“CALL me Ismahar,” begins Ismaharaffandikhan Ismail, founder of AneQa Resources. “Like the software solutions I develop, I try to make it easy for everyone to approach me,” he says.
Through AneQa Resources, he trains young programmers to gain IT skills. He says quitting his job to start a tech company has proven to be a risk worth taking.
The idea was sparked in 2003 while he was still attached to a tech support team minding computers, printers, toners and network connectivity for various end-users. “I noticed that users may come from different departments but they all experience similar problems. Usually it has to do with Internet connection of just computers not interfacing correctly with peripherals,” he muses.
“Such problems are actually simple to troubleshoot but their employee access to the network limits them from making changes. I started to think what if they can be empowered to troubleshoot their own tech problems. That would free up the tech team to concentrate more on critical tasks such as database accuracy, network reliability or overall security.”
At the same time, he saw many tech vendors meeting up the tech department leaders to offer various solutions and saw the opportunity to become a supplier of technology software and hardware to government agencies.
“Though I have some experience running a cyber cafe, I only learn how to manage a tech business on my own as I go along. Upon securing my first contract as a hardware supplier, I resigned from my job,” he says.
The move to focus fully on software development began later when Ismahar noticed that there are very few players in the business process management (BPM) software.
“Many were not aware of BPM as a means to manage and optimise their work processes, yet a sound business process could be considered the backbone and most valuable asset to a company of any size in this digital age,” he says.
“I found ProcessMaker to be one of the most dynamic open source solutions in the market and it is very flexible for further customisation. Since my interests in programming and database management are still strong, I began to offer solutions in which organisations can incorporate BPM without sacrificing their existing systems as well as prepare them for future expansion.
“Apart from ease of use, it allows heavy customisation by partner vendors and integration with third party systems. We became partners with ProcessMaker and has since acquired clients within the education, telco, logistics and consultancy industries here and in Singapore.
“At this juncture, I started to expand my operations to include more programmers. I began to notice that though we are still largely a nation of technology consumers, we do have the talent to convert ourselves into a nation of technology producers,” he says, adding that the company now has over 30 staff and offers an apprenticeship programme.
Ismahar says the training at AneQa goes beyond software programming. “I limit software demonstration to 10 minutes, during which I ask the client about the problem they face. Most of the time, it is possible to solve within a few minutes as I have a strong base solution in ProcessWork. In my apprenticeship programme, I also train programmers to understand the full potential of BPM and see user problems from their perspective before offering a potential solution,” he says.
Moving forward, Ismahar wants to woo more local clients and enter new markets such as Indonesia. With that, he hopes to be able to take in more graduates into AneQa’s apprenticeship programme. “I hope, in the long run, Malaysia will blossom into a nation of highly capable technology producers, much as how India is,” says Ismahar.
That said, he feels one can only do one’s best when there is passion. “I’m a geek who loves programming and database. It is hardly surprising that I only found firm footing in the software business scene when I let go of other pursuits and refocus on what I do best. I believe passion is the number one requirement in starting your own tech business. Targeting businesses and organisations as clients may not be as glamorous as producing your own brand of smartphones, but it certainly has its rewards. For me, each time we deploy our solutions without hitch and see end-users doing their work faster without needing help from their internal tech support team means we’ve produce a great system for the users.”