Editorials

by Rajen Kumar

No Escaping Social Media

Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

Special Reports

Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

Interviews

'We are still bound by the risk-averse culture in our DNA, which should change.' Vipul Jain

May 2009

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"Our culture prohibits us from risk taking. More entrepreneurs will emerge once the fear from failure vanishes."

Armed with a B.Tech degree from IIT Kanpur and a Post Graduate Degree in Management from IIM Ahmedabad, Vipul Jain was doing a wonderful job at the Information Systems Department of the prestigious Taj Administrative Service. Jain won accolades for developing the country's first on-line Hotel Management System way back in 1982. It had been the best of both worlds for Vipul with a high-flying corporate career. Instead, he chose to tread the road not taken. Mustering courage to be an entrepreneur, he went on to start a company which was slated to set quality benchmarks in all the product categories offered.

Commencing work from a humble one room office and a team of two, it was certainly not a cake walk to begin with. However, guided by the cornerstones of innovation and excellence, Kale Consultants today employs a dedicated team of 1500 talented professionals, serving over 95 customers across 30 countries. Having proved its mettle in the global arena of IT products, the company enjoys the distinction of being the pioneer in initiating and achieving PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance for its credit card billing and NFP processing services. Today Kale is a leading solutions provider to the global Airline, Logistics and Travel industry.

Being an entrepreneur, Vipul Jain exhorts the youth to overcome the conventional risk-averse mind and dare to be an entrepreneur. SME WORLD spoke to Vipul Jain, CEO & Managing Director, Kale Consultants Ltd.

SME WORLD: You left a high profile corporate career to kick start your own enterprise. What was your initial motivation in starting up your enterprise, Kale Consultants?

Vipul: The time when I thought of starting Kale Consultant, the IT industry was in its infancy in India and I just thought that it would be an extremely exciting space in which one can innovate and do new things. I strongly felt the urge to do something new in an exciting space. This was the major reason as to why I left a flourishing corporate career and started Kale Consultants. I took it as a challenge.

SME WORLD: How will you sum up your entrepreneurial experience over the years in a few sentences?

Vipul: I think it has been an exciting and fulfilling journey. I feel very proud of what we have created and a great deal of learning that has taken place. However, at times I also feel that we could have done better. Entrepreneurship has brought in a sense of achievement for me.

SME WORLD: What gives an edge to Kale Consultants over other competitors? What are the specific strategies that enable you to beat the intense competition?

Vipul: We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by the use of innovative technology and new business models. We practice innovation in all its forms, innovation in the use of technology, products, business models, new processes etc. We have used innovation to create outstanding value for our customers. We don't consider ourselves to be a pure play technology or pure play BPO but rather consider our goal to create business value for our customers. Technology, outsourcing etc. are a means to an end but we've focused on the end results & used innovation for achieving our objectives.

SME WORLD: Recession has brought in new challenges for the Indian IT industry. What is your strategy to combat recessionary pressures?

Vipul: It's not just now but over the last 4-5 yrs what we have tried to create business models where we share risk and reward with our customers and reduce their upfront investment in transformational outsourcing/technology. Today, most of our solutions are available on pay-per-use models and this has placed us in good stead because of two reasons: one is that it gives us strong annuity revenues, which continue despite downturn. Secondly, these models involve very low upfront investment, but are transformational. This has helped customers to reduce costs, reduce risks, get better processes, move towards world class best practices.

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