Servicing India Software Inc.

While the rest of Indian software saw its future in services, Pune-based Compulink came up with a product for software service companies, says Srikanth RP

VISHWAS MAHAJAN points out that though there are set deliverables in any kind of service, a global service delivery model throws up fresh challenges

Most software product companies in the Knowledge Management and Project Management space have not traditionally targeted software service companies as a potential market. The common perception is that most software service companies have the expertise to develop their own tools in house and hence would not really need a software product developed by a third party. But if you look at the experience

of Pune-based Compulink Systems, you are in for a surprise. The company’s flagship product ‘ProjectByNet’ has an installed base of more than 13,000 customers including software service majors Geometric, Accenture and Zensar.

While many critics were sceptical about the potential of its product, Compulink spotted an opportunity when the software services boom began. Vishwas Mahajan, co-founder and CEO, Compulink, says, “When the concept of remote delivery and offshore services started taking off, we saw that there was a dearth of Project Management solutions in the market. Accordingly, we started developing a framework

for building a Project Management system that could monitor projects globally.” Today most Indian software service companies plug the global delivery method–a method fine-tuned over the years. Mahajan and his team at Compulink saw this emerging wave and betted that a sophisticated management tool to manage diverse and complex projects would be the need of the hour.

Tapping software exporters

Compulink started by meeting different companies to understand their business needs. Next, it began to work on a framework, which basically involved developing a set of components and adapting them to the business rules of a particular industry. Although the company could have started with any vertical, the obvious choice was software services. While critics were sceptical about this selection, over time it proved successful. Compulink was attracted to the paradigm shift occurring in India and also had a sizeable base of potential target customers to tap.

The product’s credentials were proved when Geometric Software became its first user. Since then, ProjectByNet has been widely accepted in software service companies and the bulk of Compulink’s clients fall in this vertical.

Infrastructure companies need Project Management

The next logical step was to tap another vertical. Compulink decided that companies in the heavy engineering and infrastructure space were potential customers for its Project Management product. Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) has completed more than 3000 assignments in the fields of water supply, power and chemicals. The company wanted a system that could give it a snapshot view of the projects being implemented. It debated the pros and cons of developing the product internally or procuring an external product. Compulink’s presentation swung the deal in its favour. Today TCE uses ProjectByNet to manage, plan, schedule and track projects.

Across the board

After the IT services and the heavy engineering industry moves, Compulink wants to tap every company that has a business model revolving around services. For example, even an e-learning company might

need a tool to manage and deliver its courses to students. Compulink’s product could be used to manage and execute such a process. While previously the company was primarily seen as a firm with a Project Management product, it now wants to extend its brand to a space called ‘Services Execution and Control’ (SEC). Project Management will become a small subset of the SEC space. The company believes that this positioning will extend the product’s base from just being seen as a Project Management system to an integrated system that has capabilities of Knowledge Management and business intelligence. For instance, the latest version of the product has eleven modules with features such as dashboards, billing and Knowledge Management.

Mahajan explains: “In any kind of service, there are set deliverables that need to be achieved. But a global service delivery model throws up new challenges in managing operations. Both the client and the service organisation need to have a firm agenda on schedules, cost and quality. This calls for sophisticated automation tools that address the specific needs of service organisations. As these tools would primarily be responsible for ensuring the smooth execution of services, while controlling costs and quality, they are labelled under an umbrella term—‘Services Execution and Control’”.

Rather than just plain Project Management software, Compulink is projecting the system as an integrated one which can help a CEO optimise the use of human resources or help a CFO track billing information.

While Compulink is still a small company, the potential to be exploited in an exploding service economy is tremendous. For example, a recent Aberdeen report predicts that the SEC automation market will grow at a much higher rate than the general enterprise applications market. Besides, more than 75 percent of the economy in developed nations is services-based. Against this backdrop, Compulink’s product has a bright future.

Global ambitions, Indian products

Compulink recently set up a new 1,20,000 sq. ft. development centre in Pune. It invested approximately Rs 10 crore (in the first phase) and estimates that the whole project cost will be in the range of Rs 25 crore (in the next 12-15 months). While the turnover of the company is currently around Rs 9 crore, Compulink is aiming to double this to around Rs 20 crore for the next fiscal year. This is based upon its plans of making an aggressive foray into the global market. Identified as one of the hottest product companies by Nasscom and with 25 per cent margins, Compulink has found a strong niche for itself.

srikanth@expresscomputeronline.com