Winjit South Africa’s associate vice president for sales and business development, Stu Chalmers, says a technology partner should guide businesses through scalable, step-by-step strategies that minimise disruption and maximise long-term value.
For Stu Chalmers, associate vice president for sales and business development at Winjit South Africa, a technology provider needs to be a true technology partner, offering step-by-step modernisation strategies that are scalable, ultimately future-proofing a business.
Winjit South Africa is part of a global technology company headquartered in India that develops customised, end-to-end software solutions for enterprises. Stu has been at Winjit for nearly seven years and since 2020, his primary focus has been on client consultation, as well as leading his sales and business development team in helping businesses build bespoke software solutions, ranging from mobile app development projects to WhatsApp chatbots.
“Winjit has a 20-year history helping clients with custom software solutions, but when we build something, we allow the client to adopt it at their own pace. This incremental yet agile approach allows us to integrate our solutions with any existing software they may have, while minimising complexity challenges that often come with new systems and solutions,” says Stu.
Building for adoption, limiting disruption
According to Stu, a challenge he often faces is when businesses attempt to do a DIY update of a legacy application. “Sometimes, people within an enterprise feel they know how a particular application or piece of software works, because they have the domain experience and know the business. But they’re not necessarily software developers – and not everything in a business is built in-house,” notes Stu.
Stu highlights that Winjit has ample experience with legacy updates. “We understand the journey; we look at an existing application and guide the client on what the most appropriate, fit-for-purpose technology would be needed to upgrade it. Additionally, by outsourcing this process, the business’s IT teams aren’t taken away from their day-to-day jobs. We limit disruption by building something on the side, we slide it into place, and the existing IT team then runs with it,” adds Stu.
Spearheading digital transformation, AI and a data analytics mindset
Stu cites an example of how Winjit completely transformed a company’s outdated paper-based system into a seamless digital-first process – all through a mobile app. Stu explains that a client in the industrial gas sector, who issues all-important certificates of compliance, needed to issue these certificates in a more streamlined manner, but they were unsure of how to do that.
“That’s where Winjit came in,” says Stu. “We worked with the client to build a mobile app to allow gas installers to do all the paperwork digitally, post-installation, then email copies of the certificates of compliance to the client and the managing body at the same time.”
Stu notes that over the years, Winjit has continued to work with the client, and through their customers’ feedback, the client has now eliminated the paper-based process, and it’s now entirely mobile-based. “This solution has completely transformed their business. We’re looking to do the same thing at similar bodies in other countries, and the electrical guys are on our radar,” says Stu.
Stu adds that, along with mobile-first app development, Winjit also leverages AI to help understand what clients’ needs are, build app mock-ups, and embed AI in apps to improve usability. He underscores that Winjit is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, everything is cloud-based, and mobile-first is a key mechanism in what they do. According to Stu, data analytics is a variable that many businesses still don't necessarily consider top of mind, but Winjit encourages clients to make effective use of this valuable asset, with the right solutions.
The importance of understanding a client’s needs from the start
Stu notes that although Winjit is an end-to-end technology provider, the starting point with any client is always business analysis. For example, Winjit had a new client in Kenya, so a team of business analysts was sent to Nairobi for three weeks. During this time, they worked with the client, met and interviewed their users – internal and external – and showed them potential designs and usability scenarios.
“We’re not just here to build something. We can help a client understand what technology they need based on how they use it, what they do not use, and what they use it for. If we understand the whole picture from the get-go, that saves so much time down the road,” says Stu.
For Stu, this reiterates Winjit’s staged and agile approach. “If you introduce a new mobile app to a large customer base, it can’t be too complex. Rather deploy an app with the basics and 50 features deployed in the future. We’re not just here to write code; we have a whole team, from devs to designers, to help guide a client on that journey,” he emphasises.
“We build around how the client works. There are areas we specialise in, such as the finance sector, but we're not here to dictate to the client how they should run their business. We’ll make suggestions and work with them – and I believe that’s what makes Winjit a technology partner in the truest sense.”
