Corona crisis: Tech start-up Apploye lends hand to local firms

Working from home is now a reality across industries combating coronavirus.

To ensure social distancing, team members from home are connected online as they discuss work assigned, guided and monitored by respective supervisors.

Most of the large firms may already have got their ways -- online platforms -- to ensure efficiency. But smaller firms are struggling with free platforms that have limitations in terms of features and facilities while a number of them are yet to find any.

Apploye Limited, a home-grown tech start-up, has world-class solutions for teams to unite online with maximum ease and efficiency.

A total of 621 companies from over 66 countries are using the Apploye platform as paid customers that include financial service providers too.

With its team of 22 young Bangladeshis, the company is now offering its premium services for free to any local firm below 50 employees for the next three months.

"It is our social responsibility to help firms like ours to keep pace during the crisis while businesses are suffering slumps in demand, supply chain disruption and efficiency losses,"  Sheikh Shourav, founder and chief executive officer of Apploye, told The Business Standard.

"With our limited resources, we can afford free support for hundreds of Bangladeshi firms who will engage no more than 50 employees online," said Ahsun Mahfuz, vice-president of operations.

Apploye's free services will be offered until June 30 this year, he added.

Shafi Ul Alam, project manager who oversees the engineering division, described Apploye platform and its services as a complete digital teamwork solution regardless of spatial factors.

Apploye has three packages – Time Track that costs $4 per month per user to connect each employee, while Remote Track costs double and Enterprise solutions for customised support need a quoted business to business price.

"We are offering services for the first three months to our community of small and mid-scale firms for free," said Alam.

Apploye works in all Windows, Mac and Android devices.

Long distance teamwork turns efficient because of time tracking, employee scheduling, timesheet, project management, task management and client management in the Time Track package.

Remote Track adds more interactive and monitoring features like activity level monitoring, random screenshots, apps usages and URL tracking alongside everything that the basic version offers.

GPS tracking helps employers monitor the team members' physical locations in real time, which is important for teams who do fieldwork.

All these are meant to ease task management and enhance productivity, said Mahfuz.

Online employers, especially in the area of global outsourcing, tend to use platforms like Upwork to ensure ease of connectivity and productivity.

The platform provider deducts a percentage of the payments against its services.

"We instead offer the same with a fixed nominal monthly charge and that is why our client base is growing across the world," said Mahfuz.

Apploye is competing with two other major players – Hubstaff and Time Doctor – in international markets and going ahead with sound know-how and competitive offers.

The company began its journey last year. It has already ensured its presence in the United States to facilitate sales and marketing.

"We are getting overwhelming response in international markets amid the heart-breaking crisis of coronavirus. On Tuesday alone, 45 companies from different countries were added in Apploye platform,'' said Sheikh Shourav, founder of the company and an information technology entrepreneur who returned home in 2018 after graduating from South China University of Technology.

"We can afford the three-month free support to hundreds of our local firms, especially start-ups," he said.

The free support is going to begin next week as the team is still preparing the platform for free local users.