An astounding personality at heart and a mastermind in the Tech industry, Dimi Jinadasa, Founder & Managing Director of DIMIYA Tech, enlightens us on the perfect combination of sophistication and fragility of the tech world!
Born in Colombo back in 1983, Dimi is an Alumnus of both the Royal College, Colombo and Stafford International. Possessing an avid interest in sport & education, Dimi’s maternal parent, Koshalie, had been the supportive arm in his life, reassuring him throughout the thick and the thin!
From a tender age of seven, Dimi was a helping hand to his late father, Lakshman Jinadasa, assisting him with factory related meetings and management. “That’s where I developed a passion for business and indulged myself in building the economy of rural communities in Sri Lanka”, Dimi says. By the age of twelve, he was appointed as a fabric quality checker. “My first job was a fabric quality checker, in the sample room at one of my father’s factories. He always wanted me to start from the bottom and understand employee relationships by building respect and motivation”.
Maturing over the years, Dimi moved to Melbourne for his higher studies, at the age of 18. Graduating with a Bachelor of Business Systems and a Masters in Practising Accounting from Monash University, Dimi’s decision to continue his education in a foreign land assisted him in accumulating the necessary life skills to develop life in solidarity.
Proving his sensibility in the tech field, Dimi fostered into the corporate market in Australia, initiating his journey as a Business Analyst. Subsequently, he served roles as the Project Manager to Head of Projects, leading sophisticated projects for leading companies like Pfizer, GSK, Astra Zeneca, Cricket Australia, VicSuper, and Bank Australia, whilst “managing and changing the legacy systems via new technology, data, and digitization”
Meanwhile, Dimi adds, “I have been engaged in a diverse range of industry changing IT initiatives, such as the digitization of health, technological advancements in Australian superannuation, and banking via fin-tech, Data Science, CRM initiatives, and open banking”. Furthermore, Dimi has also assisted the Cricket Australia with improving their member management via CRMs, assisting grassroots initiatives via mobile applications development.
Dimi strongly believes that his entrepreneurial instincts are embedded in the core of his family. “I come from a background of entrepreneurial instinct, starting with my grandfather’s jewellery business in Galle”, he reasons, reflecting on his grandfather’s business, based in Colombo Fort. Similarly, he draws connections from his father’s interest in gem cutting and the apparel industry, launching Jinadasa Brothers garments & Foundation garments. Pondering on his decisions, Dimi states that “DIMIYA Tech is a series of businesses where everyone was not successful. But each attempt left me with invaluable lessons that no MBA could supply. To do these start-ups I had to take all the risks and invest my own saved money, without any help from the family. So, I encourage anyone to start a business, take calculated risks if it financially stacks up.”
Dimi elaborates on the initial intention when venturing into DIMIYA Tech, explaining how the Australian companies are not getting value for money. “With DIMIYA Tech, I saw a gap in the market with corporates or small to midsized companies cost-effectively needing skilled IT staff. This need spanned not only within Australia but across the world. We cater to this gap by cutting a company’s bottom line cost by over 60% via outsourced technology solutions while simultaneously providing services from qualified staff stationed globally”, Dimi states. He also proudly mentions that DIMIYA Tech’s resource centres are situated in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, catering to customers from Australia, USA, UK, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand.
Explaining the tenets of DIMIYA Tech during the novel acceptance of technology during the pandemic, Dimi states, “DIMIYA Tech played a pivotal role in assisting many companies by providing the right software, and applications, as well as proper security and IT governance processes”, facilitating remote work. Dimi believes that DIMIYA Tech accomplished the transformation of the many mindsets within the corporate world, bringing light to the little gap between on-site and off-site staff. “This has assisted DIMIYA Tech in receiving copious inquiries and interest as our services allow companies to utilise cost-effective mechanisms, whether it’s an IT Help Desk or Skilled software development staff for technology projects”.
DIMIYA Tech has also excelled in accelerating essential processes during the pandemic times. Some such initiatives that were to resolve the less-number workforce in companies include “support for e-commerce platforms due to an increase in online purchases, contactless payment methods, distance learning, telehealth, and applications designed to reduce the spread of COVID 19, such as checkin apps”, says Dimi. The company has also supported other entities to fulfil their workforce necessities by outsourcing staff services to them, in genres such as data scientists, front-end back-end developers, e-commerce specialists, and infrastructure managers.
Dimi also ponders on the incline in cyber fraudulence and ransom attacks amidst the prolonged RussiaUkraine war. Taking this into account, “DIMIYA Tech’s cyber security team, along with our IT infrastructure personnel, have consistently assisted companies in staying secure, via preventative tools and 24/7 monitoring, effectively protecting our client’s assets”, Dimi reassures.
The culture at DIMIYA Tech is enriched by familyoriented goals, braced with encouragement and positivity. This aura is hence reciprocated to their clients, following a leading and productive employee client relationship. Dimi further adds. “We also have introduced our hybrid model, offering on shore and off-store staffing. Not many companies can beat us at price and offer the same level of support and service.”
The centre nerve of DIMIYA Tech is based in Australia, a land copious of tech organisations. Amidst this well-known factor, Dimi believes that Australia is the right country for DIMIYA Tech, as very few of the existing companies provide services convergent to that of DIMIYA Tech. DIMIYA Tech caters both, the Australian companies and globally, enhancing IT services throughout whilst standing out from the rest! Dimi praises his employees for the never ending support and dedication that is of par excellence in serving their clients. “We follow a rigorous and meticulous recruitment process. Like most tech companies, we examine technical skills and qualities. However, we take extra steps to ensure candidates demonstrate productive problem-solving skills, exemplary customer service levels, and, most importantly, a positive attitude”, Dimi elaborates, explaining his take on his committed employees.
DIMIYA Group of companies entails DIMIYA Properties and DIMIYA Health. “DIMIYA Properties focuses on property development in Melbourne, and DIMIYA Health started during the pandemic to assist the Australian healthcare system, especially when PPE health supplies were circulated to private hospitals to combat major shortages”.
Elaborating on the real estate arm of DIMIYA Group, Dimi believes that the primary motive is entirely based on creating affordable housing options for the citizens of Melbourne. “We offer property building, consulting services, feasibility assessments, and project management and provide additional property development and marketing services”, adds Dimi, while emphasising on their foreign clientele-base involved to buy or develop properties from DIMIYA Properties. “Above practices and our stringent due diligence and feasibility assessments have provided great returns to our investors”.
Answering the million dollar question to many who dream about owning a property in Australia, Dimi explains, “It has been increasingly difficult for people to purchase property in Australia. Until recently, the property market has been boiling in Australia with low-interest rates and short stock levels in the market. For many young Australians, the dream of owning a home has become distant”. However, recently aggressive interest rate hikes have slowed down the property market in Australia, and clients interested in a property development or purchasing new townhouses and units in Melbourne can be directed to DIMI properties. We assist in buying or investing in a valuable, priceless property projects.
For individuals still contemplating on the benefits of owning a house in Australia, Dimi points out that Melbourne and Sydney have been rated the most liveable cities in the past 10 years in the global indexes. Adhering to the global property demands, Australia has catered to the investors and migrators from all around the globe, for the past 30 years. This in turn has brought in much more Australian dollars into the market, making it a feasible option to many! Enriching the Australian, “While an investor may get good capital growth on their Australian property, they will also benefit from good rental yields and transparent property rental management platforms available in Australia.
Australian property is also much more liquid than Sri Lanka!”. However Dimi highlights that this is not always the case as the Australian property market is enriched with a diverse range of properties. In order to balance and provide meaningful solutions, DIMIYA Properties can be of and guiding assistance!
Dimi comments on the prospective plans for DIMIYA tech, leaving it short and sweet! He says, “Most of DIMIYA Tech’s businesses to date address a gap in the market. We are currently at a stage where we want to focus on growing our current businesses and maintaining a global presence while observing what’s happening in the world and subsequent opportunities. If the business case stacks up for a particular opportunity, we will not hesitate to diversify or start new businesses in similar fields going forward”.
Concluding his wholesome account on DIMIYA Group of companies and the prospects of tackling leadership, Dimi leaves the budding entrepreneurs of the upcoming generation with a couple of vital advice from his heart. First, Dimi believes that one must “Re-invent your ideas, and yourself, and test if your idea can benefit the community or humanity. Gaining deep domain expertise in your particular solution is very important as, these days, technology is well beyond just coding”.
Furthermore, he states that an entrepreneur must constantly ask him/herself if your doings make sense, financially. “A great idea or a tech solution is not sustainable if it’s not financially viable. It’s integral you do the required market research for your idea. This helps you understand whether your solution can generate reasonable revenue and financially stacks up. Otherwise, no matter how good your solution is, the start-up or the business will not be sustainable”.
Lastly he states, “Invest in your team, invest in user experience, but most importantly, stay focused & stay disciplined!”