Newstrack

IDS celebrates 20 years, announces expansion plans

Gayatri Vijaykumar - Bangalore

Suresh John

With an aim to target smaller cities, IDS Softwares, a Bangalore-headquartered IT solution provider to the hospitality industry has announced plans of expanding into the tier II and tier III cities. "The cities we plan to focus on are Chandigarh, Jaipur and Guwahati so that we can grow closer to our customers. We will make our presence felt in these markets during this financial year (2007-’08)," said Suresh John, managing director, IDS Softwares. Presently the company has offices across all major cities in India. One of the main reasons for the expansion, according to John was the fact that most of their clients were now focusing on the smaller cities with the hospitality industry with the tier II and III cities growing exponentially. "Hotels with one or two properties are expanding pan India. Hotels are also moving across segments; we see expansion happening both horizontally and vertically," explained John.

IDS Softwares also has plans of expanding internationally. Currently the company has a presence in 20 countries with over 1300 installations spread across South Asia and the Middle East. "In the Middle East alone we cater to around 300 hotels, we plan to double that this year. We also have a team working on newer geographies including parts of Europe, North, East and West Africa," revealed John. The company has allocated a budget of approximately 3-4 crores for its organic growth plans. Additionally, according to John, IDS is also looking to grow into newer geographies with strategic investments. "We are constantly evaluating various modes to engage in a market place. Besides setting up our own centres, we may even look at existing players in the market and evaluate options to invest in them, maybe through acquisitions or joint ventures," stated John.

Established in 1987, IDS Softwares is currently celebrating 20 years in the industry. As part of the celebrations, IDS has launched seven new software solutions for the hospitality industry. These include Fortune Care, Fortune Rewards, Fortune SMSenger and Fortune Analytix, which are business enhancement products, Fortune iBooking, Fortune RevMax and Fortune iCheck-in which are web-based products. "Each of the new products complement the existing ones. We are currently working on futuristic products which are to be launched in the next two-three years. We study the best products in the industry, check for available technology and then embark on developing the product," explained John.