Emerging Consultant Start-ups in Maharashtra by Insights Success Media

2019 | Volume-10 | Issue-6

Suman M Sharma Founder & CMD

RS SIGNATOURE SOLUTIONS EMERGING CONSULTANT START-UPS IN MAHARASHTRA 2019

The Consulting Industry – Streamlining Business Opportunities Basically, consultants are ‘problemsolvers for hire.’

Editor Darshan Parmar

n this age, where modern information exchange has become a crucial part of life, it is very important to become aware of the everevolving conditions in any business environment. Every non-profit organization, government agency, and other related parties must have a distinct knowledge of their individual line of work. Like the proverb, ‘Knowledge is Power,’ states, it is no wonder that the prominence of it has gone above and beyond from its conventional application. Technological advancements have shown the world that effective business solutions require robust communication and information sharing systems. That’s where consultants or companies facilitating consultancy services come into the picture. Consultants are professionals providing distinguished expertise to various organizations in order to help them by maximizing their profits.

Today, consulting is a huge international industry with global revenues increasing rapidly. Consultants are key elements in the business paradigm, and their virtue is expected to be on the rise in the future. The Indian Consulting space is being disrupted by professionals who are providing effective and efficient business solutions in a dynamic way. This month’s issue of Insights Success portrays stories of exemplary consultant start-ups that are redefining the industry norms. ‘Emerging Consultant Start-ups in Maharashtra 2019’ brings its readers the dynamics of the Consultancy Sector and how various players in the market are making their name in the space. One story, uniquely driven by excellence is, about RS Signatoure Solutions Pvt. Ltd. On this issue’s cover, RS Signatoure is striving to deliver the best quality IT and HR services in the best way possible. The issue portrays a story of a company that wishes to draw your attention with an emphasis on offering tailor-made solutions to aid the

EDITOR’s NOTE augmenting of its clients’ technological infrastructure. Bizotics Tech Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. is a software services start-up based in Mumbai. It offers novel approaches to its clients while signifying the advantages of implementing the said approaches. Another firm, Consocia Advisory Pvt. Ltd. is paving its way in the industry by disrupting the process of how brand reputations are created and protected. Consocia is highly efficient at identifying issues and preparing the clients well in advance, prevention crisis from uncertainties, and mitigation of the negative consequences to every possible extent. The magazine’s cluster also includes an innovative approach describing how to search for a perfect candidate, described by an upcoming HR firm Engage People Corporate Solutions Pvt. Ltd. It is a professional company that helps other organizations meet their recruitment objectives. Also, GoPush Consulting LLP is a premier Sales Training, Consulting and Partnering organization for the IT industry, that has made its way in this issue of the magazine. GoPush offers customized solutions to improve Sales performance for the said industry. Reshaping and transforming the definition of innovation itself is one such company - Kognitivus Training and Consulting. It was founded with the sole purpose of helping people unleash their potential. Kognitivus helps businesses in building a culture that unleashes excellence. RapidQube Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a company deriving the digital world by

oﬀering Blockchain services with expertise in AI, ML, and Data InterOperability. The company is very good at addressing the complex needs of business organizations and providing the appropriate solutions in time. Insights Success is proud to present the incredible journey made by these esteemed organizations in the most elaboratively scenic manner for our readers. Apart from these stories, Pletra Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. is featured as an interview with us. The company’s team shares with us how digital transformation is driving salesforce empowerment in an everchanging business environment. In another interview with us, ASPM Consulting shares some insights on creating some technological breakthrough improvements and its plan to execute the same. Insights Success also brings its readers two CXO standpoints from the key persons Anuj Kejriwal - CEO & Managing Director of ANAROCK Retail and Shobit Agarwal - CEO of ANAROCK Capital. Anuj provides a description of Property Technology which is taking the real estate industry by the storm. On the other hand, Shobit explains new ﬁnancing alternatives for personal re-development in the standpoint. The readers are in for a treat as Insights Success selectively brings the past, present and future expectations of the major game-changers in the consulting industry.

Darshan Parmar

Cover Story

08 Rs Signatoure Solutions

INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

Emerging Consultant Start-ups In Maharashtra 2019

Article

16 ASPM Consulting

Spearheading ISO Consultancy in a Dynamic Way

Trending Technologies Tech-trends Redeď&#x20AC; ning Entrepreneurship

26 Pletra Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. Driving Digital Transformation with Salesforce Empowerment

C O N T E N T S

Bizotics Tech Consultancy

Consocia Advisory

Engage People

Redening the Benchmarks of Business Excellence

Deriving an Integrated Approach in Delivering Services

Enabling the Conuence of Finest Talent and Best Workplaces

GoPush Consulting LLP

Kognitivus Training and Consulting

RapidQube Digital Solutions

Redening Innovation in its Own Way

Harnessing Digital Technologies, Enhancing Businesses

Delivering Transformative Services, Facilitating Business Excellence

Exploring Alternatives New Financing Options for Self-redevelopment

Real-Estate Tech PropTech in Retail: Technology to Drive Prots in the Future

CXO STANDPOINTS

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Darshan Parmar Contributing Writers Rahul, Rajkunwar Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan Art & Picture Editor Asha Bange Co-designer Deepanjali Jena Business Development Manager Megha Mishra Business Development Lead Tejaswini Whaval Business Development Executive

Sonal Sharma

Technical Head Pratiksha Patil Technical Specialist Amar Sawant Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Uma, Ketki Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

October, 2019 Corporate Ofď&#x20AC; ces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 22 & 510, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in

Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

Cover Price : RS. 150/Follow ollow us on :

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ www

https://twitter.com/insightssuccess

Copyright ÂŠ 2019 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2018/75953

Cover Story

Suman M Sharma Founder & CMD

RS SIGNATOURE SOLUTIONS EMERGING CONSULTANT START-UPS IN MAHARASHTRA 2019

RS SIGNATOURE IS AN ORGANIZATION BUILT ON VIRTUES LIKE EXPERTISE, HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND DEDICATION

dream is a cornerstone for every venture that is started and sometimes, few minds with a common goal collaborate to form a company. Many people do it for proﬁt, yet very few want to change the world and strive to achieve the goals while really making a diﬀerence. Every individual who has ever owned a business knows the struggles of hiring the right people with the right skill set to cater to the operations of the organization. Hiring the right candidate or even coming across the right talent is very hard in this dynamic business environment, where everything from technology to resources is changing with the blink of an eye.

tools. The company also understands that recruitment has become a highly time-consuming job. To make the selection procedure accurate and error-free, RS Signatoure applies the latest technologies and scientific selection methodologies to help companies recruit the right talent which is cost and time efficient. “We are available 24×7 to deliver the best support and services and we are one of the few IT companies with assured expertise and reliable, consistent results,” says RS Signatoure’s team. The dedicated client success team of the firm ensures that esteemed clientele is provided with world-class customer experience throughout the project’s life cycle.

A gap needs to be ﬁlled to take the IT and HR Services

Dynamic Personalities

OUR IT SOLUTIONS COLLABORATE WITH YOUR UNIQUE IDEAS IN DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL RESULTS

market’s game up a notch. The HR solution providers are spread across the market, yet there is a hollow space where the quality service providers are charging unreasonably high rates and the cheaper substitutes are not really up to the mark. The client organizations or businesses in demand don't find both the trends very fulfilling. RS Signatoure Solutions Pvt. Ltd. entered the market in 2017 with a clear goal of providing the best quality IT and HR services at the most affordable rates to all the business organizations. Regardless of the size and type of the firm, RS Signatoure wishes to deliver excellence in the best way possible. The company was formed to disrupt the market through advanced IT solutions and

The vision and enthusiasm of a dynamic duo have made all the difference in bringing the firm from the ground up. Suman Mahendraprasad Sharma - Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of RS Signatoure has a wide corporate experience. She has been following her dream of entrepreneurship for the last nine years. Her initial career endeavours included being a Portfolio Manager in Kotak Mahindra Bank, right after completing a Masters in Finance from Bangalore. The job provided her rich experience in Banking and NonBanking procedures. With such a key role being at her disposable, she turned out to be an astute strategic planner. Her expertise comes to the fore in the areas of budgeting, taxation, investment and wealth management. She is extremely good at crisis management and resolving complex financial issues. Co-founder and Director of RS Signatoure, Rajesh Sanikop is a Mechanical Engineer and the foremost exponent of the sugar packaging industry in the country. A far-sighted entrepreneur with sharp business acumen and technical skills, he has introduced many far-reaching innovations in the sugar industry in India like Lincoln Helios Centralized Lubrication systems. Technical knowledge of trade combined with business skills makes him an ideal leader in business. He started his career in Marketing with DIFFUSION ENGINEERS LTD to be promoted from Sales Engineer to a Regional Manager. Rajesh has an extensive experience in Sales and Marketing before starting his own Venture where he met Suman Sharma and later on the duo teamed up together to start RS Signatoure Solutions.

Cover Story Stairway to Success There are always challenges that a start-up faces in its initial days. It was nothing different for RS Signatoure, which always faced the adversities straight-up by analyzing and executing the situations to deliver world-class solutions. “The challenges have only helped us in moving forward in the right direction,” states Suman. One of the biggest challenges for the firm has been recruiting the right talent and developing the right competencies in them. “Being a startup, few chose not to work with us, few of them had great demands on the salary packages and few of them didn’t meet the criteria,” explains Rajesh. However, the firm managed to find the right people. “We never stopped till we got our A-Team of our excellent IT and HR professionals ready,” he adds further. After acquiring the A-Team, RS Signatoure started to focus on developing reliable software solutions by using cutting edge technologies. The development process led to a flawless performance while facilitating smooth communication between various departments. The company follows a constant procedure of including newage talent in-order to cater to the futuristic market, like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer Visioning, and Biometrics, etc. The company is not only well-versed in providing end-to-end IT support to the clients but also, is one of the few reliable and results-oriented recruitment agencies and IT staffing companies in the market. The company has teams of excellent IT and HR professionals who are creative in their respective areas and always strive to provide the best. “We have always believed in providing our clients with the best talent in the market who would not only match the company’s requirements but would help the company marching ahead towards a bright future,” describes Suman. As far as the future is considered, the dynamic and influential leaders of the company have always focused on the big picture while directing the small scenarios. The firm will passionately work on continuous quality improvement ensuring the customer service remains on top priority without any compromise. RS Signatoure’s team is empowered to make powerful decisions,

WE INTEGRATE TRADITIONAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH IT ADVANCEMENT

MAHARASHTRA STATE HAS BEEN VERY FAVOURABLE BUSINESS DEMOGRAPHICS FOR US

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019 inculcating their strategic and tactical plans in-order to yield eﬀective results.“We portray us working with some good big scale entities globally by providing cutting edge IT solutions and helping some big industries hire the right talent they need in the next decade.” informs Suman. Strategies with Innovation Businesses, who want to grow and not just survive in this dynamic technology-driven world today, have to improve with the presence of IT. The organizations need to start utilizing this technology for the betterment of

their business. “We have always kept ourselves updated with modern technologies & innovations,” says Suman. “Also, we make sure to keep a close eye on the futuristic evolving technologies to understand the market trends and be future-ready,” she adds further. The company has various strategies in place. Out of which, it focuses mainly on the Adaptive and Visionary Strategies that help in responding rapidly to the changing market conditions by continuously experimenting then selecting and quickly scaling up. “We have a clear vision to work on the B2B model and our target customers, for now, are small and medium enterprises,” concludes the duo.

ASPM Consulting Spearheading ISO Consultancy in a Dynamic Way

his edition of Insights Success presents its readers with the incredible story of ASPM Consulting portraying its journey through the consulting services space.

1. Brief us about the journey of your company– origin, inception, early issues, success stories, and major milestones, to name a few. Ans: ASPM Consulting started as a proprietary company in 2014. ASPM Consulting had been hired as a consultant by Computrics, Arshiya Logistics, EWAC and Tata Housing as some of its first customers in the inception stage apart from L & T CTEA. Creating a space in the already cramped consulting domain was a big challenge besides the economic slowdown that has been looming large for major part of this decade. ASPM Consulting chose the strategy of differentiation to make an impact in the market place and chose to start with ISO Consulting as the entry-level strategy. The current version of ISO Standards(2015) also facilitated our growth as the standards themselves demand discipline-specific culture and discipline-specific strategic management implementation along with a sustainable approach. Strategic Risk identification & management and opportunity identification & capitalization are the forte of ASPM Consulting. These are inherent requirements of the 2015 version of standards. There is a misconception about ISO consulting and that misconception is, It is only documentation that drives the ISO consulting part. Focused on making a sustainable quality culture coupled with strategic management implementation was the path chosen by ASPM Consulting. We have always focused on all-round growth of the organization and have been using ISO implementation as a tool. The introduction of the 2015 version of standards has been a blessing for our kind of consulting. Since then we have enjoyed the patronage of reputed clients like L & T – PGM, L & T GSSM, CDSL, PI Industries, Technova, Saigal Sea Trade. ASPM Consulting was converted to OPC Private Limited in 2016. We started with the vision of “Being amongst one of

the best consulting companies in India and abroad by 2019”. Our mission was “Survive, sustain, excel and prosper” which is in line with any business in any ecosystem and that is the pain for every organization. Part of our vision was recognized when we were identified as “Top 10 most promising ISO Consultants in India” by Silicon India in their annual listing 2. Brief us about the CEO/Founder of your company. Ans: Mandar Pandit is the founder of ASPM Consulting. He has 25 years of industrial experience. His qualifications include Diploma in Chemical, Bachelor in Industrial Engineering and are pursuing ICWA. He is a lead auditor for ISO 9K,14K, 45K & OHSAS 18K besides being a master black belt in Six sigma. He has had hands-on experience in chemical, Petrochemical, glass, construction and mechanical equipment manufacturing industry sectors apart from financial services. He has been exposed to multidisciplinary and multi-dimensional management cultures by virtue of his experience ranging from working in familyoriented to multinational fortune 500 organizations. Working simultaneously on the various projects is his strength. 3. Kindly talk about the exclusive products or services offered by your company. How does it distinguish you from your competitors? Ans: As explained earlier we are currently focused more on ISO consultancy. However, we add the strategic management perspective and use a commonsensical approach to ensure the sustainability of the initiative for the client organization. Our “ASPM Pyramid” methodology that we use for project management ensures that we can run many projects simultaneously. We have very recently started “Financial Consulting” as a service offering, especially for the MSME sector. We have identified that the MSME sector has a dearth of good consultants who can advise with a financial perspective. And most of the MSME’s struggle because of this aspect. Our strong operations consulting background coupled with financial management can support many

October 2019|

INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

Mandar Pandit Founder

MSMEs in achieving their vision. 4. What is the vision and mission of your company? Ans: Our vision earlier was to be amongst the “Top consultants in India and Abroad” which has partly been realized. We have reoriented our vision to “4 by 2024” besides being an internationally recognized consulting company. Our mission still is “Survive, sustain, prosper and excel” and this has been coupled with financial goals and that is where 4 by 24 comes in to picture. 5. What kind of challenges has the company faced industry-wise? Ans: The main challenge has been the management of working capital apart from getting resources of the right quality. 6. How have technological advancements and innovation in the industry affected your business? Ans: Consulting space has mainly been traditional until now. We are planning on creating some technological breakthrough improvements. However, there is limited effort being put in that direction due to restrictions on working capital and quality resources. We are also looking out for angel investors but that will take some time to work out.

company and who are its primary target customers? Ans: As explained earlier we are focused on creating differentiation. We follow ethical practices and expect our clients also conduct their business ethically. We are selective about clients from this perspective. 8. How do you portray the future of your company in the next decade? Ans: We envisage to be amongst the best consulting company in India and Abroad. 9. How ‘Maharashtra State’ as a business demographic has affected your daily operations? Ans: For various reasons Maharashtra state’s business demography has been undergoing a lot of change. And many industries are shifting towards other states. Maharashtra which was a manufacturing hub earlier has become a service hub and this transition has had its own effects. So we are also shifting our focus on creating service offerings in that direction and financial consulting is one such step. 10. As a Start-up, What do you think is required for growth particularly in your industry. Ans: As mentioned earlier, working capital and good quality resources are very important. Techno-commercial managerial capabilities are a must.

7. What are the consulting strategies adopted by the

October 2019|

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

BIZOTICS TECH CONSULTANCY

Redeﬁning the Benchmarks of Business Excellence

start-up can disrupt a certain market vertical, if it has been set up in the right place and in the right industry. Alongside, conquering challenges and delivering the industry’s needs can further establish its unyielding roots in the industry. The story which we wish to draw your attention to today, is an exhibition of the same. We, at Insights Success, would like to introduce Bizotics, a software services start-up based in Mumbai, India. Bizotics is a technology consultancy firm with an emphasis on offering tailor-made solutions to aid the augmenting of its clients’ technological infrastructure. The company not only offers novel approaches but implements them for customers to understand their advantages. Established in 2017 with a team of three in its developmental phase, Bizotics now employs 30 staff. Till now, the company has served to prominent clients such as Bryzos, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Careclues, Intrade and many others. The Inception Saga The inception phase of Bizotics dates to 2013 when its Co-founder and Director Prathamesh Kulkarni was serving in a Mumbai-based IB firm. As a part of the electronic market team, he oversaw various solutions for trader desks around the globe. In the same year, on a business trip to New York, he met an old friend. This friend was a part of a start-up and was looking to expand his team in India and thus, asked Prathamesh to join. Consequently, Prathamesh left his job in 2014 and started consulting for the start-up. Here, Prathamesh worked with the app development team and helped the start-up to affirm a position in India. This was his first exposure to the start-up world. Three years later, with the help of investors and his college friend Chintan (co-founder), he started Bizotics. Chintan

had similar experience in the tech industry and had a consultancy firm, which he merged with Bizotics. Within the 2007’s booming start-up landscape, both cofounders spotted a gap in the industry. Therein, the expectations of the founders did not resemble the technological solution they provided. That’s where both saw an opportunity and reached out to their contacts in the industry. Overcoming Adversities, Delivering Distinction The enterprise was born out of a simple concept – technology is the driving force behind every idea and innovation in the market. With that in mind, the co-founders decided to help entrepreneurs and businesses. They assisted clients in implementing the latest technologies as well as to thive in the competitive market. However, it was not easy. Bizotics cites talent pool as its biggest challenge in the industry. “When we are recruiting as a consultant startup, at times, we are competing with IT services giants and recruitment becomes tricky. So, we have our strategy of hiring resources wherein all we care is about people having good problem solving and logical skills. Irrespective of their experience, we train them once they are with us to adapt to our standards,” Prathamesh expresses. After observing the industry gap, the firm reached out to its contacts and recalling those moments, Prathamesh says, “These were the same people whom we had worked with in the past in various capacities. They were very welcoming and encouraging.” He also mentions a distinct client stating, “A particular mention should be of Canvs Designs. They not only helped us with our initial set of work but also recommended us to their clients.” Revealing the secret mantra, the firm remarks that good work is the best way of overcoming challenges and advertise yourself. Prathamesh says, “All the clients whom

October 2019|

“

Chintan Tribhuvan Kapdi Co-founder & Director

We don't just provide technological solutions to our clients, but also the technology, which is relevant for years to come

we work with have all come to us by recommendations from our existing clients or repeat clients.” Why Bizotics? The ﬁrm claims quality as its secret weapon in this everevolving commercial world. According to the team, developing products is one of Bizotic’s core strengths. The co-founders say, “With our experience, we understand domain, design, and technology that is diﬃcult for others to match.” Bizotics follows the following robust pipeline in achieving customer satisfaction during product development: · To interact with the stakeholders to understand their vision. · Senior team with over three decades in technology works in proximity with the client and development team. · The team works alongside its customers to come up with a suitable design using the latest technology. · The entire process provides customers instant feedback during the development lifecycle. Further, there are two personalized service for customers to choose from:

October 2019|

“

Prathamesh Kulkarni Co-founder & Director

Managed Resources: wherein the customer cuts recruitment time and expenses and use Bizotics’ resources. These resources work from the firm’s office and managers supervise the whole operation along with client’s interaction. Unmanaged Resources: wherein the customer takes full control over the resources. These resources increase productivity from start and become a great add-on for teams. Customers can take advantage of Bizotic's offices or from their work location. Beholding the Future Over the next decade, Bizotics envisions to enhance its speed and adaptability. As stated by the team, there still lies a considerable gap between business expectations and technology solutions provided. In the forthcoming years, Bizotics will stay on the path of filling that gap.

NEW FINANCING OPTIONS FOR

SELF-REDEVELOPMENT

n a bracing and timely new trend, progressive consultancies offering specialised services and financial assistance for the housing sector are beginning to make their mark on the Indian residential real estate landscape. For instance, many consultancies offer rental deposit loans to young professionals who prefer to rent rather than buy properties. Via these consultancies, they can secure loans to pay the security deposit which can equal up to 8-10 months’ rent advance. Unlike in personal loans, the principal payment is made directly to the landlord and returned to the consultancy when the lease agreement ends. The tenant pays interest through the lease tenure. However, an even more exciting service being offered these days is self-redevelopment funding and management. Firms that offer such services to housing societies are becoming very relevant in cities like Mumbai. Rather than involving a developer to carry out the redevelopment, housing societies can outsource the entire task to expert consultancies to both finance and manage the redevelopment process according to exact needs and specifications. The scope of services offered by such consultancies goes beyond just redesigning and construction and extends to handling the associated manpower management and paperwork, dealing with government agencies and even the sale of extra flats based on the FSI and TDR available to the housing society. While banks and housing finance companies are currently not keen on granting loans to developers, individual societies opting for self-redevelopment can still access finance via these companies. An increasing number of housing societies in ageing projects are considering of taking the self-redevelopment route. With the help of specialized services, these societies can not only avoid the risk of delays by developers but also access cheaper loan rates. A society opting for self-development can get a loan for relatively lower interest rates like 12.5%, as opposed to loans to developers which can attract interest rates in the region of 20%. In the past, the only real option for such housing societies was to entrust the entire redevelopment project to a 20

developer. Today, self-development by housing societies has become a real possibility – and they can now avail of specialized support. We are likely to see more such consultancies entering the fray as the trend of self-redevelopment becomes more prevalent, especially with various state governments making policy changes to promote self-redevelopment. In fact, this new sector would open up in all earnest if selfredevelopment projects are given more tax exemptions. The number of buildings that need to redeveloped in the Island City is constantly rising. Just before the onset of monsoons this year, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) identified more than 14,000 buildings within Mumbai as dilapidated structures which needed to be redeveloped with no further delay. In other words, the opportunities for such consultancies is on the rise. Apart from Government support, they are perhaps the most important link to successful selfredevelopment in cities like Mumbai. They radically empower housing societies to take charge of the redevelopment of their societies based on their preferences and needs, providing a 360-degree, streamlined redevelopment process. Self-redevelopment of housing projects does not only give housing societies the assurance of time-bound, costcontrolled and predictable results. It also brings down the cost of surplus apartments, as opposed to the price inflation which results when a developer with the sole objective of hefty profit margins is involved. In other words, housing societies which self-redevelop their premises can sell the resulting extra flats at lower and more competitive rates. Considering the various benefits such services bring to the table, a transparent and consolidated management fee – as opposed to the often-gargantuan cost and time overruns of an unplanned or mercenary approach to redevelopment – is indeed a price worth paying. Redevelopment needs to become an exact science, and the industry looks forward to more and more such specialized players coming to the fore to help increase competitiveness in pricing, and overall efficiency.

October 2019|

Exploring Alternatives

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shobhit Agarwal is the CEO of ANAROCK Capital – a firm which was formed after a merger of his company ANB Capital with ANAROCK Property Consultants. Shobhit has been operating on the cutting edge of Indian real estate capital markets for over two decades. ANAROCK Capital’s team consists of well-honed industry experts who have been handling multi-million-dollar capital mandates and has already traded capital in excess of US$ 10 billion. ANAROCK Capital leverages the ANAROCK Group’s tremendous market penetration and significant operational infrastructure and provides services in real estate investment banking, financial management of big-ticket mergers, acquisitions and restructurings. The firm already provides capital advisory services to some of the country’s leading corporations, institutions and state governments, based on a unique business model that eliminates the conflicts of interest inherent to large, multi-product financial institutions and multi-vertical international property consultants.

October 2019|

Shobhit Agarwal CEO ANAROCK Capital

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

CONSOCIA ADVISORY

Deriving an Integrated Approach in Delivering Services

aharashtra as a business hub is enabling an exciting mix of opportunities for upcoming startups from various sectors as well as reputed multinational and Indian companies. The state has become the prime center of the business in the country and is on the path to be recognized as the financial capital. As the market forces are evolving at a swift pace, it has become very critical for businesses to stay current and relevant. Specifically for a progressive, new-age consultancy firm, it is very important to keep up with the pace and evolve with the dynamics of the current market along with accepting its realities. On a similar notion, Consocia Advisory Pvt. Ltd. is a company paving its way in the industry by disrupting the process of how brand reputations are created and protected. Headquartered in New Delhi NCR, the company has a robust presence in Bangalore and Mumbai as well. Having a strong affiliate network in Mumbai, Consocia has a tremendous amount of advantages and opportunities for growth and welfare in Maharashtra. Consocia Advisory provides services across its three verticals or practice areas of Reputation Management, Public Affairs, CSR, and Sustainability. The company has a clientele including various start-ups and VCs, small and medium institutions, large enterprises (Indian), global organizations and firms from the development sector, NGOs and foundations, etc. The sectoral spread of the clients varies from the Food and Beverage sector, Venture Capitalists, Artificial Intelligence and IoT, Fin-Tech, Sports-Tech, DefenceTech, Electronics and IT, Media, Development sector with Drugs and Pharmaceuticals. Within a limited timespan, Consocia Advisory has won several external validations.

“Consocia is a league of its own. So really, we do not worry too much about competition,” states the team of Consocia Advisory. With a proprietary integrated approach, the firm combines strategies and solutions from the domain of reputation management, public affairs, CSR, and sustainability. All of this, in order to inculcate core building and social license strengthening according to the requirements of the clients. A Class-Apart! Consocia is highly efficient at identifying issues and preparing the clients well in advance, prevention crisis from uncertainties, and mitigation of the negative consequences to every possible extent. Also, the ability to create a confluence of earned, shared, paid and owned media across traditional engagement channels makes its campaigns wide-spread resulting in an amplified outreach. “We demonstrate value creation through measurement tools and analytics to help clients realize their business goals,” says the Consocia’s team. Another core differentiation that sets the firm apart is the Founders’ years of cumulative experience in CSR and sustainability landscape, which finds deep expressions in the company’s body of work. The three Founders: Deepak Jolly, Dr. Praveen Aggarwal, and Dr. MVRL Murthy all are with decades of CxO-level experiences in large transnational firms and colleagues at Coca-Cola India. They had the foresight and the vision to sow the seeds of a progressive consultancy which aimed to be different from the current cohort of PR and Reputation Management advisory firms. Deepak is an institution of knowledge, resources, networks and is consistently acknowledged as among the

October 2019|

Deepak Jolly Founder and Director Dr. Praveen Aggarwal Co-founder and Director top 10 Public Aﬀairs, Communications, Sales and Marketing leaders across the world. He is a distinguished personality with a professional career spanning for more than 32 years spread across top Multinational Companies including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Bharti Airtel, and Unilever. Praveen is recognized as a doyen of the industry in areas of CSR, Sustainability and Corporate Crisis Mitigation with a career spanning over 30 years in managing overall businesses. These business verticals include Corporate & Public Aﬀairs, Corporate Social Responsibility in leading MNCs, Indian Companies, and Foundations across India and southwest Asia.

“

Our Advisory has had the privilege of working with a number of Multinational and Indian Companies, Industry Associations, VCs, and Startups from Maharashtra

information for purposes of spanning data analysis, information gathering and background intelligence to enable informed business development support and robust decision making in projects. Within Public Advocacy, research helps in mining data and information to support a case in point and create intensity around advocacy of a clients’ project. In CSR & sustainability, data mining for effective targeting in cause-based projects is undertaken by research. Under Reputation Management, research and insights help in background intelligence and information screening for a deep understanding of the client’s requirements above and beyond the scope, along with identifying additional areas of support within the mandate. “We have also contributed towards digitization of India through a campaign which was specifically aimed at promoting inclusive growth as a part of the Government’s ‘Digital India’ program. It was extremely well-received by all stakeholders,” Praveen expresses. The company takes pride in staying focused on providing an omnipresent approach in terms of building, protecting, and enhancing the reputation of organizations, which differentiates it from the competition in the industry.

Concentrated Eﬀorts “Our Research and knowledge insights play a pivotal role in complementing the project management team,” asserts Deepak. The Research and Knowledge Insights team of Consocia develops in-house research data and

October 2019|

PLETRA TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT. LTD. Driving Digital Transformation with Salesforce Empowerment

Nirupama Srivastava Co-founder

his issue of Insights Success features Pletra Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. that provides designing and developing services to its clients at costeﬀective prices. 1) Brief us about the journey of your company– origin, inception, early issues, success stories, and major milestones, to name a few. The journey has been one of the most surreal experiences that we have had in our lifetime. It is one of those experiences which one cherishes and learns from. The 2 of us were always looking out for opportunities to become independent and start our own venture and with the advent of technology in our lives and the city that we lived in had a huge impact on the way we thought and moved about. During this hunt and zeal of starting something new, we came across this idea of creating a company that would provide the growing and buzzing entrepreneurs of our country with software solutions to their technological needs. Initially, it seemed a very abstruse task to even fathom the idea of starting an IT Consulting company but with grit and

Rakhi Ranjan Co-founder

determination, we took that first step and eventually carried on with the idea. Hiring was one of the most challenging tasks that I had to undertake but once we had the correct team it was all about creating a culture where everyone can grow and learn something new every day. Our first client was a Pizza Eatery, we had everything on paper, how we will go about the project, who will do what and how we will start but then once we went on the floor, everything changed. Theory and Real-life are a very different ball game. But eventually, we did stumble upon a path and a way to create using Agile Methodology. The joy of actually showing our client his product and finally successfully delivering the final project was something I will take it with me for the rest of my life. This journey has been really empowering to say the least and I am grateful to the almighty that I am in a position that I can cherish those moments and I would also like to thank my family for supporting me during the good and the bad times. If not for them I would have left the venture midway. It was their support which helped me and shouldered

October 2019|

INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

me and made me ponder and realize that a journey is more than its destination. It is about the process. 2) Brief us about the CEO/Founder of your company. Nirupama Srivastava: She is a visionary who is looking out for endeavoring into roads less traveled. She is an avid reader and prefers to learn and understand how certain things work and how should they be aligned to make a business out of it. She is a shrewd businesswoman and has an acumen of operations and hence she looks after our India office and Day to Day operations. Rakhi Ranjan (USA): A lady whose virtues are unmatched but so is her humility. Coming from a humble background she understands the value of every penny and hence she looks after the finances and also leads our US office. 3) Kindly talk about the exclusive products or services offered by your company. How does it distinguish you from your competitors? Pletra Technology has the end-to-end capability for complete Salesforce consulting, cloud implementation, customization, integration, migration, maintenance, and support. Pletra provides FULL-CYCLE SALESFORCE CONSULTING SERVICES, DevOps, MicroServices & many more emerging technologies at every step of the digital transformation to help companies reach their business goals. This is something that we at Pletratech are proud of. Right from the start, we have been of the belief that if someone is trusting us then it is our duty to make sure that the entire process that he is with us becomes hassle-free for him. We believe that now we are in a position where we can handle and manage the nitty-gritty and the minor hiccups that one faces, and it should not be transferred to our clients and that I believe is the USP of our brand. To be honest, you will get numerous other companies that provide technical consulting some may be technically stronger than us and some maybe not. But one thing that helps us create a name for ourselves and create that niche is the culture that we propagate. We are a firm believer that the Client is the King. We stand by it and we make sure that every one of our multiple clients feels the same way. The way we interact, the personal understanding and the bond we create, the apt solutions we provide, the reduced delay and the hassle-free process has helped us distinguish our Brand from the competitors. 4) What is the vision and mission of your company?

October 2019|

The vision of the company is to be nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Technology universal access to research and education, full participation in culture to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. The mission is to Innovative Internet Technologies and ground-breaking ideas aimed at streamlining the integral processes of businesses and enterprises using Information Technology and thought leadership. 5) What kind of challenges has the company faced industry-wise? 1. Increased competition Many firms that are not large, established industry players and don’t have a disruptive business model in the works are worried about their ability to stay competitive. After all, a great deal of consolidation is happening in our industry, and new technologies threaten to commoditize lucrative breadand-butter services. 2. Changes in how buyers purchase services The increased use of online search, social media and other non-traditional channels to find and vet IT consulting firms have been a big challenge and an opportunity for us to shape and mold ourselves and has been the primary reason for us using social media as a primary tool to entice potential customers. Even the way people get referrals has changed. Many referrals today are made by people who never even hired our firm, but they know about us from other sources. Increasingly, we are trying to build our reputations online — through sophisticated content marketing programs and direct engagement in social media. 3. Unpredictability in the marketplace Whether you are talking business or politics, these are turbulent times. The IT consulting marketplace is evolving quickly from one that relied primarily on interpersonal contact to develop new business (think networking or personal referrals) to a wide-open battlefield on the Internet. But there is more feeding the market frenzy than business development changes. The whole landscape is rapidly evolving, too — acquisitions and mergers are happening at a record pace, and new well-funded firms with different business models pop up with unnerving frequency. This churning marketplace is here to stay, and to be the most successful firm we will have to learn and adapt to uncertainty.

4. Downward price pressure on services Another concern is increasing pressure to lower prices. As cheaper alternatives and more efficient technologies emerge, even expertise-driven IT consulting services are subject to fee erosion. But this trend represents an opportunity, too. For example, Pletratech a relatively new and a small firm can leverage the power of marketing automation and artificial intelligence — and marry these technology efficiencies with our expert insights can use it to lower our costs and eventually reduce our final cost and we can use it to differentiate ourselves. 5. The need for new skills As new technologies and techniques arise in the marketplace, we sometimes feel an unrelenting pressure to keep up with the constant change. Because, If we don’t, a competitor will. There are two primary ways firms we can acquire new skills: 1) by training their professionals; and 2) hiring new talent who already possess those skills. We at Pletratech use both of these approaches, but each comes with challenges. For example, training existing staff takes people away from lucrative billable work. And hiring new talent in a highly competitive environment can be very expensive. Conclusion Turbulent times generate tremendous change, and this is precisely the reality that our industry is facing today. To adapt to rising marketplace pressures, to get ahead and stay there, we will have to adopt an array of marketing techniques. But deep in the forge of adversity lies opportunity — to build resilient and robust brands. 6) How have technological advancements and innovation in the industry affected your business? It has come up with its own set of Pros and Cons: As discussed earlier one of the biggest challenges that we as an industry face is the fact that we have to keep up with the change and for that we must continuously be a firm that strives for learning and keep our employees updated. As new technologies and techniques arise in the marketplace, we sometimes feel an unrelenting pressure to keep up with the constant change. Because, If we don’t, a competitor will. There are two primary ways firms we can acquire new skills: 1) by training their professionals; and 2) hiring new talent who already possess those skills. We at Pletratech use both approaches, but each comes with challenges. For example, training existing staff takes people away from

lucrative billable work. And hiring new talent in a highly competitive environment can be very expensive. But on the other side with the advent of machine learning, automation and productivity tools like Slack, CRMs, Trello we have come to realize that we can reduce our costs significantly using technology and hence pass on the benefits to our customers and this is one of the primary reason that we have been able to create a brand which stands for ‘The Best Value For Money’. 7) What are the consulting strategies adopted by the company and who are its primary target customers? We implemented a lot of imperatives and tried a lot of strategies that varied from transforming ourselves from a company that used to follow a waterfall model in devising or creating software to aligning us to an organization that uses Agile. We had to incorporate a lot of changes and also had to become a lean and a fitter organization, design different positions and hire equally abled people. We also used DevOps and put in a lot of effort into making it our forte and become the frontrunner in serving our clients with the same. Salesforce has been our forte and this is something that we as an organization really believe in and really want to grow in. We are a firm that never stops believing and trying new things. Be it AWS, AZURE, Mobile App Development, Web Development, Machine Learning, Python, Node, React, etc. We are looking at customers who have small, medium, big and complex technical problems and are looking for a company that serves them more than their traditional consulting firm, eventually and looking out for a family with whom they can feel at home with. 8) How do you portray the future of your company in the next decade? In the next decade, we see ourselves as the change we have always stifled for. We have had the very idea of developing into 4 major verticals vis-à-vis: Salesforce We are aiming to be the one-stop portal for our clients where the can come and solve all the Salesforce related issues that they pertain to. We really believe in Salesforce and we believe it is going to be the next big thing. CRM, App generation and everything else we have our experts

October 2019|

who not only help you understand how Salesforce can help you grow but also provide a solution to your needs. E-commerce Ecommerce only forms 3% of the Total Retail Market in the world. Hence, we believe that it is a segment that has a lot of potentials and will shape the world. We want to be at the forefront of this change and create software for our clients which can help them transform this business. We want our client’s customers a reason to stick with their site and an online presence has become intrinsic for every business to reach customers and grow. Web and Application Development With the advent of technology and the growing internet penetration we want to spend the next decade in understanding and providing a platform for our clients to utilize AWS, AZURE, Salesforce and incorporate them in their day to day activities to fully exploit their working and transform the way their business works. Corporate Training and Development We at Pletratech firmly believe in the concept that one can only grow when the people around him or he does as well. Machine Learning and automation have become a serious threat to present-day jobs and learning and re-learning is the name of the game. Everyone be it a professional who has been working for 10, 20 + years or a new entrant they will have to change and adapt and learn new skills every few hours. Pletratech wants to be here and currently has a module to teach interested learned to understand and implement Salesforce. Ui Path (Robotic Process Automation) (RPA):Robotic Process Automation is the technology that allows anyone today to configure computer software, or a “robot” to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process. RPA robots utilize the user interface to capture data and manipulate applications just like humans do. They interpret, trigger responses and communicate with other systems in order to perform on a vast variety of repetitive tasks. Only substantially better: an RPA software robot never sleeps, makes zero mistakes and costs a lot less than an employee. 9) How ‘Maharashtra State’ as a business demographic has affected your daily operations?

• The government has identified Information Technology as one of 12 champion service sectors for which an action plan is being developed. Also, the government has set up a Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 745.82 million) fund for realizing the potential of these champion service sectors at India Level. • As a part of Union Budget 2018-19, NITI Aayog is going to set up a national level program that will enable efforts in AI and will help in leveraging AI technology for development works in the country. • In the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Government of India announced plans to launch a national program on AI* and setting up of a National AI* portal. • National Policy on Software Products-2019 was passed by the Union Cabinet to develop India as a software product nation 10) As a Start-up, what do you think is required for growth particularly in your industry? I believe as of now apart from all the technological advances, I really appreciate what the government is doing for nurturing the Start-Up culture in our country and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for everything that they are doing. But then again there are a couple of things which I would like to mention The government must understand that entrepreneurs are not made. They can only be nurtured, on their own terms and schedule. All they can do is promote positive serendipity, and make sure that when all the stars align, the entrepreneur doesn’t crash into a wall because they lack some basic skills, meet an insurmountable bureaucratic obstacle, or miss basic infrastructure (e.g., a payment gateway). Just as in lifecycle marketing, the government must target people with different messaging and products over time, satisfy their pressing needs, and influence their behavior at each stage. They must first inform people unfamiliar with entrepreneurship that this path exists, show them that they can do it, and develop their skill set so they have a higher chance of success once they start a venture. They must then increase the chances of external factors falling into place through networking opportunities, financial support, counseling (can’t expect people to risk and go out of their comfort zone when they lack that comfort zone in the first place), mentoring, and so on.

Some of the major initiatives taken by the government to promote the IT and ITeS sector in India are as follows:

October 2019|

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

ENGAGE PEOPLE Enabling the Conﬂuence of Finest Talent and Best Workplaces

ow to search for a perfect candidate? This is one of the most important questions for any organization. Every organisation has a diﬀerent approach to hiring a perfect candidate. No matter what kind of business you run, it is the principal factor to have quality resources to help your company run seamlessly and outshine the competition. But very few companies deﬁne what they are exactly looking for when it comes to hiring the ideal candidate.

Logistics Retail FMCG Banking and Finance sectors

HR management companies help organizations resolve this complex situation through various means namely recruitment, staffing, corporate training, employee engagement and much more so that the organizations can create a brand name. Incorporating all of the above, through their innovative approach is one such upcoming HR firm - Engage People Corporate Solutions Pvt. Ltd a professional firm that assists in meeting the recruitment objectives through increased process efficiency helping businesses to take faster and better decisions. The following excerpt engages in the aspects of the influencing leaders and an inspiring journey of the firm.

How do they go about it? The team of well qualified and experienced recruiters carries out a quick profile assessment, before asking the candidate for a brief meeting. The team examines the candidate on various parameters besides emphasizing on checking their interests and cultural fitment at the clients’ end. This helps in presenting only limited, genuine, and efficient candidates to the client giving almost 100% turn-ups and selection.

Engage People Corporate’s Services Established in 2015 and headquartered in Andheri, Mumbai, Engage People is a leading provider of Talent Acquisition and Manpower Outsourcing solutions. The company has a breadth of experience across the following industries and it’s talent acquisition teams are organized into sharply focused areas of expertise in the following sub-sectors of India:

The leadership team has several decades of collective experience in working for global services. It aims to provide eﬃcient, simple and cost-eﬀective strategic solutions to businesses in varied areas.

Accomplished and Well Recognised Entrepreneurs Mr. Jayesh Unarkat, is the Founder and Director of Engage People Corporate Solutions Pvt. Ltd. He has seventeen years of experience in client servicing, staﬃng, recruitment, operations, training, business development, having worked with some of the big key names in the HR Industry. Moreover Miss. Kavita, and Miss. Arti Thakkar, are the other two Founders & Directors who hold equivalent capability. They are professed in HR, sales, post-sales, operations, and administration having worked with MNC’s in varied industries.

October 2019|

Journey Over the Years

“

Works for Everyone

Surviving a series of roadblocks when some clients and members parted ways, the team’s unrelenting and firm compassion slowly, and gradually improved the situation. It hit a successful relationship and partnered with some big names in every industry. Online food ordering aggregators have become the top clientele of the firm. The HR industry has been receiving a lot of updates from the Government off late, However as the phrase says, there are always two sides of a coin, though these changes are for enhancing the policies, but they do create a lot of ambiguities and grey areas which results delayed submissions or non-compliance. Being headquartered in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country has helped the company to approach some of the biggest corporates. The state’s increased focus on

October 2019|

Arti Thakkar Founder and Director

“

Jayesh Unarkat Founder and Director

improving infrastructure, education, and other related allied industries, is supporting the firm in attracting the best corporates and talents in the country. The leaders believe, “Start-ups in HR industry, namely the staffing firms, need to have strong fundamental business principles and ethics to sustain in the industry. Many start-up firms in-order to gain additional revenue, compromise on compliance rules and regulations, which results in losing the clients trust in engaging a start-up staffing organisation, besides bringing disrepute for the staffing industry.” Leadership is always been the spine of the firm which manages a team, making sound decisions, inspiring and influencing people and making the organization reach greater heights. Engage People is one of these firms who has developed best, efficient services and made it a dream vision.

Tech-trends REDEFINING

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

October 2019|

Trending Technologies

ime is money” a saying that we often come across is solely true for the entrepreneurs who embrace every minute of their day. Technological advancements oﬀer countless opportunities for maximizing eﬃciency within organization in minimal time.

“

Although every entrepreneur has different goals; they all operate under same principle-to transform ideas into a successful business. With recent technological advancements, the current approach towards entrepreneur has gone through a great change. Technology entrepreneurship is a vehicle that facilitates prosperity in various businesses, individuals and nations. Currently, technology driven entrepreneurship is driving force behind national economics and entrepreneurial societies. Here are some of the technologies that are currently piloting the growth of entrepreneurship and creating new industries altogether along the way. Internet of things IoT has emerged as one of the ‘mustwatch’ technological developments of recent year. IoT refers to the way in which devices – everything from smartphones and wearable technologies through to household appliances and vehicles – use sensors, software and connectivity to communicate or exchange data. Whether a new business is operating in the agriculture, manufacturing, engineering or healthcare space, there is a huge competitive advantage for the entrepreneurs who adopt IoT-based technologies earlier in their development stand to benefit significantly. Ecommerce businesses can keep a realtime record of their stock levels, which means they are able to more accurately track what they need to re-order and

October 2019|

simultaneously save time on performing manual stock checks. Being able to collect and analyses real-time data from sensors within the product means that a startup can better understand how they should adapt and evolve their offering over time. Artificial Intelligence Machine learning and AI are already making our lives easier & exciting – whether it is through Tesla’s self-driving smart cars, Apple’s Siri, or through home assistants by Amazon, Google. Besides these, AI is being extensively used for fraud detection, personalized shopping experience & customer support in the ecommerce sector and many others. The development in the AI arena is driven by hundreds of startups, which are collectively exploring what we can do with this futuristic technology Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality AR & VR have been around for quite some time now, but in past couple of years, these technologies have significantly narrowed down the difference between the real & the virtual world. It will encourage developers to create more innovative AR based apps. As a result it drives growth of the new startups and entrepreneurs. It is also revolutionizing the whole smartphone experience in the process.

world. It is the tool that can infuse life into any failing business we are living in a data-driven society where numerous tools are available to track customer habits, preferences, and purchases. These data help to get timely insights for making decisions about fleeting opportunities, precise answers for challenging problems and uncover new growth opportunities. On account of digital India campaign, there is a huge opportunity for data-driven models for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, after analyzing this data, use this data as the foundation of new business ventures, marketing, and for much other purpose. Drones We are living in the world where an entirely different & probably even bigger transportation revolution is happening – drones. Now day's drones are being extensively used for good deliveries across the world. Drone are also used for firefighting, search & rescue operations, agriculture, filming remote locations – all of which previously required helicopters/cranes and considerably more human efforts. Drones are the future and entrepreneurs will leave no stone unturned to capitalize on this technology. Many of the above mentioned technologies have already been around for a few years, but these technologies are still in their nascent stage. In future, it will provide bundle of opportunities to the current and the future generations of entrepreneurs. Serious efforts in these technologies will give livelihood to many entrepreneurs and transform the world for better.

Analytics Analytics is an elegant demonstration of the number-driven

October 2019|

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

GOPUSH CONSULTING LLP Delivering Transformative Services, Facilitating Business Excellence

or any start-up that envisions consistent growth and success, alongside an innovative business model, the qualities of perseverance, integrity and expertise are prerequisites. Instilling these qualities within the organizational culture always aids a business to thrive in a cutthroat global market. Not only do such organizations experience a signiﬁcant growth, but they also set an example for others to be inspired from.

right Sales Consulting offerings to take to market, establish a basic website and create the right kind of buzz about the company. Due to his credentials, it was not difficult for Siddharth to get the initial interest from clients. Various friends and ex-colleagues from the industry also helped with introductions and even basic stuff like NDA and Contract formats. Based on the discussions with potential clients, three offerings were carved out viz.

Considering these aspects, in our continuous endeavour to seek and exhibit innately innovative organizations, we at Insights Success, have had the privilege of crossing paths with GoPush Consulting LLP, a premier Sales Training, Consulting and Partnering Organisation for the Information Technology Industry.

1. Advisory & Consulting 2. Training & Coaching 3. Sales Partnering & Execution

GoPush Consulting, established in 2016, is an organisation conceived from the dream of its Founder, Siddharth Hosangadi, to leverage his rich Sales experience and learnings to create outstanding, sustainable success for small and midsize IT Companies through Sales, Training, Consulting & Partnering interventions. Throughout his career, Siddharth faced multiple challenges which often were extremely difficult to overcome and clear guidance in such situations was not always available. As a result, achieving sales success required extreme efforts, was subject to mistakes and took significant time. Through GoPush, Siddharth aims to help companies and individuals to benefit from his experiences and learnings, and quickly overcome their challenges to achieve superlative success. Early Challenges In the company’s early days, the challenge was to define the

The first few prospects were varied; from SAP partners to niche software product companies. It was a challenge to decide which clients to work with since there were opportunities from competing companies. Based on a variety of factors, the first few clients for GoPush were an SAP services company, a Legal compliance software firm and a company which made software for the PE and VC industry. Offering Distinction GoPush Consulting offers customized solutions to improve Sales performance for the Information Technology Industry. The organization understands that every company is unique, and that every sales professional isn’t alike, which means that their needs are different, and a single approach cannot be applied to different companies or persons. Which is why it believes in deeply understanding its client’s business situation, customers & go to market strategy, mingling with their Sales teams, and seeing them in action before proposing its custom solutions. Therefore, whether GoPush proposes a consulting approach to modify an existing Sales process or strategy, or a partnering approach to take clients’ products & services to market, or a

October 2019|

“

GoPush yourself to attain those heady heights in your business and sales career

personal credentials and relationships of Siddharth have been useful to overcome this.

Siddharth Hosangadi Founder

Training intervention to upskill an existing Sales team, one can count on it for building up a relevant and valuable proposition. While sharing his opinion on what is required by a start-up for success in the Consulting industry, Siddharth states, “The most important aspects of success in the Consulting industry are excellent listening skills, clear expectation setting and single-minded focus on customer success. To grow, one needs to create diﬀerentiated and scalable productized oﬀerings, which is the current focus area of GoPush Consulting.” Surpassing Challenges GoPush has been focused primarily on the IT Industry. The main challenge it has faced is resistance to change; from clients for process change from its own clients as well as the customers of its clients. Clients are always willing to execute on advice for sales growth if it doesn’t involve process change. This is all the more evident in larger companies. GoPush has helped its clients manage these transitions sensitively to avoid resistance at the ground level. It has also seen resistance from end customers to engage with smaller companies, which is where the

October 2019|

When asked about how the rapid change of pace in the volatile technology industry affects GoPush’s business, Siddharth states, “Every fresh wave of advancement in the technology industry actually creates new opportunities for GoPush as it allows us to quickly digest the changes and suggest innovative ways of leveraging them to improve Sales performance. For instance, the shift to Cloud, and new technologies like IOT and Blockchain need a change in mindset of promoters as well as their sales team in terms of how to not just survive but thrive amidst these changes.” What’s Next Asked about the future potential of doing business in Maharashtra, Siddharth states, “Maharashtra is home to thousands of Small and Midsize IT product and services companies, and has the largest market for such companies, with an excellent infrastructure for them to operate in, as well as a steady stream of engineering and MBA students from top notch colleges. Thus it is a fertile ground for these companies to grow their business operations, which in turn translates into excellent market potential for GoPush Consulting.” Siddharth’s vision of the next ten years for GoPush includes growing the Training and Coaching business while expanding into allied Consulting services like HR, Marketing and Business Strategy to establish the company as a premier Business Consulting firm, with operations in India, APAC and the Middle East. To learn more about GoPush and its offerings, connect with Siddharth or visit www.gopush.in

Real-Estate Tech

Anuj Kejriwal MD & CEO ANAROCK Retail

October 2019|

PropTech in Retail Technology to Drive Prots in the Future

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anuj Kejriwal is the CEO & Managing Director for ANAROCK Retail, the retail division of ANAROCK Property Consultants headed by real estate industry stalwart Anuj Puri. ANAROCK Retail is the result of a strategic partnership between ANAROCK and Faithlane Property Advisors, which he launched in 2017. Prior to launching Faithlane in and its subsequent absorption into the disruptive ANAROCK Group, Kejriwal was National Director for Retail Services at a prominent international property consultancy. In this capacity, he set strategic direction for the retail division and drove revenue growth for the West India market. He also oversaw the retail business in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. Overall, he has 15 years of hands-on experience in advising domestic and multinational retail property owners, occupiers and investors. At ANAROCK Retail, he aligns the retail business to ANAROCK’s rst-in-industry business models to dovetail with the overall operations and consequently deliver a unique bouquet of services to its retail clients. He heads a team of 50+ highly experienced retail real estate professionals. ANAROCK Retail is active across ANAROCK's 12 Indian city ofces and internationally in the UAE. October 2019|

roperty technology (PropTech) is a new force that’s taking the real estate industry by storm. It is the use of information technology to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate. Just the way FinTech focuses on the use of technology in finance, PropTech uses digital innovation to address the needs of the property industry. This trend has gained pace since 2013 with the emergence of FinTech, the growing need for smart spaces, expansion of online marketplace and automation-linked productivity. Today, every step of the real estate life cycle is being re-looked and tested for redesigning with the help of technology. Technology has also become the cornerstone of the new retail story in India. From the basic design stage to creating a superior customer experience, technology is prevalent at every step. Even as it streamlines and eases the entire process from designing, development, leasing and creating a customer experience, technology in retail is key to improving profitability. Technology in Mall Designing Developing a mall is not the same as building a residential or commercial asset and requires a specialised design and layout. This lesson was learned the hard way by mall owners/developers who struggled with multiple floors, high vacancy rates and failed malls. The last few years have seen the application of new technologies/ software to understand the design of a mall and make it more customer-centric. Gone are the times of basic AutoCAD drawings. Architects and designers have now upgraded to software such as ‘Revit’ and ‘Archi Cad’ to optimise mall design and focus on customer experience. Another advantage of using these digital tools is the optimal placement of stores within the mall to increase visibility and, in turn, enhance customer experience. Adoption of appropriate technology while designing a mall achieves: • High visibility and proper placement of stores • Excellent circulation areas 41

• More open spaces to create experience centres • Better accessibility to avoid traffic bottlenecks outside and optimal flow of footfalls inside These factors are key differentiators between successful and average malls and also ensure future profitability by attracting key tenants and running cost-effective operations. Efficient Mall Development It is an established fact that excluding land cost, almost 5060% of the overall cost of a real estate project involves the construction process. This makes it imperative to procure the appropriate materials and use the right construction technique to save costs and increase profitability. In shopping malls across India, developers have adopted advanced and green materials in order to make their structures more efficient and reduce environmental pollution. PropTech is now at the centre of mall development and several of the latest building technologies are being adopted to optimise construction time and save costs: 1. Prefabrication: This technique increases the construction speed and helps time valuable time. 2. 3D printing: By using this tool, mall developers are able to increase construction speed at lower costs and also achieve better utilisation of space. 3. Green materials: The use of environment-friendly building material has the dual benefit of lowering pollution and increasing construction speed. 4. Robotics: Robotic technology accelerates construction pace and reduces overall cost by lowering dependence on manpower. 5. Building Information Modelling: By employing this technique, mall developers are able to achieve better collaboration and communication along with better pre-construction project visualisation Streamlined Operations & Leasing Today, PropTech pervades almost all aspects of contemporary real estate development and use, and is being increasingly used to enhance the operations of shopping malls. Armed with tools such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and Computer-Aided Design (CAD), malls owners and developers have optimised operations by reducing the need for manpower.

developers, technology is making inroads in this aspect of the retail business as well. Mall owners/developers are opening up to new technologies such as Blackbird - a VR and market intelligence tool to conduct real estate transactions. By viewing actual CAD renderings of properties, they can filter their search using factors such as demographics, tax incentives, transit options, etc. Access to big data also gives brokers the ability to match investors to property type and streamline the entire transaction process. ANAROCK uses big data extensively to quickly and efficiently match the requirements of tenants with specific requirements to existing mall stock in any given catchment and mall typology. Enriching Customer Experience The retail customer profile is fast evolving and is now dominated by millennials who are tech-savvy and demand the same from the retail spaces they patronize. This has led to the trend of experiential shopping that is built around a holistic shopping experience. Mall owners are focusing on different aspects such as fast-paced check-out to identifying buying behaviour of their customers to create an integrated shopping experience. With the rising penetration of e-commerce, the retail industry is facing stiff competition and has had to combine its online and offline businesses. Major players have developed mobile apps and/or mobile/computer websites to make the buying decision more conclusive for the buyers. Fast Forward Technology is developing at a rapid pace and the Indian retail sector must evolve constantly to keep up with not just offline peers but also competition from e-commerce. The key is to incorporate technology at every step – from mall designing and daily operations to accentuating customer experience. With the successful implementation of PropTech in Tier-I cities, we are likely to see its impact in smaller towns and cities – because it is here where the maximum future growth for Indian retail lies. PropTech is ultimately an investment in the future of Indian retail, and finds application in building better malls, streamlining operations and creating a memorable customer experience. The initial cost of adopting the latest technologies may be high, but such an investment translates into loyal customers and more profitable malls for a lifetime.

Though mall leasing in India is mostly done oﬄine, either through real estate brokers or directly through the 42

October 2019|

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

KOGNITIVUS TRAINING AND CONSULTING Redeﬁning Innovation in its Own Way

nnovation has always been a driving factor for any individual or a firm. Without innovation, there can be no growth prospectus and without any opportunity of it, life itself becomes stagnant. If one wants to realize the essence of existence, innovation can be a key to unlock the doors of unseen and unexplored potential one has. To imbibe innovation and deliver innovative solutions in-turn is the ultimate way to discover and reach the highest of our own limit. Incidentally, reshaping and transforming the definition of innovation itself is, Kognitivus Training and Consulting that was founded in May 2015 with the sole purpose of helping people unleash their potential. By helping organizations build a culture that unleashes excellence, promotes connections & catalyzes growth; leading to a highly engaged workforce that drives value creation for their clients, Kognitivus has set a benchmark. There are three central offerings facilitated by the company, one of which the primarily mentioned point elaborates how the firm has an innovative approach amongst other: 1. People Strategy offerings - The issues addressed in this type of service are typical organizational challenges like the reduction of attrition, leadership level alignment along with the organization’s strategy, and designing of the organizational structure enhancing the intrinsic motivation of employees, etc. These problems require a very holistic solution and not tactical fixes. “Our offerings are totally culture-centric, context centric and people-centric; using the key ideas of behavioural changes from neuroscience and psychology. That too coupled with latest management trends, industry trends with a solid grounding of human philosophies,” states the team of Kognitivus. The approach is very unique and leads to comprehensive and detailed solutions that are sustainable and impacting. The contextual

approach by the company has differentiated it from the rest of its competitors in this particular offering. 2. People Development offerings - The services in this vertical includes targeted learning and development programs in order to solve a particular people related problem. These services are offered as workshops, capsule learnings, 1 on 1 mentoring and coaching, and online sessions to the participants. “Our programs like ‘Being in Demand’, ‘Being World Class’, ‘Lead with Compassion’ are detailed, well researched and thorough programs for different levels of people in the organization,” states Kognitivus’ team. The essential and differential factor that is brought into L&D is the content created meticulously as per the Indian mindset so that an immediate connection can be made with the participants. Another factor which acts as a differentiator is an immersive approach of conducting the sessions that Kognitivus utilizes. It is not only experiential but also helps the benefactors to observe the content thoroughly and reflect on the actions and teachings in their daily activities or situations. Also, all the content and sessions ensure prompt adoption of the teachings by the end-users, which is the biggest challenge of the L&D programs. “We not only share the knowledge of ‘WHAT’ should be done but also the ‘HOW’ part of it, that is how we imbibe the learning in their day to day life within their constraints. This has given us an edge in our offerings,” describes the team. 3. Innovation Culture Development – Under this the type of offering the company works with various client organizations or teams within those organizations. It helps them create a culture of innovation by re-developing the process of the operations cycle. The process includes developing the mindset for innovation, releasing the potential for creativity and assisting the teams through an

October 2019|

Siddhartha Dubey Founder & CEO innovation cycle. It is a unique offering as not many consulting firms in India are offering such kind of innovation-oriented services or teachings. Distinguished Offerings Kognitivus is working on some specific products and new frameworks that will make it easy for the clients to define and execute the people strategy simplified by the team. Since the culture of an organization is going to be the next competitive advantage, it will become imperative for organizations to consciously build their culture.

“

We reach out to the people who are responsible and capable of decision making for the organization, primarily leaders like CXOs, Directors, Oﬃce Heads, and HR Directors, etc. and work with them cohesively

and hence the next decade looks very bright and optimistic for us,” says the Founder and CEO of Kognitivus, Siddhartha Dubey. He is passionate about building innovative and sustainable organizations for the future. Through Kognitivus, he aims to achieve just that. Siddhartha believes that ‘people’ are the most valuable assets of any company and are major contributors to the success of it. He has worked with several multinationals in India and abroad. Over time he realized that the high performing team is not just about having the exceptionally talented people in the organization but it’s the culture of the teams that decides whether they are highly eﬃcient or under-performing. At Kognitivus he works with CXOs, Senior Directors, and HR heads to design and execute organizational transformation to ensure business goals align with people development, business strategy aligns with people strategy and innovation capabilities at all level. Siddhartha has more than 15.5 years of Industry experience in the areas of business intelligence and has worked in companies like Infosys, PepsiCo in the USAo far has grown through our network and communication”, concludes Siddhartha.

There are some upcoming offerings like ‘Dhruva – 5D culture model for alignment’ and ‘Coffee with Kaaran’ (a reason). Coffee with Kaaran is an offering where the company offers consulting free of cost in a coffee shop. Also, another new offering ‘6 Core for Inclusion and Diversity’ is entitled to help organizations create a truly including and diverse culture. This offering is based on the concept of Neuroscience and Vedantic Science of empathy and inclusion. “Our products and offerings will help the clients in achieving better results in whichever area of work they are

October 2019|

MERGING CONSULTANT

STARTUP

Maharashtra 2019

RAPIDQUBE DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Harnessing Digital Technologies, Enhancing Businesses

n today’s digital world, while technology advances and customers being/are involved more than ever, it has become important to understand how to harness the power of digital technologies. Taking control over this power enhances work prospects, raise brand awareness, and reach out to target audience in a way that produces results. And, addressing this very complex needs comes easy to RapidQube Digital Solutions. With the/its establishment in 2016 and only three years in operation, the firm has become a preferred name in/among new age technology companies. Headquartered in Mumbai, RapidQube takes on the digital world with offerings of Blockchain along with expertise in AI, ML, and Data Inter-Operability. Au Courant Leaders Being a boot-strapped start-up, RapidQube is the brainchild of three founders with vast experience in the IT services industry. Backed by the ambition of these three, RapidQube has emerged as a niche service provider in the emerging technology industry. Raghunadh Vaddadi, the CEO and Co-founder, is an IT Veteran and has more than 28 years of experience in Comprehensive Software Project Management with strong hold on worldwide IT Development and Integration fields. Prior to this position, he led the BI practice in Hexaware Technologies on a global basis and felt a strong need to do something in this future technological field. That’s how he embarked on RapidQube’s quest and developed new agendas to help the company in becoming more stable and more efficient with constant inclusion of new clients and their requirements.

CTO of RapidQube, Muthuprakash Ravindran leads the company’s technical initiatives and has worked in various MNCs at leadership roles delivering world-class solutions and services for them. Muthu is a PMP and an agile leader who brings the project management expertise needed for a services company.

Mohanraj Polurbalu is the Chief Digital Strategist of Rapidqube. He is also the head of delivery and innovations for the company. Mohanraj has rich experience in Business Intelligence and Business Analytics. He is well-versed with project management and excels in delivering emerging technology projects. Mohan heads the company’s delivery teams. Umashankar Somasekar is the Head of Development for Rapidqube. He completes the leadership team by bringing in the technical expertise into the group. He leads the product teams and the consulting part of the business and is focused on designing innovative solutions for the customers. Becoming RapidQube Blockchain as an emerging technology set up plenty of hurdles for RapidQube to become a prominent name in the industry. When the firm began as a business, there was little expertise available in the market and it had to begin by finding a platform to work on training associates in Blockchain implementations. The first year of the company’s operation was focused on developing resources with technical skills to improve the customers’ experience. The next major challenge for the firm was to persuade the customers of its capability and to ensure that it will live up to their expectations. However, against all odds, the team at RapidQube never backed down and delivered exceptional services to do both. Adding to that, the past year has been an exciting one for the organization with the present on-going diverse nature of the projects. Customer-Oriented Services With expertise in Blockchain, RapidQube offers customized solutions for clients scattered throughout diverse industries. The firm goes beyond just providing services and addresses specific deficiencies and problems that the clients are facing. The organization further builds products extensively

October 2019|

From the Right to Left

Raghunadh Vaddadi CEO and Co-founder Umashankar Somasekar Head of Development Muthuprakash Ravindran Chief Technology Officer Mohanraj Polurbalu Chief Digital Strategist for Insurance, Healthcare, Government Services, and Manufacturing, which can be customized and scaled as per implementation. “Our capabilities are primarily towards customer project delivery from initiation to implementation through some of the latest delivery methods using the latest technologies and processes”, says Raghunadh. The offerings also include the provision of education for government agencies through the prestigious National Institute for Smart Governance (NISG) and corporate development through its other affiliates. The firm also has a strong academic outreach program collaborating with some of the top universities in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

October 2019|

“

As a New Age Software Company, we harness Digital Technology, which redeﬁnes business paradigms

High Fives All-Around RapidQube’s portfolio speaks for itself and includes services rendered for a large-scale deployment of Electronic Health Records for the State, a Certificate Certification Program for the Education Department, a robust application of Government Citizens Programs for the GCC Member country, and an automated medical claims management system – all of which use Blockchain technologies. It is indeed a matter of immense pride for RapidQube to have carried out repeated requests from the Governments of the State and to continue to pursue their strong association with them. RapidQube is a member of the Maharashtra Innovation Society, the AP Innovation Forum, and a part of the Blockchain Policy Forum with the Tamil Nadu Government. As a NASSCOM start-up member, the corporation is proud to be a part of the Start-up India initiative from which it has received a number of incentives and subsidies. Because of its global reach and technical excellence, RapidQube has been able to pick up some prestigious initiatives from India’s tech-savvy state governments in the Electronic Health Records, Education Certificates Certification & Multi-Citizen Services, and successfully implementing them in the states as well. Scanning the Future RapidQube aims to become a truly global product in the new technology arena and to have 75 percent of the business coming from international customers. It also envisions to hit the USD 10 million mark by the year 2024. “Although having a goal is helpful, we do feel that our future lies in the strengths of our employees as well as in the capacity of our organization to respond to changes in the coming years. We see an exciting future for Blockchain in all fields of business, and we want to be the vanguard of that riding wave”, signed off Raghunadh. info@rapidqube.com