2015 was without a doubt a truly successful year for Astron Informatics Ltd. One of the key elements of this success was that the company further strengthened its presence in the energy industry. We asked Zoltán Jacsó, manager of the Energy Industry Applications Division and Krisztián Kapta, deputy manager to talk about the most important results.
Since when is Astron present in the energy industry?
Zoltán Jacsó: We have been working closely with our most important partners for more than a decade now. MAVIR ZRt. has been our client since 2000, and we have been working with Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd. – previously known as E.ON Gas Storage– since 2008. We’re proud of the fact that we have long term strategic partnership agreements with most of our clients, and they consider us to be a reliable, stable partner.
What are the main business areas of the division?
Krisztián Kapta: We develop customized software solutions for the players of the gas industry, the electric power industry and the public administration sector. The telecommunications sector was also significant for our division, but due to an internal reorganization, from February 2016, it is part of our new division focusing on mobile application development.
In 2015, your division had a record number of projects. In your opinion, what are the main reasons for this?
Zoltán Jacsó: Yes, last year we worked on a total of 39 projects for 15 different clients. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for their hard work. Their outstanding performance without doubt played a crucial part in our success.
First of all, it was because the EU regulations concerning the gas and electric power industry have changed, and this affected several of our clients: we had to synchronize their software solutions with the new regulations, all the while working with extremely tight deadlines. Second of all, our client base also grew last year: in 2015, we started working on developing applications for the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority and the Hungarian National Bank. We have managed to successfully deliver projects to many of our clients like MAVIR ZRt., the Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd., MVMI Ltd., Telenor Hungary and E.ON Business Services Ltd. to name a few.
Krisztián Kapta: I would also like to emphasize that besides software development, our support services are also quite significant: we offer 24/7 telephone support to our clients. Also, about a year ago, we introduced system hosting as a new service, adding a new activity to Astron’s portfolio.
With all the increased workload, did the number of employees increase as well?
Zoltán Jacsó: Yes, we registered an average growth in the number of our employees of more than 25%, meaning that at the end of last year, we were 33 people in our division. We try to constantly improve our work methods as well. Our teams mostly apply agile methodology which is one of the most efficient project management methods in software development nowadays. We support this with the internationally recognized Atlassian systems.
What could 2016 bring?
Zoltán Jacsó: We expect some Hungarian and EU regulations to change this year as well, which will most certainly affect our clients. Our high quality software solutions are great references for us, this is why we are certain, that our clients will rely on our services in 2016 as well regarding several development projects. We put great emphasis on creating long term strategic alliances with our partners and we constantly seek new business opportunities as well. All in all, we’re confident that this year will be just as successful as the last one.