Info-Tech offers speedy, cost-friendly HR system on Microsoft Azure, leading to 10x growth in customer base

Info-Tech Systems, established in 1996 in Singapore, began with a mission to redefine how businesses manage HR operations. The company empowers businesses across various sectors and sizes to modernize their HR operations, fostering unprecedented levels of productivity growth.

Recognizing the challenges caused by manual systems in workforce and warehouse management, Info-Tech saw the opportunity to innovate. It launched an HR software that has streamlined people management processes, offering a seamless solution for optimizing workforce operations. In addition, its comprehensive accounting software simplifies inventory management and bookkeeping tasks, providing businesses with the tools they need to thrive today.

Costly maintenance on-premises

With its HR and accounting software, Info-Tech's customer base grew. Yet, its success also posed several challenges to Info-Tech's growth. Dinesh Kamal Somanchi, Chief Technology Officer at Info-Tech Systems Integrators, explains, "Deployments and maintenance on-premises were costly. If there were any issues, someone from our team had to go to the customer’s location to deploy updates or security patches." This hands-on maintenance not only increased Info-Tech’s operational expenses but also introduced potential security risks due to the logistical challenges involved in arranging a visit any time that a customer faced an issue.

Info-Tech deliberated on the potential of cloud technology to bring more scalability, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness to its service. "We realized that a software as a service application would enable us to deploy and manage everything in the cloud, not only saving money but also making other aspects of our product easier to manage like security updates or new feature releases," Somanchi reveals. Since Info-Tech already used Microsoft technologies for end-to-end product development, its first choice of cloud was Microsoft Azure. “Many of our employees are subject matter experts on Microsoft technology, so they were ready to transition to Azure,” remarks Somanchi.

More scalability, efficiency, and security

Info-Tech migrated its HRMS application to Azure, leveraging various Azure services to ensure security and efficiency. "We used Azure Virtual Machines, Application Gateway, Azure Firewall, and Load Balancer to build a reliable infrastructure for customer requests to be processed and information retrieved from the database securely and efficiently,” details Somanchi.

To ensure application availability and data recovery in case of emergencies, Info-Tech uses Azure Backup. “We monitor our application using services like Azure Monitoring, Azure Alerts, and Defender for Cloud. With real-time insights into the health and performance of our systems, we can quickly identify and resolve any issues,” highlights Somanchi. 

Using Azure to smoothly handle the underlying infrastructure, scaling, and management means that Info-Tech's team can focus on meaningful work like product development instead of software maintenance. “Previously, maintaining Windows-based applications required daily efforts from a team of at least 10 people. Now, since most things are automated with Azure, we only need three people to take care of maintenance,” adds Somanchi. “We have reduced maintenance time and cost by 50% and lowered software deployment time by 97%.”

Cloud-enabled customer growth

Today, Info-Tech's customers enjoy a faster, more user-friendly product with 98% availability. “The biggest change is the speed. Previously, if our customers wanted to check an employee’s pay slip, they had to log into the on-premises application and download the pay slip to view it. Now, they can view it with a click,” Somanchi proudly states. “Our users appreciate the improved features, reduced downtime, and convenience offered by the cloud-based solution.”

As a result, Info-Tech attracts and retains more users. "After shifting to Azure, we saw a 10x growth in our customer base—from 2,000 to over 20,000 customers—reaching 1 million mobile app downloads. If we wanted to scale our business with the on-premises application, we would have had to double or triple our team," Somanchi highlights. “We also gained customers’ trust and positive word of mouth. Thanks to the way we manage security and scale, we've increased our customer retention by more than 90%.”

Embracing future innovations

Info-Tech looks to the future with anticipation. "We want to bring artificial intelligence (AI) into our application," Somanchi shares. “We also plan to add more features to the modules to make them more user-friendly and data-driven for high-level HR management.”

Reflecting on the journey, Somanchi is happy with the success so far. “Previously, the operation was static and mechanical. Now, it’s agile, scalable, and secure," he reflects. "When I joined Info-Tech, we were just starting to think about growth. Azure has enabled us to reach customers anywhere and win industry awards for our application."

Find out more about Info-Tech on Facebook and LinkedIn.