Empowered by a team of young ‘go-getters’ - Management

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Empowered by a team of young ‘go-getters’

Akhtar Pasha/ Bangalore

WORKCULTURE: Aztec Software and Technology Services

Aztec Software and Technology Services is a Santa Clara-based company whose primary development centre is located in Bangalore. The company’s core expertise lies in the areas of e-business, Internet middleware, wireless, data management, business intelligence and enterprise application integration domains. Founded in 1996, today the company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Bangalore. Aztec’s core strength is in the understanding and quality application of Internet and database technologies.

What makes Aztec different from other software companies, is the way in which it interacts with its employees. Aztec was among the first companies to go to the press when it gave pink slips to some of its staff members. Employees are hard core techies and some of them have worked with big technology companies like Oracle, Digital, IBM and Verifone before joining Aztec. Goranka Medhi, a senior software engineer says, “Before joining Aztec I worked for Oracle India. The problem we developers were facing while working with a big company was that there was no direct interaction with the clients and the level of learning was limited, as a result of which there is no job satisfaction. With Aztec job satisfaction is almost one hundred percent. The company offers me plenty of room for growth within the organisation with one-to-one interaction.”

The hiring mechanism at Aztec is based on a detailed manpower planning exercise. TK Anand, general manager-human resources says, “Based on our requirements, our pool of manpower comprises a mix of freshers from engineering institutes across the country as well as campus recruitments. The focus is to pick intelligent students with a ‘go-getting’ attitude.”

Since Aztec is a technology-based company, most of its employees are techies. Fifty-five percent of Aztec’s 260 employees are graduates while 42 percent are post-graduates. The remaining three percent come from varying educational backgrounds. There are 217 people working in the technology area and 35 “Aztecians” take care of marketing, sales and support. A top management team of eight drives this organisation. About half the employees are graduates with an average age of 28.

The company has a combination of short-term and long-term training programmes for its employees. The training mode is a combination of computer-based training (CBT), classroom and case studies.

Ramesh Sriniv-asaraghavan, software architect, says, “The motivation and informal atmosphere at Aztec makes a big difference. There are no bounds for creative imagination here. We have a definite process wherein we identify employees as Critical Value Adders (CVAs) and High Value Adders (HVAs). The management ensures that people falling in either of the categories are handsomely rewarded in terms of additional stocks, compensation and additional responsibilities. The idea is to give opportunity to its people to become future leaders of Aztec. The top management like our CTO is easily accessible. We call them by their nick- names.”

KB Chandrasekhar (co-founder & chairman of Exodus Communications) is on the board of Aztec and is one of the first investors.

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Empowered by a team of young ‘go-getters’ Akhtar Pasha/ Bangalore
WORKCULTURE: Aztec Software and Technology Services Aztec Software and Technology Services is a Santa Clara-based company whose primary development centre is located in Bangalore. The company’s core expertise lies in the areas of e-business, Internet middleware, wireless, data management, business intelligence and enterprise application integration domains. Founded in 1996, today the company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Bangalore. Aztec’s core strength is in the understanding and quality application of Internet and database technologies. What makes Aztec different from other software companies, is the way in which it interacts with its employees. Aztec was among the first companies to go to the press when it gave pink slips to some of its staff members. Employees are hard core techies and some of them have worked with big technology companies like Oracle, Digital, IBM and Verifone before joining Aztec. Goranka Medhi, a senior software engineer says, “Before joining Aztec I worked for Oracle India. The problem we developers were facing while working with a big company was that there was no direct interaction with the clients and the level of learning was limited, as a result of which there is no job satisfaction. With Aztec job satisfaction is almost one hundred percent. The company offers me plenty of room for growth within the organisation with one-to-one interaction.” The hiring mechanism at Aztec is based on a detailed manpower planning exercise. TK Anand, general manager-human resources says, “Based on our requirements, our pool of manpower comprises a mix of freshers from engineering institutes across the country as well as campus recruitments. The focus is to pick intelligent students with a ‘go-getting’ attitude.” Since Aztec is a technology-based company, most of its employees are techies. Fifty-five percent of Aztec’s 260 employees are graduates while 42 percent are post-graduates. The remaining three percent come from varying educational backgrounds. There are 217 people working in the technology area and 35 “Aztecians” take care of marketing, sales and support. A top management team of eight drives this organisation. About half the employees are graduates with an average age of 28. The company has a combination of short-term and long-term training programmes for its employees. The training mode is a combination of computer-based training (CBT), classroom and case studies. Ramesh Sriniv-asaraghavan, software architect, says, “The motivation and informal atmosphere at Aztec makes a big difference. There are no bounds for creative imagination here. We have a definite process wherein we identify employees as Critical Value Adders (CVAs) and High Value Adders (HVAs). The management ensures that people falling in either of the categories are handsomely rewarded in terms of additional stocks, compensation and additional responsibilities. The idea is to give opportunity to its people to become future leaders of Aztec. The top management like our CTO is easily accessible. We call them by their nick- names.” KB Chandrasekhar (co-founder & chairman of Exodus Communications) is on the board of Aztec and is one of the first investors.