Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Pioneering software industry
TmaxSoft CEO Lee Jong-wook / Courtesy of TmaxSoft
By Kim Bo-eun
TmaxSoft seeks to expand its global reach
By Kim Bo-eun
Headquarters of TmaxSoft in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province
Global conglomerates continue to reign in the Korean software industry, but local enterprise TmaxSoft has firmly established itself as the number one domestic system software provider. Now, it plans to make inroads into foreign markets to secure new sources of income and to compete with global software companies such as Oracle.
Since its foundation in June 1997, TmaxSoft has launched a series of successful software products and emerged as Korea’s top corporate system software developer. The company is the only total enterprise solutions and services provider in the country.
Headed by CEO Lee Jong-wook, the system software firm earned 70 billion won in sales last year. System software is computer software designed to operate computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.
TmaxSoft has some 2,400 clients, which include major banks, government ministries, public corporations as well as companies in manufacturing, distribution and telecommunications.
Among its most successful products is Jeus, a web application service. Merely three years since its launch in 2000, the service gained the largest market share, outperforming solutions by global software giants such as IBM and Oracle.
This year, TmaxSoft aims to reach 100 billion won in sales, 30 percent from its overseas operations. In addition to existing branches in the United States, China and Japan, it is set to expand into the United Kingdom, Brazil and Russia as well as search for partners in Southeast Asia.
Overcoming hard times
TmaxSoft started to expand its operations, when it was hit by the global financial crisis in 2008. It went under a debt workout program in July 2010.
This move came shortly after Lee became CEO in April of the same year. “At the time, the company was unable to pay its employees. I came during the hardest times,” he said.
Under Lee’s leadership, the company drastically scaled down the number of products from some 40 to just 10 key ones.
Lee brought innovation to the company’s business processes, in particular maximizing efficiency in the sales process. He also elevated the quality of customer service under the slogan “C3S,” which stands for customer surprise service system.
“Our aim was to pleasantly surprise customers through providing the best quality customer service,” said Lee.
These efforts gradually paid off. In August of last year, after seeing surpluses for nine consecutive quarters, TmaxSoft completed the workout program.
Superior technical skills
At the core of the company’s competitiveness is its cutting-edge technology which was what enabled TmaxSoft to become the number one domestic system software provider, beating out global software giants.
It was the first domestic software company to be listed for six consecutive years on the Gartner Magic Quadrant, a series of research reports on the technology market published by Gartner Inc., a U.S.-based research and advisory firm.
TmaxSoft therefore makes sure to provide its researchers with the best environment to conduct research activities. For example, its researchers have their own private spaces and have access to masseurs at the workplace.
The company also hosts various seminars and lectures, and promotes discussion among its researchers, to motivate them to learn further.
“The atmosphere of dedication to research within the company may come from the founder of TmaxSoft, who is unrivaled in his commitment to research activities,” said Lee.
Indeed, despite difficult economic and personal circumstances, founder and chairman Park Dae-yeon strove to study abroad where he obtained a Ph.D. Before founding the company, he was a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) for more than a decade.
Making the global leap
TmaxSoft is preparing to globally expand, while adhering to the CEO’s set of principles.
The first is being honest with and building trust among employees. This was a principle Lee stuck to during the company’s hardest times following the financial crisis in 2008. At the time he made an effort to enhance communication with employees, and promoted transparency in management, by updating its managers with information about the deficits and surpluses of the company.
Another of Lee’s core principles is customer-based management. Because the company directly deals with customers, it focuses on providing specialized, quality customer service. This is what sets TmaxSoft apart from global software conglomerates, said Lee.
The CEO also sees corporate social responsibility as an essential element. In recent years, the company has started a program in which employees mentor underprivileged youth in Seongnam City about IT. The program received a presidential citation last year for its efforts.
“Korea is excelling in various sectors such as sports, film, and music as well as food and fashion. However, it lacks is a strong player in the software industry,” said Lee.
“TmaxSoft aims to fill that role, to become a global software company,” he said.