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Leveraging in-house tools for customer acquisition
Indian software companies are finding in-house tools to be
effective weapons in their quest to acquire customers and offer new services
to existing clients, says Abhinav Singh
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Dr Kanth Miriyala says that in-house tools are based
on experience and should have a certain level of intellectual capital in
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Today’s customers are choosy, thanks to the horde of
software companies vying to offer them services. Going by this trend, the task
of sales and the marketing teams from Indian IT companies has become quite challenging,
especially when it comes to roping in foreign customers. Customers are just
not convinced by simple PowerPoint presentations—they want to know how
good a company is in terms of technology, whether it has sufficient domain expertise
in its area of its specialisation and so on. Based on their interaction with
customers, software companies have set up teams to develop in-house tools that
help a company display project and process simulations to prospective customers,
thereby raising their chances of closing a deal.
Survival kit
Many Indian software services companies believe that in-house
tools are essential when it comes to giving a feel of their processes and practices
to prospective customers. K Raghunathan, VP technology, Bluestar Infotech says,
“By using in-house tools we are able to demonstrate our efficiency in
terms of metrics and display the productivity and error avoidance capabilities
of the organisation.”
Customer accessibility levels within software services companies
have risen considerably. In order to have better visibility about the status
of their projects, customers are in regular touch with people working on their
project.
Some in-house tools help demonstrate the level of visibility
that a customer gets when he delegates a project to a particular software services
company.
Dilip Dhanuka, general manager, Products and Technology Initiatives,
Patni Computer Systems explains, “With the emergence of complex technology
areas such as radio frequency ID (RFID), it has become essential for us to demonstrate
these capabilities to prospective customers. Our in-house tools help us demonstrate
pilot projects that we have undertaken in complex technical areas and thereby
help us in winning customer confidence.”
No easy task
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According to Suresh Raman, Microland's aim is to create
very focused tools that are perfectly aligned with the company's business
practices |
Software services companies have constituted special teams
for the purpose of developing in-house tools. The key is to ensure that these
tools are developed keeping customer requirements in mind. Dr Kanth Miriyala,
head of quality and consulting at iGATE Global Solutions says, “In-house
tools are based on experience and should have a certain level of intellectual
capital in them. Selling services to a prospective customer is a challenge that
some tools effectively meet.”
A combination of cross-functional teams from different departments
such as marketing, consulting and analytics creates these tools at iGATE Global
Solutions, tailor-made for customers from different verticals.
Shantanu Deshpande, head of analytics, iGATE Global Solutions
says, “Ours is a highly specialised team of PhDs and statisticians and
we work closely with our consulting group to develop in-house tools. We also
take inputs from our consulting group.”
Similarly Microland has a specialised team of 14 people,
all hardcore developers, that is dedicated to creating in-house tools. Suresh
Raman, vice-president marketing, Mircoland says, “Our team is specialised
to create tools in a short time of span of 2-3 months and our aim is to create
very focused tools that are perfectly aligned with our business practices.”
On the bandwagon
Although many software services companies still rely on PowerPoint
presentations and customer references to win new accounts, many are expected
to choose the in-house tools path in India. The reason is their efficacy in
convincing and demonstrating the domain expertise of a software services company.
They also help companies cut costs as fewer sales people are required to convince
prospective customers. There is a constant need for in-house tools and Indian
software companies are taking a shot at developing these tools in large numbers.
- What kind of quality standards does the software
company adhere to?
- Are defects entered centrally and to closure?
- Is it possible for the customer to enter defects
directly into a system, ensuring that problems are addressed at the
earliest by the project team?
- Can the customer and the project team share
a plan and work accordingly?
- Does everyone know which tasks are ahead of
schedule, on time or delayed?
- What are the productivity levels of the team
and when is it likely to deliver?
- Is adequate time being spent on development,
testing and review activities during the project?
- Can the customer and the team share information
about the project’s progress?
- How are communication issues addressed?
- How does the team discuss and resolve issues
encountered during the course of a project?
- How does one retain knowledge gained in a project?
- How does one notify team members about an important
event, decision or policy?
- How does one share documents and information
across multiple locations?
- How does one ensure that security is not compromised?
Source: Bluestar Infotech
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| Company |
Tools |
Helps in demonstrating a real-time view of the processes being run in
an organisation. It also helps a customer know the project execution capabilities
of an organisation at different levels of a project. |
| Blue Star Infotech |
Ozone |
It is an enterprise-class collaboration framework that provides collaboration
and communication among employees to share best practices within and outside
an organisation. This helps demonstrate the flexibility of the enterprise
in sharing information during a project being carried out at different offshore
and onsite locations to prospective clients. With the help of this framework,
employees can collaborate and overcome the geographic barriers of sharing
ideas and resolving issues encountered in a project.
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| Patni Computer Systems |
iReturns – RoI Calculator |
This tool has the capability to calculate the RoI on a new IT initiative
or project that an organisation is willing to undertake. The calculation
is based on the information collected from a prospective customer about
a prospective project before a deal is closed. It incorporates the cost,
benefits, investments and risks to arrive at RoI. It also allows for customised
formulae and ‘what if’ analysis.
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| Microland |
Magnify |
It helps demonstrate the capability of the organisation in being transparent
during the execution of a project. It shows how a customer is able to track
the progress of a project at different execution levels. |
abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com
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