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Pierre Pezziardi, founder.
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OCTO Technology started the Octopus
project in 2005* with Oxus,
a subsidiary of a French NGO (Acted) with a strong microfinance presence in central
Asia.
From the beginning, the idea was not only to bring an outstanding
tool for Oxus in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kirgizstan, but to provide a general
purpose MIS suitable for all Microfinance Institutions (MFI). Open Source was an
obvious mode of distribution from this perspective. |
After two years, the product was stable and efficient. More than a
strong product, we had set
up a very strong process.
We were able to deliver new features at a very fast pace while keeping the
product very stable, robuste and simple.
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This unique ability in the market allows Octopus to aggregate the best microfinance practices found around
the world, for the greatest benefit of our customers. Since a best practice is always relative
to a goal, our decision was to be a
solution for the MFIs whose goal is to maximise their social impact under the constraint of profitability. Octopus can work for MFIs
whose main target is goalprofitability under the constraint of social impact
, but it will be less and less adapted to that goal as we integrate
features aimed at social growth: out of poverty performance measurement, staff social bonus, optimization of operations for remote and insulated customers …
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But how can we support such an investment? Neither Octo nor Oxus
can hire the required talented people without getting revenues to pay them. Our
objective is not to become a large centralized company, but is rather to
lead a network of Value Added Resellers,
whose added value remains in southern countries.
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We are permanently looking for sponsors to help us before our revenues from our
affiliation programs start making our activity sustainable.
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As a customer or as a VAR, you can be sure that working with Octopus will always be a
fair dealthat brings you a best of breed software quickly adaptable to
your needs. Hence, you can be sure that what you’ve downloaded for free will remain free.
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PP, September 2008 |
* My gratitude to Marie-Pierre Caley (Acted) and Julien Cabot (OCTO) for their help
in making the idea a reality in the very beginning. |