Though a reduction in business is inevitable during the pandemic, there have been no project cancellations at Lapiz Digital so far. “Overall, our publishing business is doing well,” says president V. Bharathram, whose team has continued to provide VR/MR and niche analytics services to several health-care clients. “We have added two European university presses and several small- and medium-sized journal publishers from the Middle East and Africa to our client roster recently. We have not, however, offered niche analytics services to publishers yet. But, going forward, we are expanding our capabilities in software-related services for both health-care and publishing verticals.”
The team saw an uptick in e-book conversions in recent weeks. “Traditional typesetting for educational publishing is down,” Bharathram says. “But there is a surge in inquiries for development of online products, including lessons, assessments, app developments, responsive HTML, and conversions to XML, PowerPoint, and e-book formats.” He adds: “Quality and turnaround time are the major differentiators during this WFH environment, and we are going all out to deliver on both.”
With classrooms going digital, Bharathram is seeing a significant increase in demand for online testing and assessments from both the overseas and domestic markets. His team completed a large lesson and assessment project—designed and cost-effectively built using open source software—for one U.S. client just prior to the shutdown in March. “But, even before the pandemic outbreak, adoption and integration of IT in education was already there,” says Bharathram, who reports huge demand for online training courseware from corporate clients. “This pandemic essentially accelerates the implementation of online education.”
“As far as full-service publishing projects are concerned, we have benefited from our internal workflow solution,” Bharathram says. “The shift to WFH has necessitated minor modifications and tweaks to the software and workflow, mostly to accommodate and better allocate resource availability. So we now have a fully collaborative tool that is integrated with our production management system.”
Executing complex software projects is particularly challenging in this WFH situation. “Understanding client requirements is crucial to the success of any project,” says Bharathram, who is focused on marketing current services to regions where Lapiz Digital does not yet have a major presence instead of launching new initiatives during this economic slowdown. “But it is also equally crucial for the development team, working remotely, to pass the correct and relevant instructions to team members who are carrying out the work from different locations. Without in-person meetings, clear communication and precise coordination take on even greater importance. More thrust will be given to online digitization services while we continue to help clients with cost effective solutions for their projects.”
