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North
Acme Digitek, Lucknow
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Byju Pillai, President & CEO, Inflow Technologies, presenting the award to
Ajit Mital, CEO, Acme Digitek Solutions
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Acme Digitek posted a flat topline of Rs 13.50 crore during FY 2008-09.
According to Ajit Mital, CEO of the company, it was a year of consolidation. “Last year had several negatives apart from the economic slowdown. The double taxation on software and the rise in dollar prices led to heavy losses in our government business where rate contracts are fixed. The levy of VAT and entry tax by the UP government further complicated matters. However, we managed to cover the losses by smarter procurement from vendors and by improving our internal cost-efficiencies.”
In 2008, Acme executed many projects for the government and education sectors. The first was the AgriNet project, worth Rs 2 crore, which involved setting up a data center with a complete security solution and WAN connectivity for 17 divisions of the state agriculture department. Another project, worth Rs 1.1 crore, was for deploying state-wide IT infrastructure for the agriculture statistics department which included setting up a data center and providing WAN connectivity across 70 districts of UP.
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Performance Highlights
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• Executed AgriNet project worth Rs 2 crore for the state agriculture department
• Set up state-wide IT infrastructure for the agriculture statistics department of UP for Rs 1.1 crore
• Executed projects ranging between Rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh for district development authorities of Ghaziabad, Rae Bareli, Faizabad, Allahabad and Gorakhpur
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Company Snapshot
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Company: Acme Digitek
CEO: Ajit Mital
Year of inception: 1998
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 13.5 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 13.5 crore
Employees: 70
Certified employees: 13
Principals: HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, D-Link, Cyberoam
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The company also executed IT infrastructure projects in the range of Rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh for development authorities in Ghaziabad, Rae Bareli, Faizabad, Allahabad, Unnao and Gorakhpur.
It is currently executing two projects worth Rs 2.3 crore each for Bundelkhand University.
Acme Digitek’s branding is based around positioning itself as a customer-centric and vendor-independent solutions provider. “We do not depend on any vendor and do business on our own terms and in the best interests of our customers. We have stuck to this policy although it has been tough to do so without vendor support,” said Mital. “But our customers will vouch for the fact that we have always delivered.”
The solutions provider is ISO 9001:2000 certified for IT sales, services, FMS and networking solutions. Though Acme already has an internally-developed ERP, it’s planning to upgrade this system and make it fully Web-enabled with a service portal for customers.
The company has firmed up plans to develop products like Campus ERP for the education segment and e-governance applications for development authorities at the district level. Acme will also focus on digitization projects in the government sector, and target opportunities in the GIS and WAN connectivity solutions space. In addition, the company is eyeing state-level e-governance opportunities in MP and Rajasthan, and plans to open a branch in each of the two states.
South
TimeNet Solutions, Kochi
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John Alexander, CFO, TimeNet Solutions, receiving the award
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Growing at more than 118 percent, Kochi-based TimeNet Solutions recorded a turnover of Rs 4.16 crore in FY 2008-09 against Rs 1.9 crore in the previous fiscal. According to Manoj K V, the CEO, this growth was the result of its efforts to reach out to customers across Kerala. The company also became a Microsoft Gold and IBM business partner.
“Last year we set up a technology marketing group (TMG) with the aim of taking our solutions to the customer. After undergoing rigorous pre-sales and technology training, the TMG went out to 100 short-listed companies in Kerala and ran live sites within their premises. This approach helped us to create a brand and win new customers. It has also given us a healthy pipeline of projects for this year,” said Manoj.
During the fiscal, the company bagged the Reliance Metro Ethernet Project. The first-ever in Kerala, the project involved the installation and commissioning of 1,200 Ethernet switches all over the state.
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Performance Highlights
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• Signed with Microsoft as Gold Partner, became IBM business partner
• Implemented a solution worth Rs 45 lakh for the Indian Air Force
• Formed the technology marketing group
• Set up a POC with an investment of Rs 12 lakh
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Company Snapshot
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Company: TimeNet Solutions
CEO: Manoj K V
Year of inception: 2004
Retail stores: 2
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 4.2 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 1.9 crore
Employees: 27
Certified employees: 12
Principals: IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Dax, EMC, Tyco
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Another large project was for the Indian Air Force. Worth Rs 45 lakh, it involved deploying WAN, voice and security solutions across sites in Kerala, TN, Karnataka and AP. The third major project was for a LAN solution for the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Kerala. The solution included storage, servers and wireless solutions worth Rs 30 lakh.
Last year also saw TimeNet set up a Proof of Concept (POC) center with an investment of Rs 12 lakh. This center has integrated routing, switching, wireless, security and VoIP solutions. “It is the first POC in Kerala, and it has helped us attract customers through live demonstrations rather than through just solutions on paper,” Manoj said. The company also set up three training centers under the name TimeNet Learning. These centers “help in meeting our need for trained manpower,” Manoj noted. “We conduct regular workshops for our sales teams and customers.”
ISO 9001:2000 certified, the company implemented the Balanced Scorecard for analyzing performance. It also hired a cost accountant to monitor and evaluate every project and process. “His primary job is to make every process cost-efficient and improve ARs. This has improved cash flows and helped cut unnecessary expenditure,” Manoj stated.
With three existing branches, TimeNet now intends to set up offices in Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chennai. And with a revenue target of Rs 10 crore, it aims to enter new verticals like education, manufacturing and BFSI.
West
Ishan Infotech, Rajkot
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Pinkesh Kotecha, CEO, Ishan Infotech, receiving the award
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Registering a growth of 38 percent, Ishan Infotech clocked a turnover of Rs 6.5 crore in FY 2008-09 vs Rs 4.7 crore during the previous fiscal.
The company attributed this growth to the launch of its ISP operations in early 2008, geographical expansion, and to the execution of several data center and infrastructure consolidation projects.
During the fiscal “we increased our focus on selling service packs and subscription-based software. Also, our strategy of having vendor exclusivity helped us get marketing and pricing support from them,” said Pinkesh Kotecha, CEO.
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Performance Highlights
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• Executed a Rs 90 lakh project for the Gokul Group which included consolidation of its server and storage infrastructure
• In a deal worth Rs 70 lakh, relocated and consolidated IT infrastructure for ANS, a financial brokerage firm
• Deployed Dynamics CRM, implemented ITIL V3, and got pre-audited for ISO 27001 certification
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Company Snapshot
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Company: Ishan Infotech
CEO: Pinkesh Kotecha
Year of inception: 2000
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 6.5 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 4.7 crore
Employees: 45
Certified employees: 14
Principals: Cisco, HP, Nortel, Dax,
Microsoft, Juniper, Tyco
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Ishan executed several projects during the FY.
One, worth Rs 90 lakh, was for the Gokul Group. The project involved consolidation of the server and storage infrastructure in a new data center, and complete revamping of the networking and structured cabling infrastructure at various offices.
Another project, worth Rs 70 lakh, included setting up a data center and branch infrastructure for ANS, a financial brokerage firm. “The company wanted to shift its existing IT infrastructure to its new corporate [office], and wanted to consolidate and upgrade it. Now we are creating a DR site for them,” informed Kotecha.
Yet another project, this time worth Rs 30 lakh, was for the consolidation of servers and storage using a blade solution for a financial firm.
One of the few HP Data Center partners and blade server Elite partners, Ishan won the HPPC Achiever award in 2008 in recognition of its efforts in maximizing the sales of HP TSG.
Ishan deployed Dynamics CRM, and also implemented ITIL V3 within the company to streamline its infrastructure management services. The company also pre-audited for the security ISO 27001 certification which it expects to achieve this year. “By adopting ITIL we have seen a major reduction in our call load. It has helped us streamline the process and remove any duplication in the customer servicing process. This has greatly helped in increasing our services business without adding people,” Kotecha said.
Ishan’s plans for the current fiscal include targeting data center and infrastructure consolidation opportunities among government entities and PSUs. Also, under its ISP business, it has set up a data center to provide services like hosting and server co-location to customers. “The other focus area is to launch VoIP services, and enter the SMS aggregation space for our ISP business. We will be opening branches in Gandhinagar and Baroda in the coming months,” Kotecha informed.
East
Sparx Technologies, Jamshedpur
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Jaspal Singh, CEO, Sparx Technologies, receiving the award
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Sparx saw marginal revenue growth of 4 percent with revenues of Rs 11.5 crore in FY 2008-09.
“Despite the slowdown, we sustained our topline due to geographical expansion, a focus on deep-selling, and the addition of new solutions and services such as GIS mapping, open source applications and SaaS,” said Jaspal Singh, CEO, Sparx Technologies.
After the entry of the company in the GIS space, it landed a project worth Rs 2.5 crore from Tata Steel. “We have presented GIS more as a business opportunity than a technology. In this domain one of the key projects has been a GIS-based land acquisition system with Google Map integration; this solution is entirely based on open source. With a value of Rs 2.5 crore, this is by far the biggest project for us,” said Singh.
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Performance Highlights
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• For Tata Steel, implemented an open source GIS-based land acquisition system with Google Map integration worth Rs 2.5 crore
• Entered the SaaS space in partnership with Jamcracker and Google
• Executed an image archival and processing project for Tata Steel worth Rs 35 lakh
• Became a SAP B1 partner
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Company Snapshot
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Company: Sparx Technologies
CEO: Jaspal Singh
Year of inception: 1999
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 11.5 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 11 crore
Employees: 36
Certified employees: 26
Principals: HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Procurve, Novell, Oracle, Google, SAP
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The company entered the SaaS space with tie-ups with Jamcracker and Google. It has already migrated one of the Tata companies from a legacy mailing system to the GoogleApps enterprise mailing solution in the cloud. “With 500 mailboxes, each one costing Rs 170 per month in the cloud, it has amounted to a huge savings of 60 percent in terms of licensing and maintenance costs compared to the on-premise solution,” said Singh. Sparx also executed an image archival and processing project for Tata Steel worth Rs 35 lakh.
Sparx opened two branches, in Patna and Bhubaneshwar, which helped the company garner 10 percent of its revenues in the last fiscal.
Over the last one year Sparx has developed a strong focus on open source applications. In alliance with Tata’s Society for the Promotion of Professional Excellence, Sparx has embarked on training programs to create a pool of skills in open source.
Toward the end of last year Sparx became a SAP B1 partner, and now plans to push ERP deployments among large auto ancillaries in Jamshedpur. It is also looking to deploy SAP internally.
After tasting success in the field last year, cloud computing is going to be a focus area for Sparx. “We expect 10 percent of our revenues to come from this business, and expect to sign up 30 customers by the end of the year,” Singh informed.
Besides this, Sparx is planning to expand its presence
with two new branches in Orissa and Bihar by the end of
this year. The company expects 30 percent growth in the
current fiscal.
l Methodology l Outstanding Channel Contribution l Company of the Year l Systems Integrator l Solutions Provider - Integrated l Solutions Provider - Networking l Solutions Provider - Software l Corporate Reseller l Systems Builder l Retailer l Sub-Distributor l Sub-Distributor - Emerging l Retailer - Emerging l Managed Services Provider l Solution Provider - Security l
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