By ZEINAB YUSUF

MOVING hand in hand with technology, Cylon Interactive aims to soon be a name synonymous with software in Singapore.

The company, which publishes software ranging from training and self-improvement to casual games, is slowly inching close to its goal.

Cylon's founder Ali Y Aladdin gives the impression that his success is due as much to his business acumen, as it is to any particularly outstanding product.

With strong ties to software producers in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr Aladdin successfully represents a myriad of brands such as Disney, Encyclopaedia Britannica and PopCap in Singapore.

Like a boy in a candy shop, bursting with energy and excitement, Mr Aladdin explains the various softwares and games proudly displayed in his newly renovated 4,300 square feet office. There is little doubt about his passion for his business.

But the man is also capable of calmness and seriousness when talking about his business strategy.

Mr Aladdin got introduced to the world of software - and its wide range - when he visited his cousin in Canada in the late 1990s.

Computers back then were fast penetrating into Singaporean homes - and he knew the market for software would keep growing. After numerous liaisons with suppliers in the UK, Mr Aladdin started trading in software in 2000.

He bought software from overseas and sold them to companies in Singapore.

But getting the foreign companies to sell the products at a competitive price was challenging.

'Converting the sterling pound to Singapore dollars made their products really expensive, but we showed them we were serious and slowly inched the prices down bit by bit,' Mr Aladdin recalled.

Now software producers come knocking on Mr Aladdin's door to ask Cylon to distribute their products, but he makes sure the products are wholesome, useful and beneficial to society.

Starting out, Mr Aladdin participated in exhibitions and organised roadshows with retailers to boost awareness among consumers.

Getting major retailers to carry his products was a daunting task initially, as there were many competitors in the market. But things started getting easier in 2004 when Kevin Mok, an ex-employee of a large multinational software company, joined Cylon Interactive.

Mr Mok's expertise in the software field made it easier to reach out to more retailers and software developers. Together with Mr Aladdin's initial strong foundation, he helped propel Cylon Interactive to where it is today.

Now the company's products are sold in all major retail stores and at exhibitions - no longer just small booths, but bigger ones.

Mr Aladdin is keeping a close watch on the way Singaporeans use computers. In keeping up with the fast-changing technology, his company has just launched CylonLive, a web-based learning system using video tutorials.

Unlike other tutorial software which require discs, the tutorials on CylonLive have been designed to enable users to access their courses anytime and at any place with a broadband connection.

Keeping his business model simple and focusing on core competencies, Mr Aladdin outsources operations and functions his company is not good at.

'If someone else is better at it, let them do it. It gives me more time to do what I'm better at,' he says.

Although the current recession has dampened sales, Mr Aladdin views this crisis optimistically - and believes the company will be able to rake in profits on par with last year's $3.8 million.

'Such instances give us a chance to check where the cracks in the business are to repair them. So right now, with slower sales, we can learn how to improve the efficiency of things for the future.'

Within the next few months, the company hopes to increase its manpower and also to start setting up offices in Malaysia and the Middle East.

The lessons Mr Aladdin learnt at his first job as a young man taught him to always dream big - and that is exactly what he is doing.

'There is nothing stopping Cylon - and hopefully in time to come I can make an initial public offering,' Mr Aladdin says.

This article was first published in The Business Times.