The Xcellerate IT’s Professional Service Team keeps growing to support its increasing customer base. The latest entry is Feroze Jacob, Senior Solution Consultant, who recently joined Xcellerate IT. Read Feroze’s interview about the challenges and benefits of automating accounts payable invoice processing.
With nearly 70 organisations supported the by the Professional Service Team, Xcellerate IT was in the hunt for an experienced solution consultant with deep knowledge of document capture and Kofax technology.
The search took longer than we expected and went international as well but ended up being very successful. Xcellerate IT welcomes on board, Feroze Jacob. We met with Feroze during his busy schedule to get to know him a bit more and learn about his role at Xcellerate IT.
Good morning Feroze, how are you today?
I’m very well, thank you!
So, who is Feroze Jacob?
Mmm…a 35yr old Indian-born young man, father of two, starting a new adventure in Sydney. I am from the Southern Indian state of Kerala and Australia is the third Country I’m living in.
How long have you been living in Australia?
I’ve just celebrated by second month here in Sydney and this Christmas is going to be my first Christmas in Australia. I lived in Auckland, New Zealand, for 7 years before moving here in August 2011.
What brought you to Sydney?
I guess that after living in India and New Zealand I was looking for better job opportunities and a change in my life.
How is the integration in to your new city going?
Sydney is great, the weather is much better than in Auckland and the team at Xcellerate IT have been fantastic making me feel welcome. Unfortunately, I’ve not had many chances to discover Sydney’s world famous tourist spots as I’ve been busy house hunting and buying a car. But I’ve managed to buy a car and rent a lovely spot in the north shore of Sydney and I look forward to start discovering my new city with my wife and my kids.
What do you do when you are not busy in supporting and developing document capture solutions?
Well, I love taking my kids out during the weekend and I have been told Sydney has lots of parks perfect for daily excursions. I really look forward to settling down a bit more and exploring. I enjoying playing badminton, cricket and cooking traditional Indian food.
What is your signature dish?
It’s called “Mean Pollichattu” and it’s pan fried fish marinated with spices and baked in banana leaves. It is served with rice and I just love it. It is very traditional for the Kerala region and I grew up eating it!
We caught up with Feroze during a quick coffee break (he loves his cappuccino more than Indian tea!) and could not miss the chance to ask what he’s working on today.
What are you busy with today?
At the moment I’m working with Southern Cross University implementing a solution for accounts payable automation integrated with their back-end system, TechnologyOne Financials. Since I’ve started at Xcellerate IT I’ve worked with Aussie Home Loans, South Australia Police and investigating Kofax Capture 10, the latest version of Kofax Capture.
What does your job at Xcellerate IT consist of?
I am responsible for scoping, designing, developing, implementing and supporting document process automation solutions to increase efficiency and productivity within orgnisations.
According to your experience on the field, what are the main benefits of implementing a document capture solution in Accounts Payable?
If I had to pick the main benefit I would say that the solution saves time. Being able to access to electronic images of invoices by a mouse click reduces time spent in chasing paper work. In addition, reducing time in data entry and validating invoices allows organisations to allocate personnel to more valuable tasks or to perform more tasks without the need to increase the headcounts.
What about the challenges of implementing a solution?
In my experience, every time you try to implement a new solution which changes internal processes, the most challenging environments are the ones where there is small support from the organisation. Change management impacts a lot; sometimes before implementing a solution there is a lot of skeptism but once we go live the perception changes and organisations appreciate the benefits of the software. It is important to involve the end-users from day one, let them embrace the solution and let them understand the benefit that the solution will bring to their daily tasks.
How is working at Xcellerate IT?
I am enjoying my time in the office. The team of professional services is extremely focused on document capture solutions, it is Xcellerate IT’s core business and it is what we do everyday. The working environment is very interactive, we work very close with each other and we share information and experience every time! It is a very stimulating and challenging environment!
How did you get all your AP knowledge?
I have an IT university background. I have a bachelor degree in Mathematics and a Master Degree in Computer Applications from Madras University. I worked for over 5 years as software developer before moving to Canon in New Zealand where I worked for 5 years. It is at Canon where I started working on document capture and Kofax projects. Since I’ve started, I worked on 20+ Kofax different projects.
All right, thanks Feroze. I guess it’s time to let you go.
No problem, you’re welcome.