Role Model
Middleware specialist
 MindCraft Software is regarded as one of the finest solutions and service provider in the software middleware space. And this it owes to the insipirational leadership of Hemant Nerurkar, the company’s Managing Director
By Sharmee Roy
In a way, MindCraft can be termed a late entrant in the IT solutions space as it was incepted only in 2002. However despite this, the company has created an enviable niche in providing software solutions and services to the BFSI segment.
“We knew that as a small company, we cannot develop expertise in every domain. Hence, we focused on developing our expertise in databases. Today I can proudly say that we have the best skill-sets in the industry that can work on very large databases (VLDB), on-line transaction processing (OLTP) and decision support systems (DSS). We have expertise on all flavors of Unix (AIX, HP and Sun), Linux and Windows. We have the best database administration expertise among our peers,” claims Hemant Nerurkar, Founding Managing Director of MindCraft Software.
MindCraft’s capabilities include providing strategic IT consultancy to customers; development and integration of enterprise applications on all platforms including Web and mobile; legacy applications maintenance and conversion; and information management and security.
“We also have the capability to provide database-level disaster recovery and to create processes for database feeds, distribution and consolidation. We are also into ISO 27001 consulting,” recounts Nerurkar.
In line with its specialist approach, MindCraft also decided to focus only on the BFSI segment. “We are proud of the brand image we enjoy in the BFSI segment. It is our consistency in implementing projects that has earned us this reputation. We have never failed to meet the deadline for any project since the inception,” adds Nerurkar.
What has also helped MindCraft is its belief that it’s not a technology solutions company but a business solutions provider. “We consider ourselves as a business enabler. Hence for most projects, we work with the end users of business applications (sales, marketing, and customer relationship managers) to understand their requirements before we design and deploy the solution. We follow a collaborative effort, since users seldom have a clear IT requirement; however they have concrete business goals. We map their business goals into a clear requirement and build the IT solution,” says Nerurkar.
Little wonder than that BFSI sector contributes most of MindCraft’s annual turnover of Rs 25 crore. Its clientele includes leading BFSI players like SBI, HDFC, ICICI, BSE, Kotak Mahindra, and Birla.
Last year, MindCraft implemented several large projects. It developed a business workflow solution for an insurance company worth Rs 1 crore.
Also, the company developed and implemented templates like self-service portals for mutual funds and insurance companies; payment hub for banks; and human resource management system (HRMS) and ERP extensions to enable clients to extend their existing ERPs to customers, partners and employees.
“Our Web application and services business has been growing rapidly as many BFSI players are moving towards Web 2.0 services which allows them to integrate all their processes with a common Web interface,” explains Nerurkar.
The journey
Nerurkar attributes the reason for starting a company with such niche focus to the experience he gathered while working with leading IT consulting companies in the US and India before he turned an entrepreneur.
After completing his BE in electronics and communications from Karnataka University in 1985, Nerurkar headed to the New Jersey Institute of Technology for a masters degree in electrical engineering.
In 1987, he started his career with Capgemini in the US. He worked with other major US corporations like AT&T Bell Labs, and AT&T Capital Corporation before he returned to India in 1996.
“Even after I returned, I had no plans to start my own company. I worked as an IT consultant for one year with the Kotak Group, which was then rolling out its banking business. For the next five years, I helped a US-based consulting company to establish and grow its India presence. That’s probably what gave me the idea and confidence to start my own venture,” recalls Nerurkar.
In 2002, he started MindCraft Software, mainly focused on providing application integration and maintenance services to customers using JD Edwards and Sybase.
The company’s first major win came in form of annuity contracts from Kotak Mahindra Group and Bombay Stock Exchange for supporting applications on Sybase database.
He reminisces, “Initially, it was difficult for us to approach large BFSI players. For them, it was a big risk to work with a newbie like MindCraft. But our tie-ups with Kotak and BSE gave us a strong footing.”
But the initial success didn’t last long. In 2005, the company faced rough waters when it incurred a huge loss of Rs 1 crore.
“We wanted to get into the big league fast and hence we made huge investments in acquiring high-tech talent at exorbitant salaries. We started accepting large projects that we didn’t have the financial wherewithal to manage. Large projects have large sales cycle,” explains Nerurkar.
After this rude shock, MindCraft became more cautious and worked on a new strategy.
“We decided to specialize in the financial services segment and focus on middleware integration projects. On the Web application side, we chose to specialize in Java/J2EE. This transformed MindCraft into a niche player in the financial services vertical.”
In 2006, the company picked up a major project to develop a customer portal for a private life insurance company. The entire project was worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The same year, the company entered database business, which included supporting operating systems, messaging systems, security, databases, and middleware integration.
The future
Business intelligence is an area that Nerurkar is extremely bullish about and recently MindCraft has created a new division for providing BI solutions and services. “BI is recession-proof. In fact, customers tend to spend more on BI solutions in a bad economy,” he avers.
The other goal is to increase the annuity revenues of the company which include outsourcing of application maintenance and license renewals. “Currently our annuity business is 40 percent of our services revenues. I would like it to be around 60 percent, which is the case with most IT services companies. Increasing this business ensures revenue predictability,” he adds.
Over the next five years, the company intends to develop more products that specifically address the various key processes in the BFSI sector.
“We want to move up the value chain and gradually transform ourselves into a company focused around our own products and solutions. We want to sell business solutions rather than IT solutions,” declares Nerurkar.
The company is currently working on developing its own payment reconciliation system for banks.
Getting personal
Behind Nerurkar’s mild demeanor lays an adventurous person who loves horse riding. “It is one of my passions but I don’t get to do that regularly these days and moreover age is also catching up,” he says jokingly.
When it comes to music, old is gold for him. He likes listening to old Hindi music and equally enjoys old English numbers.
Ask him about food, and he is quick to respond that he is a pure non-vegetarian and doesn’t eat anything that grows on tree. “I can eat an alligator as well,” says Nerurkar with a smile.
When it comes to reading, he sticks to anything that can help him with his work. “I ensure that I spend an hour on the internet before heading home and run through important topics on technology that help me run my business.” |