I met with Dhiraj Rajaram, Founder & CEO, Mu Sigma, recently. Mu Sigma calls itself variously as an applied math factory, world’s leading pure-play decision sciences company and so on. Simply put, Mu Sigma is in the business of analyzing the growing information of its customers and making sense out of it- asking the why question as much as the what and how- and offering meaningful interpretations on the business for its management.

Set up in 2005, the company has grown at a fast clip- not only has the company scaled an important milestone of a $100 M run rate but they have also obtained a significant funding to secure future growth.

Talking with Dhiraj, it is not hard to see why the company has been as successful as it is. The first thing that struck me was the aspiration combined with quiet confidence- Dhiraj clearly has his goals set on a bigger dream, and is systematically charting the course. When I say quiet, let it not be thought that Dhiraj is a man of few words J On the contrary, he is articulate and passionate about his company and ideas – but sports the air of someone who feels his journey has just begun. And so does not think that they have achieved much yet!  Dhiraj’s clarity of purpose is also evident when he explains the way they went about building the business- the choices they made and the philosophies they abide by.

I walked out of my meeting with Dhiraj ( who incidentally is a fellow alumnus of College of Engineering, Guindy) convinced that Mu Sigma is definitely a company to watch out for!

Cracking the exponential growth formula?

Popularity: 24% [?]

It’s a sign of how much things have changed. In an age of instant information and online self-publishing, webcomics are fast becoming popular with an increasingly web-savvy audience. I’ve always considered myself a staunch loyalist to the ageless, paperback Marvels comics and not to mention an eternal fan of Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes series. But Matthew Inman’s “The Oatmeal” or Allie Brosh’s “Hyperbole and a Half” are just some examples of a completely new breed of comics that use a strange mix of childish drawings and diabolical dialogs… that are far from the norm, and yet good enough to be right up there with the best comics!

Which brings me to this… Brosh’s and Inman’s successes lie in the fact that they relate to their audience. They have a knack in figuring out what makes them laugh and then provide them with just that. They use their audience’s language, talk about what makes them click and attempt to be one of them. Mostly importantly, they don’t mind trying out new and weird things and they make full use of a new-age internet platform to be seen, heard and go viral.

And so it should be with the corporate world or any organization for that matter.

Relate to your customers, know what they want and need and put yourself in their shoes. And above – be different from the others. Easier said than done, but it’s not always about churning out innovative products and services. Rather what we need to do is to find those little ways to separate our products or service apart from the herd, and entice customers with just that. Because ultimately it’s our customers that have a final say in determining if we’re good enough for them, or not.

There’s a lesson to be learnt here. Who would have thought a webcomic would set me on this train of thought… but there you have it!

Popularity: 35% [?]

HP’s recent decisions and actions apparently have shaken the confidence of its key stakeholders – investors and customers. In fact, customers are reconsidering their partnership with this technology giant especially after its decision to spin off its PC business and end the smartphone and tablet businesses. The main grouse is that the direction the company is not clear enough and whatever signals the company is giving is surely not comforting. This from the world’s largest technology company! Obviously, the HP management will have its hands full with damage control exercises in the weeks to come. While HP’s rationale behind exiting the PC business may be attributed to the dwindling prospects of the PC what with tablets and smartphones on the rise and fortify its enterprise software presence through the acquisition of Autonomy. However, a staged exit may have been more effective given that PCs are still the most significant form of computing device today.

Closer home, we saw companies such as Satyam (now Mahindra-Satyam) and Wipro go through turbulent times as they dealt with management shake-ups. Yes, there were some instances of clients backing out especially in the case of Satyam. Wipro was transparent and had meetings with their clients and explained the changes and the reasons behind it and won the support of customers.

So, when a company goes through a major change, here are some steps it should definitely consider – impact of its strategy change on the market and demands/expectations from the market and  on finalizing the change plan, communicate to key customers and stakeholders and gauge their reactions and gain acceptance.  Obviously, HP would have followed these steps too – but for now, it looks like something went wrong somewhere.

Popularity: 40% [?]

At Prayag, we had recently completed a report on non-linear models prevalent in the IT services industry. As you know, non-linear models involved any form of revenue contribution that is not linked to headcount. Typically, in the offshore (read Indian) market, revenue growth implied proportional headcount growth as well. This is not a sustainable model for the usual reasons – talent shortage, attrition, training costs, infrastructure costs and so on. So, companies especially the Indian ones have started looking at non-linear strategies where revenue growth is not directly proportional to headcount growth.

For our report, we conducted a detailed study and spoke to several contacts in the industry including senior folks in charge of non-linear initiatives, delivery, sales, marketing in IT services companies, industry analysts, equity analysts and other industry experts. These interviews combined with our own research was pretty insightful and helped us arrive at a big picture.

Overall, our findings showed that the offshore players are looking at non-linear initiatives in a similar way – delivery initiatives and outcome based models. Here again, more progress has been made on the delivery initiatives front in the form of solution accelerators, platforms, shared services and output based pricing. Among the main offshore players, TCS is ahead in terms of investing in platforms and solution accelerators. TCS’ platforms as part of its BPO offerings in particular have made a good start and gaining traction. It was interesting to note that companies are thinking similarly and we did not find anyone with a strikingly different approach. Our research shows that Wipro’s shared services model called Flex  also appears to be a successful initiative. On the revenue side, HCL seems to have made some strides in offering risk-reward partnerships to its clients especially in the hi-tech area. All these initiatives are not a new concept for a seasoned company like IBM – they are far ahead in this game and the whole process of developing accelerators and solutions is fairly mature.

However, we need to be cognizant of the fact that these non-linear initiatives form at the most 10% of overall revenues and more work needs to be done for it to scale and address some of the serious challenges . For now, our assessment is that non-linear initiatives need another  five years or so to scale and contribute meaningfully provided customers cooperate and companies continue to view it as an important part of their  strategy. With the tepid Q1 results  being announced by the large offshore players,  it appears that will necessarily have to focus – anyway, at Prayag we will continue to monitor this important trend and keep you posted.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Flipkart has long been the darling of the Indian online masses since its inception in 2007. Originally a mere online bookstore, with a pretty big satisfied customer base, Flipkart has off late been expanding quickly. First came the gaming category and that has been quickly followed by electronic gadgets and very recently, a personal and health care category. While still a small range at the moment, I have no doubt that Flipkart will be adding a host of new electronics to its list.

My point here is….in the erstwhile unfriendly environment for e-commerce in India, Flipkart has totally changed the game.  Unlike behemoths like Amazon, Flipkart has had to cope with India’s underdeveloped infrastructure, lack of internet usage and payment gateway issues. Online banking isn’t as widely used either like in the US. And still Flipkart prevailed where other known sites like IndiaPlaza and Indiatimes shopping have failed miserably.

So, what’s Flipkart’s secret besides their discounts?

Customer Service. Yup, awesome customer service at that. For starters, they’re quite obsessed about responding to customers’ queries, keeping them up to date about their purchases, ensuring product quality, timely deliveries, sorting out the odd glitch, and so on.  And they are very, very prompt with their responses be it via their social media channels, emails or real time conversations over the phone! Full brownie points here.  Flipkart also bears the cost of delivery which is a key driver for them to drive efficiency and every point across the supply chain. Another thing is that they have even gone beyond their business realms and even invested in courier services in quite a few locations…all to ensure seamless and timely end to end services. And that translates to happy customers.  What’s especially interesting is that Flipkart is considering introducing credit and debit card swipes for home delivery. Talk about convenience, and this is especially significant in the Indian context where online banking is yet to take off in a big way in the smaller metros and towns. What I love about them is that they don’t try to stick to the mould but are constantly evolving and trying out new things.  And looks like Venture Capitalist love them for this as well seeing the inflow of investments into Flipkart!

An Indian version of Amazon. Who would have thought?

Popularity: 32% [?]

When I was studying communications 12 years back, my Professor often said, “Questions are never stupid. Answers are. So ask.” Today when I have lots of questions, I feel stupid. Maybe I need someone as strong as my Professor to help me find the answers and make me more confident.

So here I go.

Do IT marketing teams really do marketing? Or focus on branding and corporate communications? I am confused.

As I understand, building a brand is all about engaging and involving every touch point inside and outside the company using a broad set of communication vehicles. And this can include both strategic and tactical activities. Most initiatives like PR, analyst relations, events, internal communications, ad campaigns etc can all be part of the broader umbrella of branding. Be it building an online presence; demonstrating thought leadership; developing internal campaigns; advertising or even CSR, these initiatives are towards enhancing the brand image and perception of the company. Well, each company may look at brand building in their own way based on their priorities.

While the default remains visibility and awareness, sales enablement still remains a gap. Is sales enablement the most difficult thing for marketers? Does this require marketers to get out of their comfort zones?

Some of the marketing folks have often said that branding and communications is all about sales enablement. While it is essential to help the sales organization communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways, do the marketing folks believe that the right information is being delivered to the right audience in the right place at the right time to help move the sales opportunity forward?

Some marketing folks I know have often said that sales don’t need us. Does it mean that the age-old sales and marketing love-hate relationship is responsible for marketing to focus more on comfortable pieces of branding and communications?

Help me with answers. I am confused.

Popularity: 27% [?]