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Acme Digitek Solutions, Lucknow
Lucknow-based Acme Digitek Solutions posted a turnover of Rs 17 crore in fiscal 2007-08, up from Rs 11.80 crore in the previous fiscal.
CEO Ajit Mittal attributed the high growth to some large wins in the emerging technology space, the addition of Sun Microsystems to its portfolio, and deep selling to existing customers.
During the fiscal, Acme bagged the project for deploying a large data-center for the Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad of the UP government. The project, worth Rs 3.17 crore, involved the setting-up of six Sun Risc servers and 12 HP Intel servers with external fiber channel storage, with clustering at both the OS and hardware level.
Another large project, worth Rs 60 lakh, was for the setting-up of a data-center at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. The company also set up three thin client labs using the Sun platform at
the Kamala Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur; Madan Mohan Malviya Engineering College, Gorakhpur; and Institute of Engineering Technologies, Lucknow.
“Last year we aligned our sales organization to attain higher customer engagement. We appointed key individuals to engage with 30 of our key customers
Performance Highlights | - Bagged Rs 3.17 crore project for deploying a large data center for the UP government’s Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad
- Set up three thin client Java labs on Sun platform
- Attained ISO 9001:2000 for IT services and networking
- Plans to provide ERP and core banking solutions to co-operative banks
| Company Snapshot | Company: Acme Digitek Solutions
CEO: Ajit Mital
Year of Inception: 1998
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 17 crore
Turnover 2006-07: Rs 11.80 crore
Employees: 60
Certified employees: 13
Principals: Cisco, HP, Sun Microsystems, D-Link |
on an ongoing basis, and to consult with them regularly on how various technologies could reduce their business pain-points. This gave us a deeper understanding of our customers’ business needs, and helped us to align our offerings to their requirements,” explained Mittal.
Acme also increased its focus on providing services, and attained ISO 9001:2000 for IT services and networking. “It has helped us streamline our services business and contributed to customer satisfaction. We doubled our services revenues with almost the same staff,” informed Mittal.
With an employee base of 60, of which 13 are certified, the company implemented a new manpower retention policy. “Last year we decided to ensure that mid- and senior-level employees stayed with the
company longer. We identified 10 such employees and mentored them to take on more responsibilities. A new incentive scheme was worked out. The strategy is working,” Mittal stated.
Acme expects to grow at 25 percent next year. “Our focus will be on virtualization and emerging technologies such as UTM and unified communications. We also plan to get into the applications space, mainly ERP and core banking solutions for co-operative banks,” he revealed.
Testing and auditing networks is another area that Mittal is bullish about, and the company recently signed up with Fluke Networks as an exclusive partner. Acme is also in the process of setting up a presence in Rajasthan and MP.
Graphic Trades, Patna
With a topline of Rs 16.5 crore in FY 2007-08, Patna-based Graphic Trades grew by 40 percent over the previous year.
Performance Highlights | - Signed up with Cisco as Advanced Business Partner and bagged three projects including Rs 1.15 crore deal from IOCL
- Won a project to set up computer labs at Patna University and government schools in rural Bihar
- Entered the domain of GIS and digitization of
government records
- Conducting a pilot to automate the examination process of State Education Board
| Company Snapshot | Company: Graphic Trades
CEO: Ajay Maitin
Year of Inception: 1992
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 16.5 crore
Turnover 2006-07: Rs 11.9 crore
Employees: 23
Certified employees: 8
Principals: Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Adobe, Sun Microsystems, D-Link, Acer, Dell, IBM, Computer Associates, Epson |
After the company signed up with Cisco as Advanced Business Partner last year it bagged some major network integration projects. These included a Rs 1.15 crore project for Indian Oil using Cisco 4500 enterprise switches, and three projects worth Rs 1.2 crore to set up Wi-Fi on the Cisco platform at educational institutes in Bihar.
Explained Ajay Maitin, CEO of Graphic Trades, “While we already had tie-ups with networking vendors like Dax, Avaya and Netgear, the partnership with Cisco created huge network integration opportunities.”
Focused mostly on the government, PSU and education sectors, the company bagged projects to set up computer labs at Patna University and across schools in rural Bihar under the Sam Vikas Yojna.
The company also implemented a CRM package called Busy. Using the CRM, Graphic has devised a strategy to understand and plot the long-term business goals of its key customers, based on which it has developed a unique engagement strategy for each customer. “Bihar as a market is low on technology and very cost-conscious, yet we have managed to up our sales of advanced technology solutions. For every customer we have started the practice of analyzing their business plans over the next three years, and then consulting with them on how IT can help achieve these goals. This has changed customer perspective about IT investments, and helped us to crack deals even where our quote was higher than the competition’s,” stated Maitin.
According to him, automation and quality systems have helped considerably. “About two years back we undertook an initiative to restructure our support infrastructure because it was inefficient. Repeat calls were higher, and so was the turnaround time. With the new set-up in place, we guarantee a service turnaround time of 4-5 hours in any part of Bihar, and this has brought us a lot of credibility.”
Graphic expects a 25 percent growth in the current fiscal. The company has entered the domain of GIS and digitization ofgovernment records. It plans to add a couple of branches in UP.
The company is also doing a pilot project for automating the examination process of the State Education Board. If the project is successful, Graphic will bid for such projects in other states too.
Plans exist to boost its networking practice further, and add security to it. “We have also decided to deploy an ERP system and are evaluating a few solutions,” said Maitin.
Ishan Infotech, Rajkot
Rajkot-based Ishan Infotech recorded a turnover of Rs 5 crore in FY 2007-08 as compared to Rs 2.58 crore in the previous year.
Performance Highlights | - Bagged a project worth Rs 70 lakh for setting up a data center for Marwadi Share and Financials
- Deployed Unified Communications at Jyoti CNC Automation
- Awarded Class-B ISP license by DOT to set up MPLS network across Gujarat
- To open data center in Rajkot for server
co-location and hosting services
| Company Snapshot | Company: Ishan Infotech
CEO: Pinkesh Kotecha
Year of Inception: 2000
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 5 crore
Turnover 2006-07: Rs 2.58 crore
Employees: 30
Certified employees: 9
Principals: Cisco, HP, Samsung, Microsoft, Nortel, Epson, Trend Micro, IBM, Check Point |
A Cisco SMB partner and HP Enterprise Business Partner, Ishan’s growth came from offering connectivity and bandwidth solutions, and providing server and storage consolidation in the financial services and manufacturing sectors.
“Last year, data-center and power solutions proved to be high-growth areas for us. We also implemented one of the first unified communication solutions in the SMB segment,” said Pinkesh Kotecha, CEO, Ishan Infotech.
The company connected three manufacturing plants of Jyoti CNC Automation—spread across an area of 20 kilometers— through a fiber link running a full unified communication application.
Its largest project however was for setting up a data-center for a brokerage firm, Marwadi Shares & Financials; the project was valued at Rs 70 lakh. “The customer wanted to consolidate their computing and storage. It was a first-of-its-kind data-center consolidation project in Gujarat,” said Kotecha. For a project value of Rs 30 lakh, Ishan also provided state-wide connectivity solutions for Angel Broking.
The company recently won a DOT license to provide ISP services in Gujarat, and will be rolling out its broadband solutions soon. “In January 2007 we were awarded a Class-B ISP license by DOT. Right now we are in the process of acquiring licenses of frequency bands. This will enable us to explore the
market for enterprise multi protocol label switching (MPLS). We have already invested Rs 1.5 crore so far, and have earmarked an additional investment of Rs 3.5 crore to have a pan-state roll-out by the end of the fiscal,” revealed Kotecha.
According to the CEO of Ishan, since last-mile connectivity is still an issue for regional industries in Gujarat, MPLS offers a complete solution for such connectivity. “Since this region is full of SMBs and growing companies, they need more affordable and concrete solutions for their businesses, which is not available from the tier-1 ISPs. We are looking at bridging this gap.”
Along with this, Ishan is also planning to set up a data-center to provide application hosting and managed application services. “Within this quarter we will open a data-center in Rajkot for server co-location and hosting. Eventually we will provide managed application services as well as RIM through this,” added Kotecha.
The company is also evaluating Microsoft CRM and is planning to get ITIL certified. “Two members of our core management team underwent training on ITIL-V3 last year and now we want to make the organization ITIL compliant,” claimed Kotecha.
With the implementation of these plans, Ishan Infotech expects to double its turnover to Rs 10 crore in the current fiscal.
Cyberland Technologies, Kochi
Cyberland Technologies of Kochi posted a turnover of Rs 5.25 crore in FY 2007-08, a growth of nearly 50 percent over the previous fiscal’s Rs 3.46 crore.
Performance Highlights | - Deployed wireless solution for 50-acre large Bethsaida Resort
- Deployed core networking infrastructure for Doha Bank Brokerage Service and Infra Housing
- Initiated ISO 2001:2002 certification process
- Added D-link, Wipro and Edimax
- Plans to open branches in Thissur and Kottayam
| Company Snapshot | Company: Cyberland Technologies
CEO: R Madhav Chandran
Year of Inception: 1998
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 5.25 crore
Turnover 2006-07: Rs 3.46 crore
Employees: 26
Certified employees: 9
Principals: D-Link, Cisco, Intel, AMD, Lenovo, Wipro, HP-Compaq, Seagate, Symantec, Microsoft, IBM |
Nearly 75 percent of this turnover came from corporate reselling and providing solutions, while 25 percent came from the distribution of Dax products.
R Madhav Chandran, CEO, Cyberland, attributes the company’s growth to its focus on Wi-Fi and the growing real estate market.
“Last year we tried to consolidate our customer base. We found that real estate has taken a solid lead in the Kochi market, so we have developed expertise in this area and it has produced good results for us. Wireless networking is another area that has given us attractive projects, mainly in the real estate and hospitality segments,” informed Chandran.
Cyberland deployed a wireless solution for the 5-star Bethsaida Resort spread over 50 acres in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. “The challenge was to connect the entire campus in seven days. At the same time, the resort was having a good amount of guest occupancy, and the management insisted that the deployment should not affect the guests,” explained Chandran.
Other than this, Cyberland implemented the entire networking infrastructure for Doha Bank Brokerage Service and Infra Housing. The company added D-Link, Wipro and Edimax to its portfolio during the year; this helped to widen its PC and networking portfolio.
On the business systems front, Cyberland initiated the process of getting an ISO 2001:2002 certification. Last year it also implemented Ultima, an HR package, to improve talent acquisition and retention, and automate the payroll and employee incentive systems. “The HR package has helped us to improve the productivity of employees as it gives a single-window-view of the job assigned to each employee at any given point in time. This is plotted against the employee’s KRAs,” said Chandran.
The company expects to maintain a 50 percent growth rate in the current fiscal. It will continue with its focus on Wi-Fi and security surveillance solutions, and is looking to target the education vertical. In addition, it plans to improve its coverage in Kerala, and intends to add two more branches—in Thrissur and Kottayam—to the existing ones in Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
“We also plan to set up proof-of-concepts at our various branches to demonstrate various technology solutions from our vendors. And while we will continue to strive to achieve turnover growth, our focus this year will be to improve our profitability,” Chandran concluded. |