As one of the reputable businesses in the outsourcing service sector and high-quality software development for domestic and foreign markets, after five years of construction and development, Viet Nhat General Joint Stock Company (VINICORP) has built its reputation and brand through a variety of collaborative projects with foreign companies, especially Japanese. Vietnam Business Forum had an interview with Mr Doan Manh Cuong, Director of VINICORP. Ngo Anh reports.
Could you share some important factors behind the current success of VINICORP?
In my opinion, after consideration and decision to cooperate with any partner, whether inside or outside the country, prestige is the most important. In the field of software outsourcing, prestige is reflected in product quality and delivery time. With geographical distances of thousands of kilometres, when working with Japanese companies we have to actively explore and invest in advanced information technology applications such as video conference (Polycom), virtual network (VPN) for all parties to understand the progress and difficulties very early. Doing this well can build trust with partners. Therefore, we also have been appreciated by a lot of partners and have signed many contracts for development cooperation systems, like Petrolimex Corporation, the Japanese JICA office in Hanoi, the Brother Vietnam company, Vietnam-Japan medical device company, and the international manpower supply company JVNet.
How have projects and cooperation programmes with international partners, particularly with Japanese business, been implemented by VINICORP?
5 years ago, we were very lucky to grasp the opportunity to cooperate with SRA, which specializes in software under the CMMI4 standard with company scale of 3,000 people. In particular they have experience with financial and securities companies in Japan; they have been effectively cooperating with the software company in Dalian, China. Frankly speaking, in the first 1-2 years we focused only on studying their process by sending people to Tokyo, as well as the implementation of some modules in Vietnam. In the following years we gradually moved through the maintenance projects and projects for the SRA, as well as found more partners including Softbank, ARX and AtmarkCafe, which specialize in applications for smartphones. Some products outsourced by VINICORP are well installed in Japan, and now about 5 percent of Android phones and 2-3 percent of iPhones come installed with at least 1 application made with VINICORP products. There are also some products outsourced by us for our partners that won first place in every category on the AppStore. There are also products in the first month that reached nearly 200,000 downloads and in addition, there are a number of other products that reached the Top 5 position in the education and utilities categories.
Corporate culture is an important factor to maintain the existence of the enterprise, but also to promote Vietnam’s image and people to other countries. So how does VINICORP create and maintain its corporate culture?
In our company, awareness and self-discipline are highly appreciated. Since its inception, the company has banned the use of tools such as Yahoo Messenger, Skype or free e-mail. And recently, the company funded and required the staff to wear uniforms. At first there were many objections, but time has proven that the implementation of the regulations is correct. To do this, in addition to the use of specialized tools (ISA Server), we also have effective supervision.
Contact people from VINICORP and you can feel the professional environment and work style –the working style of the Japanese. Some simple examples are: going to work on time, focused work environment, quiet environment, punctuality in meetings and appointments, or always having record of the content of a meeting with a client, whether short or long, for the two sides to mutually confirm the contents. And more importantly, the Japanese businesses working with VINICORP don’t have any difficulty in Japanese language. Therefore, they always feel like they are working in their home. Everything is usually implemented in order and the final goal is to make the project a success.
Japan is a difficult market, requiring a very high level as well as technical factors. So what are the company’s strategies for market acceptance and confidence in the product?
At VINICORP, three leaders of the Board of Directors had time studying and working from 11 to 16 years in Tokyo, Japan. And before coming back home, we had the chance to spend at least 2 years gaining experience at leading companies in the field of electronics, such as Hitachi and Toshiba, we understand that not just VINICORP but most Vietnamese companies are poor in technical and quality management methods compared to leading Japanese software companies. So to develop, we have to:
1) Be willing to participate in construction or maintenance of large systems to accumulate new technology and allow difficult current techniques to develop.
2) Actively get involved in research and development projects. In fact, earlier this year we were assigned to a long-term project by a large company of Japan, with the purpose of studying the feasibility of a range of new smart phone technologies. This is a very attractive task and gives us strength when competing with other partners from China or India. Besides, we are also preparing to launch an IT application useful for Japanese living in Hanoi on the occasion of the upcoming 40th anniversary of relations between Vietnam and Japan.
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