VFS Global is attempting to remove your paper load when applying for a visa through several of its centres
DHIREN SAVLA
VFS GLOBAL SERVICES GROUP
Technology helps you in reducing costs – automation, predictive analysis, machine learning and it opens new avenues for growth and revenue. Digital is a reality! By transforming enterprise, ecosystem and hence, the industry, we not only remain relevant but continue to lead.
Anyone who has ever applied for a visa in India knows what a cumbersome process it is, requiring a tonne of documents to be carried to the embassy, that too in a digital age.
VFS Global, the largest visa processing firms in the world, is coming to the rescue of travellers by working on several digitisation initiatives for the entire visa process. The company has implemented a location-independent visa processing solution which works completely in a digitised format with no moving papers and the processing of request happens cross-border with the highest level of security. This process has been hugely successful with several governments using this as a solution.
The firm has undertaken industry-first project of m-Visa wherein a person can apply visa on a mobile and get visa on it. The entire lifecycle is digital. “In today's world, boundaries between departments are fast disappearing. Today IT is doing sales, marketing is doing IT and finance is talking about monetising some knowledge-based assets. It is important to work as a team with regular, immediate and timely collaborations with the highest level of openness to accept fresh ideas objectively. In my mind, sooner than later, IT is going to be the business – and everything else is going to be a product. If the product is a hotel, we call it Airbnb and if it is car we call it Uber. For a more diversified one, there is Amazon,” says said Dhiren Savla, CIO, VFS.
Savla says his job is akin to running an ITeS business. “Few years back, technology was an enabler for the business and we could not have built 2,500 offices network in 125 countries without using IT effectively and efficiently. In 2017, technology cannot just be an enabler – it becomes the key differentiator.
Savla believes that to be relevant today, the organisation needs to change and adopt an agile way of working. “I strongly believe in this approach and we use this internally too. We incubate and support latest ideas, do not wait for a 'perfect' situation — experiment, assess and decide. This is done with start-up partners as well as with internal teams,” says Savla.
In this approach, there could be failures/ downsides but these are too small as compared to the upside of success,” Savla believes, adding, “I personally believe in highlighting (or even celebrating) failures so that others can learn from it. As shelf-life innovation is too short, agility is the name of the game and my organisation thrives on agility,” he opines.
According to Savla, the real digitisation goal of the organisation will be achieved only when consumers of all age groups get that “wow”' factor.
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