About Us
History of JaWiSoft
The JaWiSoft origin can be traced back to 2016-2018 when Wihan Louw was employed as a Risk Officer and forced to work with software that was not only inadequate but also, unfortunately, the cheapest option available to his employer. The shortcomings of this software, as well as him having to work around them, led him to believe that he would be able to create a far better and even cheaper option himself.
Later on, Wihan moved into the field of property investments to harness the opportunities created by the Covid-19 pandemic and was in search of an integrated system that could digitise the entire process of tenant and property management while also automating most tasks, but was unable to find one. At this point it was clear that if he wanted this specific piece of software he had to be the one to create it.
The only thing Wihan lacked in order to pursue both of these projects was the necessary programming skills, which is where friend and former colleague Jacques Oostenbrink came in. Previously an ICT technician and an aspiring programmer, Jacques joined the JaWiSoft team in September 2020 to help Wihan develop the system and ultimately bring ideas of his own to the table.
A few months into the development of the property and tenant management system Wihan became aware that his former employer had also realised that better enterprise risk management software was necessary. Focus was then shifted back to this project to create the software he knew would be perfect for his former employer and to fill in the apparent gap he himself also experienced while in this line of work. This was also a perfect opportunity to, once the software was ready, put in a bid when a new tender was advertised.
Throughout the development of the enterprise risk management software, Jacques regularly mentioned an employee clocking program he developed and the programming lessons he learnt from it, but also that that program was not fit for commercial release. When Wihan eventually saw the program, he realised that with a few improvements the program can be sold commercially. Since a template for the program already existed, or so they thought at the time, and the tender of the enterprise risk management software not expected any time soon due to the bureaucratic legislative requirements involved, Wihan shifted the focus to the time and attendance software and worked tirelessly to perfect, what we now know as, JaWiSoft TAP and prepare it for a full release.
After a while on this business journey together, Jacques realised that both him and Wihan can offer their expertise in ICT and business development to other aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses. Thus JaWiSoft BCD, business continuity and development, was born and is currently the largest company within the JaWiSoft Group, allowing for income to be generated while the software is being developed.
Software Philosophy of JaWiSoft
JaWiSoft’s vision is to create affordable software for small and medium sized enterprises that provide them with all the core features required to have a single, integrated software solution for a specific business task.
When Wihan started his career, he noticed a problem in the business software market: great software which completely digitised a system was developed with large enterprises in mind and has many additional features that small and even some medium sized enterprises don’t require. This makes the software unaffordable for them. The cheap/affordable software lacks basic functionalities to complete the task on its own and must be used in conjunction with other unintegrated software like spreadsheets. This requires many manual inputs and processing from the user, thereby wasting time and increasing the likelihood of errors.
This problem is compounded by the software pricing structure that has become common nowadays: if you pay less; you receive less features and, in most cases, lose one core functionality as you move down the price levels, making the cheaper version of the software useless in fulfilling the requirements of why the organisation needs it in the first place.
To this end, JaWiSoft’s decision on whether to develop a piece of software is made as follows:
1. What are the minimum requirements for the proposed software that SMEs require in order to fulfil the specified task digitally with increased efficiency and reduced risk?
2. What price is affordable for the SMEs that will use this software?
3. Can JaWiSoft deliver a software solution that meets the requirements in question 1 at the price mentioned in question 2?
If the answer to question 3 is no, JaWiSoft abandons the idea. JaWiSoft has no interest in gutting software beyond its core functions to fit into a price point; the price point must fit the software.