Jatis groups talented Indonesians to develop IT Solutions Consulting

Several idealists and young professionals gathered and set up an IT (information technology) solution company. What will they make of the company? It depends on their background, determination and skill. PT Jati Piranti Solusindo -- Jatis -- (www.jatis.com) has already expanded significantly in only its third year.

Starting out with only 10 people, Jatis is now a solid e- business enabler firm with some 150 personnel. Dozens of leading local and overseas companies have become clients of Jatis, whose vision is to be the best e-business enabler by having the best people and best intellectual assets.

Jatis' president and CEO, Jusuf Sjariffudin, said that his company aims to enable its clients by partnering with them to strategize, build and operate their e-business.

"Jatis also wants to become a valuable company where our people have fun developing their career with us," he said.

He said that as an Indonesian-based company, Jatis wants to participate in the development of technology, particularly in information technology in the country.

"We want to see Indonesia as a knowledge-driven nation, and not lagging behind other countries in Asia which already have developed in the IT sector," he said.

"Within a short time frame, we have expanded as a solid firm supported by professionals specializing in various enterprise integration technologies," he said, adding that the majority of the professionals are Indonesians.

Jatis' expertise includes in-depth understanding of Internet technology; middleware and networking technologies such as wireless connectivity and integration of various technology platforms into business solutions.

Many of the professionals at Jatis are young people under 30 with good IT knowledge and come from top schools in Indonesia and abroad.

"Everyone is a part of Jatis. We are growing together. And we joke that everyone who joins us must increase the average IQ. But we are not the regular dot-com company. Many of the management team were managers or senior managers at Andersen Consulting, IBM, Oracle, CAP Gemini, Metrodata, Astra and Deliotte Consulting before they join Jatis. The top management, with over 100 years of collective experiences in IT and management, are happy to work in a team. As I believe there's no shortcut in management, no matter how smart someone is, Jatis is a nice place to grow together," Jusuf said.

Services offered by Jatis include e-commerce, custom-built applications, packaged solution selection/implementation and IT project planning and turn-key implementation.

As virtual shopping has become a world trend to winning in a competitive market, anyone interested in entering e-commerce needs to prepare his or her strategies well.

Jatis offers a product called Etalaze, a tool which allows its any merchants to build, operate and manage Web stores without any help from developers or professional graphic designers. It provides wizards to create a fully featured store with layouts that are easy to update to fit the customers' needs.

Etalaze also makes it easy for Web surfers to do transactions by providing a simple yet functionally rich and complete buying process. As well, Etalaze provides a reliable operating system.

In addition, Etalaze will simplify transactions for netters by providing a simple yet functionally rich and complete buying process.

"It's no longer the question whether you can afford a presence on the Internet. It's whether you can afford not to since competition is on the global basis."

Technology eventually serves as an enabler of business functions and supports the use of state-of-the-art technologies to deliver innovative solutions, Jusuf said.

"We focus on the financial and banking industry, manufacturing/distribution and telecommunications sectors," he said.

He said manufacturing and distribution companies need to get involved in the cyber era with banking facilitates as the electronic payment and clearing house, while the telecommunications sector provides the connectivity.

Locally, four leading banks, BII, Bank Mega, BCA and Bank Bali have become Jatis' customers, he added.

"The four banks are introducing e-banking to their customers. Our software system allows the banks' clients to have personal assistance, so that they will be informed about any balances and expenses on real-time anytime they want the information."

He said that Jatis' products also allow the banks to synchronize everything for the convenience of their clients.

Jusuf said that technology is becoming the key enabler of business functions and a strategic competitive advantage for most corporations.

Jatis, also founded on the premise of providing the best e- business enabling services in the region, has expanded to Singapore and plans for Kuala Lumpur. In Singapore, Jatis has eight anchor customers, including the popular Website ezyhealth.com. They are all high-profile Internet players, he said.

Jusuf said that the office in Singapore opened in September 1999, while the one in Kuala Lumpur is being launched.

"We target big offices in Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Sales offices will be opened in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines to support our business."

He said that competition will likely be stiffer in such service.

"We're ready to compete with overseas companies located in the markets we penetrate as well as with those from developed nations," he said.

Jusuf recalled that Jatis began its business in a small space rented in one of its first customers' office.

"We want to be a leading player in this industry. We want to grow and also be everlasting, just like the philosophy behind the jati tree: strength, integrity, growth and longevity," he said.

He said that Jatis aims to become a pan-Asia based e-business enabler of choice through its experience, expertise and efficiencies in building e-business.

The company, partly owned by the largest venture capital in Europe 3i based in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange, is committed to helping its customers and partners define Internet strategy and architect, design, develop and implement innovative solutions to support and assist them develop scalable digital businesses. (icn)