jager said that setting up of ISM Apac took place within short period but it is not due to the Ukraine crisis, because our office is located in the western part of Kiev, which is relatively safe.

“However, we think setting up our development centres at different places is safer. We are also exploring opportunities in the emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region and Sri Lanka is at a strategically important location,” Jager said. Deputy Head of Mission of the Netherlands Embassy in Colombo said that the opening of ISM Apac proves that the relationship between Sri Lanka and Netherlands which goes back to 1602 is now changing.