When the company was co-founded by Mr Jason Lim in 1996, it sought to take advantage of the key growth areas of wireless and electronic businesses. Starvision IT set out to provide and build e-business solutions for leading companies in the Asia Pacific region, taking pride in growing with their partners to ensure that their investment in IT would be protected, thus giving them a competitive edge. To this end, Starvision IT developed software suites for modern enterprises, addressing various needs such as human resource management, supply chain management, mobile communications and software development toolkits.

MecWise is a prime example of Starvision IT's customer-centric approach. It consists of various modular components which can be customised to suit different requirements and functions. For example, MecWise People is a complete range of solutions that manages basic and complex HR functions, including a decentralised system for employees to self-manage their individual claims, leave and profiles. For Supply Chain Management needs, MecWise Supply Chain is a suite of tightly integrated software which encompasses main systems such as distribution, logistics, retail POS (Point-of-Sale) and integrated modules for financial management.

Mr Jason Lim, Managing Director of Starvision IT, attributes part of the company's growth strategy and success to the participation in the Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Program (iLIUP) by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. Having been an iLIUP partner for close to six years now, he highlighted the ways that his company had benefited from the programme.

"As a software company, being exposed to and having access to new technologies and applications are very important for our own internal development process," said Lim. "Through iLIUP, we were able to partner with Microsoft, who gave us a great deal of technology transfer as well as certain advantages in acquiring new technology and products." With this priority treatment, Starvision IT is able to migrate and adapt products and services to the Microsoft platforms quickly and easily.

Starvision IT was the first company in Singapore to sign an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) Agreement with Microsoft USA in 1998, which eventually led to the company being a Gold Certified ISV and Microsoft partner. In fact, in 2004, Starvision IT was awarded the prestigious Microsoft ISV of the Year 2004 Award.

"Market exposure is crucial to any business. Through our relationships with the iLIUP managers and Microsoft, we are able to gain more exposure and awareness through co-organised marketing activities and events", added Lim. This association with Microsoft raised the company profile and established it as a trustworthy and reliable service provider and software developer.

Through participation in iLIUP, Starvision IT also gained access to various training and upgrading packages, especially in terms of subsidised fees and benefits for staff and software developers. This allowed Starvision IT to maintain its competitive edge.

"I am certainly very happy with the opportunities that iLIUP has opened up. We gained a lot, both in terms of market and technology exposure, which is a very hard thing to achieve otherwise. This has allowed us to take on more challenging projects and also expand into other markets such as Malaysia, Australia and China."