Intec, an information
technology company founded by a woman, has shown a way to thrive in Mongoloa’s
often-chaotic economic environment, says a report in NowPublic.com. The country
has made great strides in improving e-government – jumping from 82nd place to
53rd in the UN e-government survey 2010 – and is now aiming to become an Asian
software and IT services outsourcing powerhouse.

Despite its infrastructure
obstacles, Mongolia has been able to develop a lively information technology
sector, often with the assistance of the United Nations. Information technology
consulting and services company Intec, founded in 2004, has been able to thrive
through the global economy’s ups and downs by identifying an under-serviced
niche as a consulting, research and training company. Intec now has five
full-time staff and works with a broad network of Mongolian and international
consultants.

As is often the case with
new businesses, Intec initially found that many doors were closed to start-up
enterprises. “The major challenges which I faced were to make people understand
about the consulting services,” said Intec’s founder, Ariunaa Lkhagvasuren.
“The consulting services concept was new to Mongolia and Mongolians at that
time and not many organizations were willing to work with consulting services.
The international and donor organizations were keen to work with consulting
services companies; however, they were requiring companies to have a list of
successfully implemented projects, which was difficult for a new starter like
Intec. For example, registering with the ADB consulting services database
required companies to be operational for at least three years. So, we got
registered with ADB consulting services database only in 2008. Meanwhile,
personal connections and communication skills helped to find jobs and
opportunities for Intec.”

“It has been quite challenging.
We have franchised the Indian Aptech WorldWide Training center in Mongolia –
may be one of the few franchising businesses in Mongolia. Currently that center
is now a separate entity/company and it has over 20 plus faculty staff and over
300 students. Looking at the ICT market, there were quite a number of internet
service providers, mobile phone operators, a few companies started developing
software applications, and services etc. However, there were only two to three
consulting companies in the ICT sector which to my knowledge at that time were
providing consulting services, and still there was a room for Intec.”

Intec then focused on three
areas: consulting services, training and skills, and research. Intec found they
were pioneering a new concept in Mongolia. Intec’s first contract was a job
with the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin in the United States to organize a
three week course for American students to learn about the digital divide in
Mongolia. But the global economic crisis hit Mongolia hard in 2009.

“It was challenging to
survive and continue working the same way,” Lkhagvasuren said.

“There were few ICT-related
jobs in Mongolia at that time, and one of our major clients left Mongolia and
we had to find other clients in the market. One of the ways of approaching this
was that we were not asking for fees, instead we would have a barter agreement
– we will deliver them services and they will provide some services for us. For
the company itself, we needed to find ways of financing and covering costs for
renting of premises, paying salaries for staff on time, paying taxes and other
expenses.”

The environment in Mongolia
is being helped by the Information and Communications Technology and Post
Authority (ICTPA) of Mongolia, which has been driving forward an e-Mongolia
master plan. With 16 objectives, it ambitiously seeks to place Mongolia in the
top five of Asian IT nations, competing with South Korea, Singapore, Japan and
China.

Lkhagvasuren believes
Mongolia has many competitive advantages. “Mongolia is known for a
high-literacy rate and math-oriented training and education, and ICT
specialists are targeting to become a software outsourcing country for other
countries. Another advantage of Mongolians is that they can easily learn other
languages: we are fluent in Russian, English, Japanese, Korean, German and we
believe that with these two major advantages, we will be able to do a good job
with outsourcing of software development.”

While men still dominate the
ICT sector in Mongolia, Lkhagvasuren has not found being a woman a
disadvantage. “In Mongolia, as gender specialists say, there is a reverse
gender situation. Women are educated, well-recognized and well-respected. There
were situations, when I was the only women participant in the meeting with
about 20 men. But I never felt somewhat discriminated or mistreated and I think
that’s the overall situation towards gender in Mongolia.”

Intec’s success working with
Aptech WorldWide Training’s franchising contract brought many advantages for a
start-up. “It’s a faster way to do things, and you don’t have to re-invent the
wheel.” As a Mongolian company, Intec has found it best to play to its local
strengths. “National companies have knowledge, expertise and experience of
local situations, know players and understand about legal, regulatory matters.
Partnership or cooperation is one of the means of playing alongside big global
players.”