Maneuvering Transformation is a Tricky Business

Thursday 30 October 2014 0 Comments


The transformation of the company started at the beginning of the year with a memo received from the CEO. A simple yet precise memo provided us with a direction to go, goals to set and changes to make for the year onwards. It sounded easy but half year through we realized that the reality is tougher than what we’ve imagined. The transformation process demands us to adapt to changes about the way we run our business, but most importantly we need to change on how we perceive the business, our strategies, our thinking process, and more in order to prepare ourselves with what’s to come.


FingerTec is in the process of shifting from putting focus on hardware products to providing solutions to our clients. We want to be a key solution provider for time attendance solution on cloud and at the same time move vertically in access control industry. The explanation sounds straightforward yet the execution needs more understanding and finesse to drive us to where we want to be. There’s a saying “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks”, somehow it describes this quandary rather perfectly, us, our teams included. After so many years putting hardware on the pedestal, we need to drive the mindset of our teams and resellers to set aside the hardware and concentrate more on the applications.

The call to change from TCMS V2 to Ingress for door access fell on deaf ear when people have gotten so comfortable with TCMS V2. Reasons for hesitation are simple. Many believe that TCMS V2 fits their requirements well and to change that would require them to explain to customers extra things that they are not familiar with. And, trying new software needs understanding, trial & error and intensive support, which perhaps they can’t afford to engage. In short, providing new system requires them to invest more effort rather than sticking to the old familiar ones. From our point of view, this change is crucial because as a brand we want Ingress to soar as a respectable application in access control worldwide. Hence, we have to stick to our guns. Come November we’ll start charging on licenses of TCMS V2 for those who purchase door access products. We anticipate complaints from many but to be fair, we have been repeating this message for months, cue: read the newsletter and blog more.

Find out the differences here
TimeTec Cloud is another interesting challenge that we have to overcome as a brand owner. Simply put, TimeTec Cloud is a TCMS V2 Premiere Version available online. Our task is to convince our existing channels to try TimeTec Cloud and start marketing it because the key to a successfully pitch of a new product is understanding. We urge all our channels to sign up for a free trial and in turn, promote and let your potential customers sign up for the trial as well. On FingerTec’s part, we are doing our best to provide important resources and kindly let us know which parts need improvements. On your part, we welcome you to get on with the program and reap its benefits.


When we have been so cozy in our comfort zone, we are resistant to change. But one thing every one of us must realize that, while change is hard, it is certainly inevitable for a better future. Transformation is hard but once we realize that we are the agent of this transformation and we act, the process will get easier by the day.

By Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

The transformation of the company started at the beginning of the year with a memo received from the CEO. A simple yet precise memo provi...

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