(2).jpg "Mindspring Careers")
"Education and nurturing talent is very important to cater to the growing global IT needs" - Presantha Jayamaha, Managing Director, Pyxle
PR 2.0 Evangelist Ashan Kumar met Presantha Jayamaha, Managing Director, Pyxle to understand How “IT” changed his life… prwire.blog.com
Presantha Jayamaha, Managing Director, Pyxle
His intention was to initiate a research company in Sri Lanka, that Research Company required simple IT requirements, he looked around and decides to set up his own Software development Company seeing a vast void in the area of niche software development in the country. In 2003 he started the company with two employees, which now has evolved into a team of more than fifty. Youthful and energetic entrepreneur Presantha Jayamaha Managing Director of Pyxle a Software and Web Applications company laid down his plans to develop Sri Lanka’s Software industry.
His parents are from a civil engineering and construction background and his childhood dream was to be a pilot at first, and then a doctor. An old boy of St. Peter’s College Colombo 04 and Colombo International School, Presantha achieved his foundation in computing through Tech Sri Lanka which was one of the first IT institutes in Sri Lanka. Young Presantha’s ambitions swiftly shifted as his passion for IT increased. He recalls, “IT changed my career path significantly, it illustrated the avenues available and the vast knowledge I have gained can be easily attributed to IT. The internet has connected everybody which is really fascinating. The introduction of the internet completely changed lives, simplifying all complexity”.
I probed deeper in to how IT would benefit Sri Lanka and he said “Sri Lankan IT experts are growing, hence education and nurturing talent is very important to cater to the growing global IT needs. As Sri Lanka positions itself on the global map as a favoured IT destination, the Government has a huge role to play in this arena in introducing the IT curriculum early as possible to the secondary education system. I will be happy to see ICTA and the Government closely working towards this vision. Sri Lankan software developers are naturally talented with logical and innovative thinking and thus we only need to increase this talent pool for the whole world to come knocking at our door.”
To sustain and differentiate in an evolving industry it is important for us to follow, focus and always keep an eye on technologies, companies and business models in the USA and the Japanese markets. We need to bank on innovation that we see future value in; making impulsive and wrong decisions on technologies and platforms can spell disaster for the company. Another differentiation is the quality and service level of a company; as global clientele will pay higher fee’s just so that they can work with a company who has a solid background in satisfied customers and timely deliverables.
I probed into the way forward for IT development in Sri Lanka, he said he would focus on increasing internet penetration and IT education. The internet penetration in Sri Lanka, currently at 6%, should be aggressively increased through local and foreign entrepreneurs so that we may one day be on par with other newly industrialized countries. It is also important to change policies and the thought processes in career choices, through a new education methodology, in order to create more IT graduates in Sri Lanka.
Presantha brings with him 10 years of management experience in the service industry. Leading the pack in terms of vision and focus, Presantha is the implementer of all long term corporate goals and aspirations. He believes in absolute empowerment of the employee and a broad based decision making process. Currently Pyxle has regional offices in Switzerland, Canada and Malaysia together with its development center at Havelock Road Colombo.