The HBI Software Story - Part 1

The weekend's newspapers are full of stories of NZ companies looking to move production offshore. Fisher & Paykel's announcement on Thursday was followed up by similar warnings from Sleepyhead, Skellerup Industries and others on Friday. This is not new however.

Back in 1999 - 2000, I experienced similar issues in London. Namely, a lack of available skilled software developers, rising costs and the emergence of new low cost offshore competition. The situation was as threatening to me then as the high NZ dollar and low cost manufacturing operations in places like China are to businesses in New Zealand today.

My response was to travel to India in 2000 to investigate the potential. I recruited two software developers in Mumbai and they relocated to London. It was clear to me however that more could be done.

I worked with a couple of Indian based entrepreneurs in London who had good connections back home in India. I returned with them to India in 2001. We visited Delhi, Mumbai, Indore and Bangalore. I returned to London convinced.

I drew up a business plan and engaged a recruitment agency who I had been introduced to during my visit. In September 2001, the first office in Sunrise Chambers, Ulsoor Road, Bangalore was opened. HBI Software Private Limited was born.

The HBI Software team now includes system architects, designers and developers.



They produce great work. HBI Software built the Canon Europe Print Services portal back in 2002. They re-designed and then developed the United Nations global Intranet in 2003. In March 2006, they delivered the United Nations Procurement platform (AGI) for Africa.

And they continue to build great applications. Just check out Smart Analytics. And the soon to be launched 'Pingar'.

What are the challenges of working in an offshore environment? The answer to this question will appear in The HBI Software Story - Part 2.