Hot Seat

Walking the talk

Vinutha V profiles T S Anand, Business Head and CTO of WeP Peripherals

Thomas Suresh Anand has played many roles in his career—from market research to sales to channel management to technology. According to him, role changing is not easy, and a man can be successful only if he walks the talk. A Kendriya Vidyalaya student from Chennai, Anand graduated from Madras University with a mechanical engineering degree. He then did his PG course in management from Trichy.

His career began at a market research firm, then he moved to Modi Xerox where he worked for a year. After this he joined HCL to head their sales operations in Coimbatore. Next he handled product management at Wipro (Wipro Acer) from 1995. Two years later Anand moved to Wipro Peripherals to run channel management operations.

He was then asked to supervise Wipro’s IT peripheral business expansion. To mobilise the business he suggested the company conduct a district-wise IT potential study. The survey was based on literacy, industrial production and per capita bank deposit factors. A model was developed to get an estimate of the IT market; this served as the basis to reorganise the dealership. Later, Anand was given charge of inkjet printers. “Role change in the same company is as good as shifting to another job,” observes Anand. This kept him motivated to learn.

In 1998, when Wipro Peripherals became a multi-brand company, he moved to business planning and development. Every three years, Wipro Peripherals would set up an organisation planning team, and Anand was chosen to identify new product lines to be marketed in the country. “I am an analytical person, and this gelled with my liking for technology. I worked hard in all the areas because I knew IT could be used in a big way.”

More was to come his way. “When I became the CIO of the company, I was able to give my best thanks to the exposure to all the related areas I had.” Anand contributed substantially to setting up 17 networking offices.

When Wipro Peripherals moved out from the Wipro umbrella, his first aim was to give employees the same luxuries that Wipro had been giving in terms of infrastructure. In a span of three months, the necessary IT infrastructure was laid out at all 17 offices. “I knew the pain areas of the field workforce very well, and IT infrastructure is something that motivates people.” He also knew that IT would drive business, so went ahead to embrace it. All the critical business processes were e-enabled. “And the Nasscom Award for the Best IT User in 2003 made it clear that we were moving in the right direction,” adds Anand.

His desire for moving up the learning curve pushed him to look beyond leveraging technology to drive the business. Being in the technology domain, he wanted to contribute both to the top and bottom line of the company’s business. Hence he next chose the role of a CTO. It was a critical transition for him, yet Anand was able to make the company profitable. He aims to make it three times more profitable than what it is now. “There is a lot more learning in the business, and we can achieve only when we believe in walking the talk,” asserts Anand.

Success in a profession can be achieved only when one manages to keep energy levels high, which Anand does by keeping himself active. His weekends are reserved for visits to wildlife sanctuaries, playing table tennis, and long drives. But his best stress busters are his kids—Anushka and Advika.

vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com