Capitalizing On Every Opportunity

It was in 1989 that three like-minded IT professionals–Alok Gupta, his
brother Sameer Gupta and GJ Kulkarni–got together to float a venture of their
own and christened it Samtech Infonet. This trio of budding techno-entrepreneurs
started with a focus on services. "We wanted to undertake projects that
were knowledge-intensive rather than capital-intensive," says Alok Gupta,
MD, Samtech InfoNet.

In its early days, Samtech was more involved in offering facilities
management services, and slowly but steadily it also developed an expertise in
networking. The company today proudly boasts of having built over 300 networks
in India and abroad, ranging from a ten-node LAN to a 1,000-node network.

The company is presently in the process of building a network for a
Bahrain-based petrochemical company that uses over 100 switches and 30 kms of
optical fiber. As a matter of fact, the company is today more recognized for its
networking skills rather than for its facilities management services.

OPPORTUNITY WELL UTILIZED

For 11 years, the three first-generation entrepreneurs grew without any
external funding, since the economic climate in the country was not conducive
for raising capital. However, things changed in October 2000, when at the height
of technology wave, Citibank agreed to invest in Samtech. The three founders
agreed to offload 23.8 percent of their equity to the bank for a cool $2
million.

The extra money gave the company the opportunity to build an expertise that
it did not possess. This was when Samtech ventured into the solutions space. And
like most companies at that time, Samtech also ventured into application
development. The philosophy guiding the company in its initial days was to be
everything for everybody.

But by putting its feet in all boats the company soon realized that both
progress and domain expertise would be hard to come by. So it decided to focus
on the development of an ERP application for the education sector, a human
resource management software for the US market and a suite for E-learning.

The fructification of the focus is now being seen. Samtech´s ERP application
for the education sector is today deployed in a number of Indian universities
and colleges including Osmania University, where it services over three lakh
students and 5,000 administrative staff. The University of New Mexico and
Georgia State University in the US also figure in Samtech´s list of clients for
its ERP application.

With the recent launch of its HRMS package christened HR2, in the US, the
company is quite sure of success and growth coming its way from that direction.
The company expects to generate $4 million from the product by September next
year.

ABLE LEADERSHIP

Under the able leadership of Alok Gupta, the company has grown from a
three-man outfit to one that employs 250 across its seven offices in the country
and three offices abroad. The growth has not been limited to geographical spread
only; revenues have also grown. From a turnover of Rs 6 lakh in its first year,
the company closed its books at Rs 35 crore this year posting a revenue growth
of 40 percent on a revenue of Rs 25 crore in fiscal 2000-01.

Alok has steered the company like a seasoned caption over the years, helped
by his management education. Says an official from one of Samtech´s business
partners, "Alok is one of the most dedicated partners that I have
seen." He adds, "His ability to quickly adapt to change and align
business in new directions is really admirable."

Alok was quick to respond to the dot-com wave and did some meaningful
business then. And now a realignment to help build organizational
infrastructures has again helped Samtech keep itself ahead of competition.

FOLLOWING A CLEAR MANDATE

Alok has very clearly laid down the mandate for his company. His approach is
crystal clear. "I would not want to hold on to Samtech like any other
entrepreneur," says he. He is experimenting with the strategic business
unit (SBU) model. Herein Samtech is treating all its divisions like SBUs, which
will be responsible for their own well-being. "This will give the
opportunity to professional managers to think and act like entrepreneurs,"
he adds.

His sentiment is well-expressed in Rajeev Kalra´s words, an employee and
former customer, "Alok is flexible and accommodative and delegates with
full authority." Alok´s democratic leadership style is appreciated by one
and all in the organization. His ability to empathize and sympathize with all
around him is seen as one of his integral assets.

When questioned about the mantra for success in the industry, Alok dismisses
it saying, "There can be no common mantra for success in this industry.
High-level motivation and confidence in one´s own ability to deliver definitely
helps." He however warned that an entrepreneur´s attitude of success
begetting success could be very dangerous.

PLANNING FOR SHORT TERM

The path leading Samtech to its future is brightly lit because of its able
leadership. Knowing the industry inside out, Alok has chalked no plans that talk
about Samtech in the next five years. "Planning for a five to seven year
timeframe is not realistic for an industry as turbulent as ours," says he.

But that does not mean that he does not plan. What Samtech is to do over the
next two years is all clear to him. His immediate focus is to build a brand for
HR2 in the US market. And closer home, he feels growth will come from turnkey
projects, something that the company is well equipped to address.

Alok also feels that business process outsourcing is an area that the company
needs to foray in. With a SAP practice already in place, the opportunity to
capture a share in the remote services arena is also being addressed.

With investments gone into products and diversification, revenue growth has
not been to the main man´s satisfaction. But optimistic, as usual, he says,
"This will yield results in the times to come."

MOHIT CHHABRA in New Delhi