Q: What does Abacus offer the mining sector?

AS: We develop specialized business software projects and offer process and management engineering. Last year, we launched Abacus Enterprise Suite, which consists of four special areas for mining: systems management, regulatory compliance, document management and Abacus’ Balanced Scorecard, for management and administration. What distinguishes our company is that we offer efficient solutions that ensure a high service availability and flexibility, a prompt response to our clients’ needs, as well as high performance and reliability.

Q: What is the Abacus Balanced Scoreboard and how does it help companies make decisions?

LV: It is a platform that helps companies measure their performance, drive results from key performance indicators, and manage strategies. The system that goes beyond technology because it provides an optimal functionality that collects several measurements and generates information needed to make efficient decisions. The Balanced Scorecard helps companies to coordinate their teams, especially in companies where there are more than 1,000 workers and a large variety and amount of data is generated. This platform allows for data collection in a standard form and within a specific time, which facilitates the decision-making process.

Q: How does the company incorporate new technologies into its services?

AS: We have a close relationship with our customers that allows us to have a broader interpretation of their needs. Moreover, we have a technical committee within Abacus that is constantly innovating our technologies and improving our performance.

LV: Another important way to incorporate new technologies is through collaboration with other companies. This allows us to enrich our solutions. We examine what they are developing in order to jointly provide more complete and valuable solutions.

Q: How does the company guarantee a specialized service to its clients?

AS: We have been able to position ourselves as a great technological company and our customers trust us for that.  Our services and products are always delivered in a timely fashion and our solutions seek to connect with companies and stakeholders´ strategic goals and therefore, generate greater results at all levels.

LV: Generate certainty and trust has been essential to continue participating in multiple projects. Our motto is, "the success of the solution provided to our customers, is also our success." Our clients know that this is our main goal and it has allowed us to generate closer relationships.

Q: What projects is the company working on?

LV: We have two main projects: one with Peñoles and another with Fresnillo Plc. With Peñoles, we are generating a platform to manage the technical archive and key information of the prospects to generate a business intelligence platform. With Fresnillo, we are working on a series of mobile platforms within the mines that allow supervisors to monitor preventive safety programs. The Abacus software allows the collection of information that is required by supervisors to carry out their security protocols. In addition, it collects evidence in real time to correct situations considered unsafe.

Q: How was the company affected by the pandemic in 2020?

AS: Last year was very challenging; however, we were able to minimize the effects of the pandemic thanks to our mechanisms and contingency plans. In 2015, several factors destabilized our sector, which forced us to generate contingency plans for our operational, financial and customer areas. Our products and services are not exclusive to the mining sector. Therefore, despite last year´s crisis, Abacus’ diversity allowed us to have greater stability.

LV: The pandemic also forced us to adapt and find better ways to communicate and make decisions with our clients in order to speed up the implementation of our projects. Likewise, our team has been able to adapt to this new reality and in fact, we have optimized our processes and services.

Q: What are the main areas of opportunity for Abacus in 2021?

LV: The pandemic demonstrated the importance of technology for many business processes. In the past, many companies did not see technology as a necessary factor; however, this has changed. We want to take advantage of this crisis to provide and create new tools that will boost technology in several companies.

AS: We like to think that our company is the connection between innovation and the mining sector, which is a very traditional. There is a common belief that in the mining sector there is a great deal of resistance to change, especially when it comes to technology; however, we have found that within that tradition this sector has great values that match with ours. In the coming years, we hope to promote innovation within the mining sector.

Abacus IT develops Java EE business applications under a unified process (UP) methodology. It analyzes business processes, designs technical and architectural software solutions and carries out software testing.  For 10 years, the company has worked with major mining companies in Mexico and South America.