Last week, I sat down virtually with Dipane Gupta, the Founder of Digitalis Technologies. Dipane is also a Director at Multicolor Steels, a leading manufacturer in the Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings (PEB) sector. We’ve already written about Dipane’s enterprising implementation of ERPNext at Multicolor Steels here. This story is about what came after. Dipane turned proof into purpose and built something of his own.

Being the youngest in his family’s business, Dipane always had a different perspective on things. In 2021, he decided to change the company’s ERP system. After discovering ERPNext and running it with SAP together for a year to prove its suitability, Multicolor Steels adopted it entirely. This win felt like the tip of the iceberg. Dipane had always wanted to work on his own IT venture. He knew that there was more down the road with Frappe. As fate would have it, Frappe too was making changes to their business model.

“It was a matter of perfect timing. Frappe was actively looking for partners, and I decided to turn my experience into a business and become the partner they wanted.”

Thus, Dipane founded Digitalis Technologies. The company is based in Delhi, is in its third year and has a Silver Partnership with Frappe. With over 15 projects today, their journey has been full of learning and experimentation. For me, what stood out most was their approach to challenges and the messy parts that build a successful business.

The Digitalis team: Diwali celebrations

As entrepreneurship goes, Digitalis started slowly but steadily. They found small business owners in their network to start trusting them with implementations and support. A few months later, they were introduced to Noise as a support consultant. Initially, with only 3 people and offering mostly support, Frappe Helpdesk became their go-to tool.

Customer visit: Noise

This wasn’t the case for long. As Digitalis grew, so did their team. Eventually, the 20-person team would have weekly training sessions for Frappe’s growing product and feature range. Their growth didn’t just come from training. Digitalis Tech did a rare thing. They put themselves through hard situations and tough projects just to learn from them. Dipane speaks proudly about this bold strategy, where they turned projects from initial losses to long-term successes.

“Our team is young and energetic, and I see it as an invaluable perk. They always want to be better. It creates a fearless culture of growth and great delivery for our customers.”

Customer visit: Blinkit

One such bumpy project we discussed was their implementation for Kesar Appliances. Deadline issues and scope pressures, most of it went awry. But the team persevered, negotiated a longer runway and made it work. Their honest communication opened up a deeper connection between the businesses. This was proven when Digitalis found itself in financial trouble, with no money for salaries or cloud renewals. Payments weren’t coming through, and Dipane had to take action. He felt confident in his services and his customers. Luckily, a simple conversation solved everything.

“I picked up the phone and told them the truth. I realised that if you share your issues with the client frankly, they will support you. People don’t forget your good faith. All situations are a win-win; customers just need to understand that.”

Next, I asked Dipane how they stay sharp with their strategy. Digitalis’ implementation strategy is simple. The team realises that more than implementing a software, solving the business problem is essential. This is what usually sets them apart. Dipane describes himself as an absolute business person, attributing this uniqueness to his success. Digitalis is also an active member of the community. In December 2023, they hosted an insightful Frappe Local in Delhi. One keen observation Dipane mentioned was that, contrary to what was believed, there was no need for partners to compete. The partner ecosystem is relatively small, and the market potential is huge and largely untapped.

“Our business strategy IS business. We’re trying to solve an automation problem that every company faces. We’re listening to more than just the words customers tell us. We’re figuring out their context so that the result is almost always better than expected.”

Frappe Local Delhi hosted by Digitalis

Digitalis operates from the heart of India, where they’ve overcome multiple local challenges. Their biggest hurdle? Changing the Indian perspective on open source software. “It is free, so it must be average” is a common misconception with a large impact. Dipane set out to prove that the right open source software is not just affordable. It can also be the best tool to scale and stand out. Another hurdle was the expectation of free services just because the software was free. We spoke about the issues lightheartedly, but they were anything but small.

“Our challenges might seem simple, but they’re not. I address doubts by sharing my own experience of switching from SAP to ERPNext. And when it comes to values, our value is to simplify ERPNext and enable digital transformations. We might always be overextended and have pinched budgets, but all of that is setting up for our future.”

Digitalis is no stranger to these stepping stones. Dipane’s biggest risk was the start of his journey. Now that he is looking ahead, he says that the future involves growth into more verticals. Everything from new sectors to international markets and building fresh capabilities in ERPNext. He also wants to host unique bootcamps in universities for a grassroot level awareness of Frappe products.

“We want to approach newer sectors like education & NGOs and also take the opportunity to create new USPs in our services. ERPNext is a superb product; the learning curve is much steeper for other products, but ERPNext is much more approachable.”

Digitalis Tech team at Frappeverse 2024

We went through a few quick questions to end our conversation:

What makes Frappe Products worth it?
Frappe’s products are a result of their ideology. The simplicity, the fact that it’s open source and even the quality of the products show that Frappe as an OEM is here to stay and continue making good software.

Why should customers choose Digitalis Technologies?
Because we’re not an IT company. We’re a business system integrator. We understand the nature and the issues in business, and our implementation ideology stems from that. Our experience and knowledge is distinctive enough for us to solve business problems through the software and not just implement ERPNext without context.

What’s one lesson you want to share?
Always listen to the customer, don’t preach. You’ll find the answers in the customer’s questions themselves. It’s like a math problem; the answer lies in the question, you just have to pay enough attention to find it.

Dipane’s journey started in a hesitant boardroom. Now, he’s on his way to convince a lot more businesses to build smart and strong. Just like Digitalis did, using grit, honesty and an invaluable sense of curiosity.