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Email :
ceo(at)illusions-online.com |
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Phone:
+9714 3902301 |
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Skype ID :
iolfaisal |
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FM, Faisal, Bossman, the “Master Illusionist” call him what you will, but there is no doubting that Faisal Memon is the driving force behind Illusions Online and the leading technology that they provide – but it was never going to be any other way.
“It was set from the start,” he says. “I was always into technology. In the 90’s it was all DOS and UNIX systems, so when Windows came on the scene, I jumped on it. GUI was going to change the face of computers forever and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Born in Dubai, a curious Faisal moved to Bombay to complete his schooling and in spite of excelling in his academics, he admits it was a chore to complete his masters. Perhaps the reason behind his impatience was that by the age of 19, tech-savvy Faisal had already set up a thriving little business from his bedroom. “A team worked under him to develop all kinds of business software from home – and grew so quickly I am sure the walls in my room were starting to bulge!”
Taking an odd job here and there Faisal quickly made a name for himself in the software development industry for advanced Windows-based development while everyone else in the market were still settling in with Dos based applications. From there it was onwards and upwards, and the hard work, perseverance and sheer determination saw Faisal move pretty quickly, going from the bedroom to the boardroom, growing the team under the Illusions name, and fast becoming an important player in the technology field.
But Faisal being Faisal and despite huge success, he wasn’t satisfied. “I had so many trophies, we’d accomplished so many things, but I needed a focus to take the company forward and create a brand and I constantly asked myself, which one system that we had developed, could I make a product out of?” The answer was around the corner.
In 1999, London called and Faisal was instrumental in developing an inbound tour operating system for a travel wholesaler who specialised in providing inbound travel services in Europe. The team had struck gold. Following that, in 2000, after their second major deal Faisal decided to move everything to the web. “It was obvious to me then that the Internet was going to be the future and so was the fact that I had to be focused on travel technology.”
After landing many business opportunities in Saudi, Faisal moved permanently to the UK to be closer to the bulk of his clients. And in 2001, his team set about re-writing the entire system from scratch on web-based technology. Illusions Online were going strong – Faisal set up an office in Melbourne, Australia in 2002 – and at the end of that year, the business brought him to Dubai, where a booming market was awaiting some serious changes.
Having had four offices in 3 continents, Illusions is now among the world’s top tour operating systems in the travel technology market – thanks to Faisal’s drive, determination and permanent eye on the ball. Illusions Online now has clients across 5 continents, and a busy team that is now centralised out of Dubai’s Media City of over 30 professionals who believe in the same vision as their leader. Constant drive to innovate the product and being fanatical about customer service is the order of the day in the company. Quite a long way from the days when it ran from his bedroom - the bed was never a good desk anyway, the team has grown, as has the determination – watch this space!
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