Interview: SMEs need tech to compete in today’s era, says Alok Bansal, MD, Visionet India

Founded in 1995 in Cranbury, New Jersey, Visionet Systems is a fast-growing IT/ITeS company that develops and deploys high-value, productivity-enhancing software solutions. Globally, it caters to over 300 clients and has more than 4,000 employees. “In India, our headcount is over 3,000 professionals who are dedicated to provide technology and BPM solutions to the BFSI industry,” Alok Bansal, MD, Visionet India tells Sudhir Chowdhary in an interview. Excerpts:

What is your business strategy for 2020?

We continue to invest and grow by developing and introducing solutions for many sectors, globally. We have expertise in the areas of data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, cloud, testing and mortgage IPs and will focus on sustaining the same by providing the most advanced software solutions.

In year 2020 at Visionet India, we will primarily focus on the BFSI space, for which we are developing innovative solutions that will enhance operations and improve end-customer’s experience. The new segments we are focusing on are banking, finance and agriculture.

How can technology enhance the competitiveness of SMEs?

In my opinion, SMEs and MSMEs need technology to effectively compete with the bigger enterprises. Earlier it was not viable for them to commit time and capital to develop customised products. With the advent of software-as-a-service and cloud technologies, it is possible for them to access enterprise grade software without huge capital and time commitment. Also, technology today allows MSMEs to leverage their experience and expertise and develop applications that bring in enterprise level efficiency at scale.

What is Visionet’s current revenue growth? How do you see it growing in the coming years?

We have been growing steadily at over 40% year-on-year in terms of revenue and we expect to sustain this growth over the next five years organically. Additionally, we will explore acquiring newer technology and expertise inorganically to accelerate growth in the coming years. New technologies that Visionet India is working on are data science, cloud engineering, test automation, mortgage tech automation, AR/VR, Blockchain, etc.

We consider that domain and industry knowledge is the engine and technology is the driver of business change. We have made significant investment and progress on both. We have also established a team of distinguished industry leaders with expertise in data science, cloud engineering, automation and testing technologies along with domain experts.

Do you have any plans to raise funds?

We are a bootstrapped company with zero debt. We are profitable and have sufficient cash flow for organic growth. We are incubating some innovative products for the BFSI industry. We may look for funding support when we scale some of these products in the future.