New Media, Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Here I am LIVE Blogging, Ankur Lal one of a closely related NASSCOM EMERGE community fellow and Sanjiv Mital from Saarthi Enterprises and Alok Mittal from Cannan Partners. this is surely going to be an interesting session.

Ankur Lal, CEO Infozech Software leads the session with Alok Mittal – Partner, Canaan Partners, Sanjiv Mital – CEO, Saarthi Enterprise.

Ankur starts by giving the example of a company which has grown from a 10 employee to a 400+ employee company with a revenue over 100 crores.

We have Ankur sharing abotu how the mobile industry is attempting the SaaS based model. Telecom procurement is what Ankur is talking about. What was it like 10 years back, Ankur takes the delegates back in time.

there was lot of outsourcing in procurement, but there was not much in management

SaaS kind of came in and changed all that and something of the similar sort happened in the mobile world. People started sourcing managed services rather that procurement and hence the story of someone like Airtel in India happened. when CAPEX combines with delivery capability it becomes better.

Last year Airtel went out to outsource customer care. It surely was a BIG step as when outsourcing started in the mobile world it was just the back end which was getting outsourced. Interestingly Ankur now talks about the VAS outsourcing space.

If you are selling into a telco, the picture in front of you is that you cant say I have equipment or software

We are now getting a good insight into where this all is heading by Ankur. A very major point that Alok has touched is the platform now. What it delivers, what value does it create etc. Alok says it all int erms of the evolving developer context. And well, there is the entire ppt which shows everything from the 80′s to 90′s and now the 2000 and what has happened, in terms of the technology.

Discussing technology how could have iPhone not have gotten mentioned, we have Alok talking about the iPhone and how the technology has leveraged Open Source. I am particularly interested in knowing more about this space.

With his closing remarks, Alok closes the session. I have been listening to Alok since a good time now and this was surely an interesting piece of gyan.

We now have Sanjiv Mital – CEO, Saarthi Enterprise, talking about The emerging business model. Interesting to know that Sanjiv invested into Bharti telesoft when it was going through a tought phase in 2001 and went ahead with a management buyout. What did he do which gave it the major push?

1. Migrated the software services to VAS products

Sanjiv is talking about the traditional software business model which is followed generally. This is soemthign that I call a cost Plus model. When you do the same in a software as a service model, what you do is value based pricing.

You are not just worried about developing the product, installing and its over. You not only get revenue but you get high revenue. In bharti Telsoft we hence started a new revenue enhancemenet department. Sanjiv is essentially talking about hwo the entire businessm odel changes with SaaS, which is less to do with cost ad more to do with what value you deliver to the customer.

Interestingly, in my personal opinion, the cash Flow implications that Sanjiv is showing is surely an eye opener. Each bit is supported by the phases of the various steps yoru product goes through in the SaaS model.

As the consumers keep on using your service, your revnue goes up and in a small time your revenue could be a good part of your client’s earning

SaaS, is much easier to sell. What you are sayign is, I’ll make money only when you do. But the risk that you are taking is much more. It could be years when you start generating good profits. It could take fair amount of time when significant revenues start coming in.

Sanjiv is now talking about RBT, and how the moel got up. Interestingly Sanjiv is talking all surprises…how a large number of the consumers in the country subscribe to this concept. I can no less agree to Sanjiv as I am closely realted to a major telecom company which used RBT as a major concept.

Sanjiv says surely in the longer run SaaS pays off. All the companies we have talked about grew very significanlty in the longer run.

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Dheeraj dharm mitra aru nari aafat kal parakhiya chari”
- Tulsidas

Remarked Prof. Sanjiva Dubey, addressing the 40th Friday’s 2.0 session @ NASSCOM, New Delhi.

The session started with Mr. Ankur Lal, Chief Executive, Infozech software Ltd. introducing the participants to the session and the EMERGE community.

- I am a fellow traveller, said Sanjiv before igniting the present minds. Well it was not just igniting these minds, Sanjiv had a huge task of not only sharing his insights but more so in calming down the anxious people in the room, who all shared a BIG single concern, that of  - what to do in these market conditions?

Sanjiv’s opening line did the magic “an SME won’t turn into an Infosys in a matter of days or months, its rigorous practice”

In these BAD times, Sanjiv smiled with a GOOD news for all, “Every IT giant was an SME”, thus everyone grows! A few examples Sanjiv shared-

• Google, HP amd Apple were started in a garage
• Adobe was atarted by ex employees of Xerox and named it after a river that ran by the neighborhood.

Before we go further, how many of you would say that you don’t know this name – Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd.?

Well, I am talking about WIPRO Ltd. in this case.

Thus was set the mood in the room, which made the participants feel that the bad times though have their share of “bad moments” but they come along with lots of opportunities as well.

Coming out with Unique-Creative-Innovative ideas, this is the right time to effectively implement these strategies into the SME’s business plans. Sanjiv in fact emphasized on the importance of the above for not only the SME’s but also every IT company, referring to his book.

All SME’s which emerged into a mammoth organization had just one “creative innovation”, on which the empire was built on, remarked the experienced professional.

Challenges for an SME

• Limited opportunities for Economies of Scale
• High Development cost, Low profits
• Losing customers, no repeat orders
• High cost of marketing

Enough to make these bad times, sound really BAD!

But Sanjiv keeping his poise, said in bad times SME’s should test these four -:

• Patience
• Persistence
• Pals
• Partners

Also were shared certain crucial things that according to Sanjiv, should never be done during a downturn -:

• Don’t panic
• Don’t let your clients/employees/investors panic
• Don’t believe everything you read
• Don;t brush aside everything what you hear
• Don’t isolate yourself. A team is more successful than an individual

An interesting thought and example that Sanjiv shared, was when he bagged a big contract competing with the market leaders a few years back, by creating and maintaining a “consortium” of companies, which was a lesson towards why a team is more important always.

Remain glued to the ground!

Whenever you’re glued to the ground(you know the situation and how would it affect you) you don’t panic as much.

Sustain a day at a time, which Sanjiv innovatively termed as the ICU(intensive care unit) model!

Your organization is like the human body, with the Brain representing Creativity, Lungs the Cashflow and the Heart, Enthusiasm.

All the vital organs need to be kept alive at all costs to keep going, forging new relationships and leverga these learnings when the right opportunity arrives.

Socialize, serve others and don’t hesitate to collaborate!

We as IT companies are running towards getting into our own niches in the race to prove our niche expertise. But in these times its innovative collaboration which works!

Sign up at the first signal of ecosystem change, be observant and be quick to notice the change, was Sanjiv’s advice to the SME’s. Survical at any cost and rate is mandated.

So, you meet your team everyday? Well, go have lunch and meet them twice a day now!

Innovating the business model by the IT industry

• From labor based to annuity based
• From being just a cook, you now need to take care of the entire wedding

SME’s can do so by forging long lasting partnerships with already established IT leaders. Specialize on a particular domain. Niche matters!

Good news, In bad times, you’re not pressured for deadlines, thus what you have is time in hand to do what you could not have done and missed the bus while concentrating on other things in the emerging and happy times.

Corporate Discipline

Instill discipline in bad times. With a slide presentation showing the royal guards, Sanjiv made a point which he emphasized by saying that discipline is of utmost importance and cannot be negotiated upon.

The FIVE S (5S) formula-:

1. Sort
2. Straighten
3. Shine
4. Standardize
5. Sustain

In the context of the current market scenarios, Sanjiv essentially made a point which struck the right cord with the participants, who all consented that these things are important. Go build relationships, which was supported by an example from Sanjiv’s personal life, about a client for whom he went the extra mile, and the client still remembers him, (whether times are good or bad).

Flawless Execution

The client saves a lot by getting his work done, by an SME than by a big player, all it demands is flawless execution, responsiveness and customization. And the room was fresh with positive vibes

Finally -:

Go find a mentor who can help you in tough times, Sanjiv placed the importance of having the right Mentor high up on his list.

Guru gobind dono khade, kaku lagun pau…

balihari guru aapne gobind diyo bataye…

- Tulsidas

The session drew to a close, with Sanjiv again being one with the participants, re-assuring them that we all are in similar times, with his words-:

Main aap apni talash mei hun, mera koi rehnuma nahi hai..

Mai kya dikhaun raah tujhko, mera apna pata nahi hai..

Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE Blog: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/10/18/from-caterpillar-to-butterfly/

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