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EFFECT OF VALUES ON YOUR CAREER – By Rachin Gupta

Rachin Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of Salah Software, is responsible for acquisitions, client development, global operations and service delivery. At Salah Software, He is responsible for full service programming solutions to several vertical industries including healthcare, telecommunications, financial and retail industries. Here they took up the unique challenge of building up a company that was to compete with the big 5 IT consultancy houses.We alumnus of the Raja mahendra College of Engineering, Hyderabad, graduating with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering.. Ranjitha Roa posed a few questions to him. Excerpts from the email interview:
You have had a long innings across companies engaged in high-end software development. How far do you think your cumulative experience has come in handy in your current role in Salah Software?
Leveraging technology was the key business model for telecommunications and financial sectors. My experience in these sectors taught me about the role and significance of technology in growing businesses and also improving profitability. It was also evident that businesses needed to implement technology rapidly and cost effectively. Most businesses suffered due to very high cost of technical resources and lack of availability of qualified talent.
The global sourcing model was clearly the solution to this ever growing problem. It was also clear to me that it was not only the cost that matters but the quality of talent, their ability to understand the customers and the market place along with their technical know how. We set out to build a unique IT services businesses with the key learnings as our key differentiators.
Salah Software as a global player has exhibited an amazingly rapid growth, considering the fact that it started operations in 2002. What, in your opinion, are the key factors contributing to this stellar success?
Thank you for your kind words. We started out the company in 2002 to become the best IT services company in the world and have worked steadily to realize that goal. We have stayed true to our core principles and philosophy. This goes to the values and culture which is the fabric of the company. We also needed to have purpose beyond the commercial success. Leadership selection had to be very careful with leaders who want to "do good and be good".
We focused on fewer customers with significant spending power and IT services needs. We had a wide technological and domain focus adding talent and capabilities as the business demanded instead of limiting ourselves to any niche areas. We understand that true partnership is the result of going beyond the terms of the contract and if you consistently demonstrate that philosophy clients would understand the depth of the commitment by the provider.
These core principles have been key to our success thus far and will continue to be our differentiator going forward as well.
One of your corporate values is to foster a strong sense of corporate social responsibility. Can you elaborate? How do you achieve that?
We are part of an eco system which has a wider impact beyond investors, customers and employees. The communities we operate in have significant impact to our future. It encourages every employee to participate in activities aimed at improving the communities we operate in. We partner with charitable institutions, government hospitals, orphanages, old age homes, local schools etc. and provide them with monetary and personnel support. Our associates regularly visit these institutions and understand their needs and extend moral support, which makes a huge difference in the lives of the affected and our associates.
Why do you think more students are attracted towards the IT sector? Is it just the fat paychecks?
The human mind, in my view, is attracted towards the world of possibilities. Business is becoming increasingly complex as the world gets flatter and every business is attempting to go global. Innovation, regulations and globalization are forcing organizations to leverage technology more than ever before. Due to this, the Information Technology market is seeing increased and diverse career opportunities. The pace of change of technology has resulted in faster career growth and better learning opportunities, not to mention the international exposure and opportunities to associate and connect with marquee global clients.
If you look at entrepreneurship as a possibility to impact a society, the IT industry has a very high potential. Countries like India with huge knowledge capital and a younger dynamic workforce has significant advantage over other nations and can generate more employment in this sector. Therefore, in my opinion, the fact that students are attracted to IT is a good trend to build more employment and economic stability. Of course, this does translate into fat paychecks eventually. It happens to be one of the drivers.
In the rather crowded ITES market today, how does Salah Software stand out as a player?
We believe there are quite a few differentiators which are important for our customers. Our unique global hybrid model, our focus on select customers, our strong fabric of values and culture that has enabled us to achieve one of the highest retention rates in the industry and the type of leadership talent we have attracted makes us distinctly different in the marketplace. Most importantly, our enormous focus on customer intimacy and relationship model has really positioned as the partner of choice in our customer's minds.
We give a lot of focus on our employees' career aspirations as well. Our focused Career Management Program is intended to provide all associates, as we are known across the world, an apprenticeship model in order to be able to make the right career choice.
What are the current technology areas that are of interest to Salah Software?
Our current focus areas would be mobile and collaboration technologies, the technologies of the future.
What, according to you, are the key challenges that an ITES player faces today in the global market place? And what are your key strategies to overcome such challenges satisfactorily?
IT marketplace has significant challenges mainly increasing complexity of technologies, changing customer expectations, scarce resource pool and decreasing mobility of talent due to immigration restrictions. Our strategy is to focus on select customers and provide them more focused attention. Our flexible engagement models and global presence help overcome resource scarcity and mobility issues. We invest heavily in our customer relationships. We provide competency acceleration opportunities to our employees to ensure overall development and career equity.
Tell us something about your early days in the IT industry. What are the key factors that have contributed to your success as a technocrat?
Every day brings its own opportunities, learnings and experiences. In my experience, it all boils down to one fundamental question: 'what is the best that one can do today'? Commitment to excellence, focus on values and culture, the passion to create something different and special and most importantly, the mission to create the best IT and BPO services company in the world with some of the finest minds in the business have contributed to our success.
What is the future of IT industry in India?
The Indian IT industry is poised for rapid growth over the next years by offering a wider services portfolio, catering to a larger set of industry verticals and evolving / adapting to suit the service delivery preference of global customers. A few trends that we are witnessing in the industry which will define its shape in the coming years include flexibility of engagement models, outcome-based solutions rather than just cost savings and a need to build industry knowledge, in addition to process excellence. The companies which will make best use of IT will be the ones that will stay ahead of competition. It would also be critical that IT service firms enable customers to innovate rapidly.
IT companies worldwide have institutionalized the tradition of weeding out inefficiency and non-performance recently. What was the reaction of Salah Software employees to this?
Our Asssociates are well aware of the fact that we are vying with the best in the IT and BPO services space. They are also aware that our primary drivers are the knowledge of the client's business, understanding clients' needs, harnessing our company's resources, and delivering value. The sporadic cases of layoffs by IT services companies have not evoked any serious reactions from our associates as they understand the competition in the market.
Would you like to offer any words of advice for aspiring technocrats?
Every enterprise looks for passionate, enthusiastic people with cutting-edge skills. What makes them special from the run-of-the-mill IT pros would be the spirit of never-say-die attitude, sense of excellence, high self-motivation, identify your strengths and enhance your strengths, focus on Innovation and 'out of the box thinking.' Most importantly, build your world-class careers on a firm sense of values, which will stand the test of time, place and context
By
Rachin Gupta
Chef Executive Officer
www.salahsoftware.com