[E-Magazine] The first "miracles" at FSOFT

1. The first contract with Winsoft, Canada

After 6 months of establishment, FSOFT had the first project implementation contract with the Canadian customer – Winsoft. The customer assigned FSOFT two projects – Lifeserve (focused on Insurance) and Winfund (centered around Mutual Funds), led by Nguyen Duc Quynh and Nguyen Dac Viet Dung. These two projects are compared to the battles of Phai Khat and Na Ngan, which were the first two battles of the Vietnam Liberation Army team led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, at Phai Khat and Na Ngan posts.

The projects proved successful, while the project team was rewarded with $7,000, making FSOFTers believe in the promising prospects of software export at that time.

2. The first foreign branch: FPT India

On the morning of January 1st, 2000, the first day of the new millennium, FPT India office opened in Bangalore, India. Mr. Khuc Trung Kien became the Branch Director, with support from Ms. Bui Thi Hong Lien and Mr. Pham Minh Tuan (later Ms. Lien and Mr. Tuan both became CEOs of FSOFT).

FPT India branch at that time did not bring any significant profits but had great political significance for FPT. At that time, FPT Deputy General Director Hoang Minh Chau commented: “The fact that a Vietnamese company has a branch in the most famous software valley in Asia is an event with special attraction and in fact has attracted attention. concern of Vietnamese leaders. The leaders’ visits have greatly influenced the State’s policy on the strategic direction of software export.”

FPT India was honored to welcome the delegation of President Tran Duc Luong; Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam; Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem; Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan; the representatives from Committee for Cultural Ideology and Ministry of Culture & Information; Vietnam Television…

3. The first OSDC with Harvey Nash (UK)

On March 23, 2000, FSOFT signed a contract to establish the first OSDC (Offshore Software Development Center) with Harvey Nash (UK). This cooperation agreement in the field of software manufacturing and outsourcing has a total value of 500,000 USD.

Chairman of FPT Truong Gia Binh told this story in the book “Chronicle of FPT 13”: “Harvey Nash was another fortune for us. Luckily, it was Harvey Nash that came to Vietnam, that came to FPT. Until today, Harvey Nash came to FPT in the early days (2000) and is still the main source of revenue. Harvey Nash brought us to the OSDC model and this model has become FPT’s main software export channel.”

4. The first onsiter Nguyen Lam Phuong

On March 25, 2000, Mr. Nguyen Lam Phuong (former Deputy General Director of FSOFT, current Director of FPT Canada) had his first onsite trip to the US to implement SmartTouch project.

In 2009, FSOFT officially chose March 25 every year as “Onsite Day” to express gratitude and honor the contributions of the onsite “troops” around the world. Onsite is the front force, and the representative of FSOFT in the markets, a bridge between customers and delivery teams in offshore and nearshore. The development and maturity of FSOFT is always associated with the growth, professionalism, and determination of the onsiters.

5. The first project with NTT-IT in Japan

Just one month after the first survey of the software market in Japan by Mr. Truong Gia Binh and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam (November 2000), the first project with Japanese customer NTT-IT was launched in November 2000. December 2000 was in charge of Mr. Tran Xuan Khoi and Mr. Tran Viet Binh. Just half a year later, FSOFT had an OSDC with this customer, led by Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh.

NTT-IT’s first project was a small project but it was the first Japanese challenge with a Vietnamese company. After completing the project, the door to the Japanese market has gradually opened for FPT/FSOFT. In 2003, a series of strong Japanese brands such as Hitachi and Nissen cooperated with us. That is also the reason that in 2005, FSOFT decided to establish FPT Japan to serve software outsourcing for partners.

6. The first Comtor Quach Lieu Hoan

In early 2001, FSOFT was working with the first Japanese customer, NTT-IT. After the pilot project using English, the customer asked: “Can FSOFT do everything in Japanese?”. The answer is yes!”. At that time, FSOFT had Mr. Tran Thinh Phong – Miss FPT as Test Leader and Mr. Tran Anh Thang as Human Resources executive who knew Japanese. However, the need for a Japanese translator for the project is very urgent.

That’s why Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam went to recruit Ms. Quach Lieu Hoan – FSOFT’s first Comtor, opening a new profession in the Vietnamese Software industry. In 2024, FPT decided to focus on “the East”, Ms. Hoan was also a volunteer to open the field when her first child was just 10 months old. Currently, she is Deputy Director of FPT Japan.

7. The first US customers: Cogita and ProDX

In August 2001, FSOFT had the first American customers brought in by Martin Geiger (also the first international expert to join FPT/FSOFT). From here, FSOFT established a second and third OSDC with customers Cogita and ProDX.

Cogita OSDC had 12 engineers when it was first established. Cogita is an IT services company located in San Francisco, California with the main business in Biotechnology. ProDX is a company providing professional consulting services in the IT field, located in Portland, Oregon.

8. The first Vietnamese company to meet CMM-4 AND CMMI 5 standards

In March 2002, the CMM-4 campaign was successful after nearly a year of implementation. FSOFT became the first company in Southeast Asia to achieve CMM-4, entering the list of the world’s top 100 companies in Quality Management, meaning that FSOFT won a first-class passport to enter the global software market. Mr. Le The Hung – Hung “Rau” was the direct commander of this campaign.

On May 29, 2006, FSOFT continued to meet CMMi Level 5 standards. This event helped FSOFT enter the list of about 150 companies and organizations globally recognized by the US Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The software delivery process system reaches the highest level in the mature software delivery capability model.

9. The first internal newspaper Cucumber

In May 2002, FSOFT launched the first internal newspaper – Cucumber. The newspaper was produced by Phan Thi Quynh Hoa, Pham My Ngoc and Bui Anh Tuan (currently FSOFT Art Director). Cucumber attracted readers at that time by the democratic atmosphere of an in-house newspaper. Not only providing company policy information or honoring leaders, Cucumber harnessed the life at FSOFT to encourage the productivity of employees and have fun to the fullest.

From 2002-2010, Cucumber has “evolved” many times to keep up with the changes. From rudimentary drafts on text file, the newspaper is designed more eye-catching by professional software, developed by creative director, printed in thousands of copies, and attached with many special supplement… Since 2011, the newspaper has officially transformed digitally to appear on multiple online channels, becoming a proactive media ecosystem for more than tens of thousands of FSOFTers. Cucumber is releasing many news formats such as video, longform, newsletter, chatbot…

10. The first multinational customer Unilever

In early 2000, Unilever planned to deploy an ERP system for about 200 agents and distributors in Vietnam. Unilever would sponsor the entire software cost, the distributors only needed to invest in hardware at preferential prices and could buy in installments under Unilever’s guarantee.

Former Vice President in charge of Logistics of Unilever Vietnam at that time commented: “FSOFT is a rare company that can strongly commit to Unilever’s growth, when the company first entered Vietnam.” Thanks to the attraction by the huge scale of the project (over 1 million USD in 2002), Mr. Pham Minh Tuan “risked his life” to accept the project without a blink.

FSOFT and Unilever have jointly researched and implemented the project with an initial plan of 12 months. But only at the end of the first quarter of 2003, about 6 months later, the project was successfully implemented. Working with a multinational corporation like Unilever, FSOFTers have gained experience in planning a transfer roadmap, clearly assigning responsibilities to each partner at each stage, and coordinating smoothly.

11. The first music band LTV

On November 10, 2002, FSOFT’s first music band was formed, named LTV Band (LTV = Programmer) led by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, the Project Leader of SmartTouch project (Mr. Lam was CEO of FSOFT from 2012 to 2015).

The band was present at most of FSOFT/FPT’s events, hanging out in the lecture halls of most of the universities that FSOFT comes to recruit. The name LTV Band truly became a cultural phenomenon within the company. But in 2012, the programmers who sang Rock held their last show, marking the end of the band’s 10-year singing career.

12. The first $1M in revenue

In 2002, FSOFT achieved its first $1 million in revenue. This first $1 million is the line of life and death.

FSOFT CEO Pham Minh Tuan recalled: “I was one of the first people at FPT Software to go to India, go to America and quietly return. Many debates within FPT, continue working domestically or go abroad? Then, the milestone of reaching $1 million helped us believe that FSOFT could go abroad.”

13. The first Vietnamese company to achieve ISMS international certificate

In August 2005, FSOFT became the first Vietnamese company to achieve an international certificate for information security management system BS7799-2:2002 (later ISO 27001:2005 was the replacement version, released developed according to BS7799 standard). At this time, FSOFT has 1,000 employees, being the software company with the largest number of employees in Vietnam.

In 2017, FPT Software was the first Vietnamese company to win the A-SPICE Level 3 quality management process certificate in the automotive industry – a passport that ensures capacity for delivery activities and the ability to approach any Tier 1.

14. The first time being a contractor abroad

In 2006, FSOFT signed a software contract worth 6.4 million USD with Petronas Group. This is the largest software outsourcing project in the region in which FSOFT plays the role of general contractor, converting 1,532 applications from Lotus Notes technology to .Net for more than 20,000 users in Malaysia.

The project lasted 20 months with more than 400 participants, mobilizing delivery resources in all 3 regions: North – Central – South. This was considered an opportunity, a challenge and also an affirmation of FPT/FSOFT’s name on the world’s IT map.

15. The first Vietnamese company to organize Parents’ Day

Parents’ Day is the idea of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam – founder of FSOFT with the hope that FSOFTer parents can meet the company’s Board of Directors, and learn about where their children work, ensuring them to be the best place for career development.

This is also an opportunity for FSOFTers to express their gratitude to their parents for bringing them into this world and nurturing them. The choice of the anniversary date, November 19, just before Vietnamese Teachers’ Day on November 20, aligns with the tradition of “Drinking water, remembering the source,” where every adult child is encouraged to honor three sacred entities: “Father’s contributions, Mother’s love, and Teachers’ help.”

On November 19, 2006, Parents’ Day was held for the first time at FSOFT, attracting more than 950 parents of 700 FSOFTers to participate.

16. The first PMP holder in FPT: Ha Minh Tuan

On December 26, 2007, FSOFT received the first PMP certificate in the group, brought by Mr. Ha Minh Tuan (currently CEO of FPT Korea). This is a prestigious certificate, recognizing the level of Project Management, enhancing FSOFT’s reputation.

Currently, PMP certification has become a standard for FPT Software PMs. Every year, hundreds of new PMP certifications are added to FSOFT’s certification warehouse. In 2024, FSOFT Business Executive Committee (BCC) aims to have 500 new PMP certificates.

17. The first time owning a separate building

In 2005, when FSOFT’s sales at that time were only 9.5 million USD and FSOFT Da Nang was “running from meal to meal”, FSOFT leaders made a bold decision – to spend 1.5 million USD to buy 3 hectares of land in Massda industrial park for headquarters when foreseeing the potential for the company in this city.

On December 27, 2009, all FSOFT DN employees happily moved to their new home, FPT Da Nang building. This building was officially opened on January 10, 2010. This is the first time FSOFT owns a building. After that, other campuses were opened one after another such as F-Town, F-Ville…

18. The first foreign CEO at FPT: Ogawa Takeo

On January 1, 2010, Mr. Ogawa Takeo (also known affectionately as “Uncle O”) was appointed CEO of FPT Japan. This was an important and groundbreaking decision in a time when FSOFT needed to change to continue developing.

Mr. Ogawa Takeo is an experienced and reputable person in the Japanese IT industry and used to lead the leading IT company in the land of the rising sun – Hitachi Software. He loves, understands and always supports FPT/FSOFT’s desire to grow in Vietnam and reach out to the world.

After becoming CEO, Mr. O continued to work with FPT Japan till this day as a Senior Advisor. He contributed to turning FPT Japan into a Japanese company and said as FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh said: “Without his guidance, FSOFT could not be what it is today.”

19. The first M&A deal

In June 2014, FSOFT acquired RWE IT Slovakia company, belonging to RWE Group (Germany) – the first M&A deal in the history of Vietnam’s IT industry. In July of the same year, RWE IT Slovakia changed their name to FPT Slovakia, officially marking FSOFT’s footsteps on the globalization ladder.

Since the first M&A deal, FSOFT has carried out a series of M&A deals, strategic investments, and established joint ventures with partners in North America, Latin America, Europe and Japan… with a total value of more than 100 million USD in the past 10 years.

20. The first M&A deal with an American consulting company

In July 2018, FSOFT announced the completion of a historic M&A deal with Intellinet, one of the fastest growing consulting companies in the US. This is the first time a Vietnamese IT company has purchased an American consulting company. Vietnam M&A Forum voted this as the Top 3 typical deals of 2017-2018 in the acquisition category and helped FPT reach the Top 10 companies with the most typical M&A strategies of the 2009-2018 decade.

It was also Intellinet that contributed to bringing FSOFT the largest customer in history to date – C99 Program with revenue of over 100 million USD in 2022.

21. Community campaign “Run for Green”

In 2019, for the first time, FSOFT launched a community program with an extremely large phenomenom, attracting more than 20,000 participants from more than 20 cities around the world. That was Run for Green campaign within the framework of activities celebrating the 20th anniversary of FSOFT’s establishment.

This campaign has been contributed by FSOFTers around the world by running nearly 1,000,000 km of marathons around the world (equivalent to more than 20 laps of the Earth) and planting 20,000 trees in many places around the world.

22. Staff residential policy “An Cu Lac Nghiep”

In 2019, for the first time, FSOFT – a non-state-owned technology company in Vietnam provided houses and support to buy houses at preferential prices for employees through the implementation of the residential policy. This is a breakthrough mark of FSOFT in the efforts to improve employee remuneration, increase cohesion, and aim at the long-term goal of attracting talents across the country.

Later, the policy “An Cu Lac Nghiep” was implemented in three regions with activities such as 4% preferential loan interest rates, house rental support…

23. The first foreign “Miss FPT”: Boopaladoss Alwyn Joseph

In 2021, Mr. Boopaladoss Alwyn Joseph – Director of Revenue of FPT Americas (currently Deputy CEO of FAM) was awarded the title of Miss FPT, the first foreigner to achieve this title.

During his journey of more than 8 years with FPT, Alwyn has breathed new life into FPT Americas with outstanding capacity and the spirit of “think big and do big”. Bringing in many large customer groups and projects worth tens of millions of dollars, Mr. Alwyn has contributed to the increasingly rapid progress and strong growth of FPT Americas.

24. The first $100M customer

In 2020, when kicking off the C99 Program with the largest car dealership in the US, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh emphasized: “The contract with C99 strengthens confidence in FPT’s capabilities. From now on, we can even think of even bigger contracts. C99 will become a typical model for all markets.” According to FSOFT’s OKR, C99 will achieve sales of 99 million USD in the first 3 years and will be FSOFT’s first account to achieve sales of 50 million USD/year.

Summing up 2021, C99 Program brings in more than 70 million USD in 2021 and more than 100 million USD in 2022, becoming the customer that brings in the largest revenue of the year for FSOFT.

25. The first $1B in revenue

On December 22, 2023, FSOFT announced that the 2023 revenue reached 1 billion USD. This result makes FSOFT the first Vietnamese technology enterprise to achieve billions of dollars in revenue from software exports, marking Vietnamese intelligence globally and contributing to the overall development of the economy.

Doubling in growth within 3 years, FPT’s revenue of 1 billion USD in IT services from foreign markets comes mainly from three key markets: Japan, America and Asia – Pacific.

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