India-based Tally Solutions, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting software company, plans to work closely with IT hardware manufacturers integrating both hardware and software on one platform.
The company has partnered with IBM and Dell in India to offer ERP and accounting solutions.
The accounting specialist plans to get these partnerships to the region, as the UAE is one of the fastest-growing markets in the Middle East for the company.
The company has 500,000 customers, with an employee count of 600 and partners touching 20,000 globally.
This customer base is focused on the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) segment and Tally now wants to aggressively get into the enterprise segment. Emirates Business met up with Avinash Gupta, President of Tally Solutions, to learn more about their strategy.
Tally has come from being an accounting solutions specialist to an ERP resource provider. What necessitated venturing into this segment?
The year 2009 was a defining year for Tally, mainly because of the ERP addition to our present set of software. Tally's original software also consisted of elements of ERP but we never called it that before. We were looking at the right time period [to make the branding makeover].
ERP is a solution that gives customers flexibility to do business and conduct operations at their own time and pace. At Tally, we wanted to build a technology that can be accessed at home and office to use information, reports and create invoices.
Have you been able to make enough implementations, despite the global recession?
We actually sped up the release as the landscape was changing in the market. Quick access to information and return on investment (ROI) was the main focus in 2009. We found that organisations wanted to make this investment.
Within eight months of the launch, Tally had 10,000 customers in the UAE and at our headquarters in India it had touched 100,000.
At least 50 per cent of these were new customer implementations, as we allowed a lot of customers to freely migrate to the new solution. Our partners also make money on services for these products since a lot of customisation is provided to customers. For Tally, in terms of customers in the Gulf, the UAE is the biggest market followed by countries such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
Did you cut down the licence prices on your product line, especially as you focus largely on the SMB segment?
Tally did not see a fall in customer acquisition and licence revenue.
There was no reduction in price and, therefore, no downfall. Growth figures were marginal at 10 per cent.
Globally, we added 70,000 new customers, and there's no need to increase the prices as we make money on volumes. A Tally product costs Dh1,800 for a single user and is, therefore, not a burden on the customer.
Today, we cater to the bottom of the pyramid and in the next few months, as per our roadmap, Tally will play a role in the mid-enterprise segment. This would make the company and products cover the whole pyramid. Even applications such as CRM would be included in the short term.
As the accounting software originates from India, is that a challenge in global markets?
Tally today is dominant in Africa, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Ten years ago this was a challenge but not today, as being a software company from India is now a major advantage. India is now being recognised for its innovation, especially in IT and technology. Tally may not be used as a full-blown ERP resource everywhere yet, but it is used somewhere in an organisation.
Which new markets will you target in 2010?
This year will be about strengthening our presence in existing markets and expanding in emerging markets. Tally wants to cater to larger populations and markets. It is more about depth than width while expanding our footprint in these new markets.
Expansions will take place into any market that is similar to India. China is there on the roadmap but expansions there may not happen in 2010. The language barrier is an issue, and therefore we cannot enter with a vanilla product. It has to be customised to business requirements. So it makes more sense to focus on other markets. In the European market, Tally has been present for almost five years now.
Would you consider developing Tally software in the Middle East?
The development of the product will continue at our facility in Bangalore, India, which would be expanded. The whole world is moving to India, therefore it would also make sense for us to keep our production there. If we need language or domain specialists, they can be acquired and developed in India. The partner ecosystem also enables us to customise systems, as they are the ones who influence customers along with our financial consultants.
Do you envision Tally combining hardware along with its software solutions?
Tally does work with technology companies such as Dell and IBM, but this is currently restricted to India. With IBM, there was the launch of the 'Smart Cube' server targeted at the SMB segment in which the Tally ERP was bundled.
This was done to make it a one-stop solution.
With Dell, Tally was working on its notebooks to offer Tally software on a rental basis. This would benefit customers, as they would not have to pay for the licence, which would reduce the entry barrier.
Is piracy a major issue for Tally in the region?
Tally is aware about customers who do not pay, but we are not threatened by that risk. Customers who have used Tally must benefit and not be penalised. For every licence of Tally there are 10 pirated in India. And in the UAE for every licence there are three copies.
We do not plan to take any steps towards curbing this, as it has been prevalent across markets and will be so for a long time.
By Nancy Sudher
© Emirates Business 24/7 2010
