Young guys put up IT firm, give job to students
By Maricar Cinco
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:20:00 04/11/2008
Filed Under: Computing & Information Technology, Company Information
LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines—It all started in 2001 when the meat processor Pampanga’s Best asked fresh college graduate Dan Cedric Delima to create an ordering and inventory system for the company.
After finishing the project, other jobs started coming in. Today, Delima is running an information technology (IT) firm, outsourcing software systems and other services to clients locally and internationally.
Laserites Systems is a product of six ingenious young men—Delima, Ariel Eusebio, Mark RG Itol, Glenn Marintes, Fernando Apilan and Bayani Lara—from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños.
“Some of us were classmates in ComSci [Computer Science] subjects,” Eusebio recalls. “They asked me if I wanted to earn extra, so I said yes.”
For several years, the students worked on projects on a freelance basis in between classes or as take-home assignments. But with projects piling up, they saw the need to formally establish a company. They pitched in their earnings and savings to put up Laserites Systems in January last year.
From an office apartment here and a small office space rented in Quezon City, the group opened a main office in Manila and a branch in the southern city of General Santos.
“This is so far the best investment I’ve had,” says Eusebio, who found himself running an established firm at age 25. Laserites Systems has 30 software developers, composed mostly of students taking their practicum.
Partnerships
Delima, the chief executive officer, travels abroad to market the company and meet clients in the United States, Europe, Singapore and Japan. His colleagues attend to online bidding offered by companies looking for outsourcing services.
Among the customized software programs Laserites Systems has created are the Brain Bullet 2, an application that flashes text on the computer screen; and the Iris, a management system that allows simultaneous viewing of multiple webcams.
It has also enhanced a backup and filing system called the automated backup suite for ASP Solutions, an Internet hosting company based in Switzerland; and designed information kiosks for an outdoor retail mall in Missouri, USA. A kiosk is an animated software designed to dispense free information through a touch screen device usually used in malls or groceries.
In the Philippines, Laserites Systems has kept its partnership with Pampanga’s Best, providing the latter with automated inventory, accounting system and fingerprint identification software.
It also created a tracking and market information system for Fresenius Medical Care, a Philippine-based company offering dialysis machines.
Part-time work
As a way of paying back the University of the Philippines, Laserites Systems maintains its office in Los Baños to accommodate students who want to earn.
“Not only that students will have a part-time job but they will also be exposed to how real industry works,” Eusebio says. “This time, the pressure to finish a job is not just that you will fail in class, but because you are being paid.”
The company rents an apartment near the campus that serves both as an office and a dormitory for the part-timers.
“We call it the developers’ node but since the students are living there, they refer to it as the Dev House,” Eusebio shares.
According to him, not all part-timers applied for the salary. Some are taking their practicum and are getting paid at the same time.
He is also thankful to his former professors who encourage students to join the company for their practicum or as part-time employees.
A trainee is paid an hourly rate of P50.
He may work according to his desired number of hours or depending on his class schedule. “We really ask for their class schedules so we would know their availability.”
Having been a working student himself, Eusebio believes that academics should remain as the top priority.
As much as possible, he says, the management does not delegate tasks to those who have exams or class requirements to submit.
The trainee may be promoted as a software developer and later to a designer position, depending on his performance.
“Moving up does not require a certain period. It depends on his ability to learn fast and grow as a professional,” Eusebio explains.
Enhancing knowledge
He says the company is after the person’s ability and not his bachelor’s degree.
The large pool of the company’s manpower is composed of Computer Science students in University of the Philippines, Los Baños.
In General Santos City, most of the employees and those taking their practicum took up IT courses from the Mindanao State University and the computer school group STI.
Since IT is a fast-developing trend, the company tries to cope with new technologies by doing research.
The company continues to live by its corporate value of “extending the human potential” by drawing out a person’s ability and further enriching it.
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