Spotlight

Flying the product flag

Aditi Technologies is one of the few software product companies in India. At the same time, it has kept a services revenue stream on tap to fund its product efforts, says Abhinav Singh

It is my mission to see that Aditi becomes an institution for product development in the years to come Pradeep Singh Chairman and CEO Aditi Technologies

Software product development is a high-risk business, and the gestation period is long. Nevertheless, once a product becomes popular, its presence is felt. Aditi Technologies knew this when it ventured into product development in 1994. It set up a technology support centre in India to ensure a steady cash flow, while product development happened simultaneously. The company recorded business of $28 million in 2004-2005, during which period it grew 60 percent year-on-year, and the same momentum is expected to continue in 2005-06.

Realising ideas

From mid-2003 onwards, Aditi has focussed its attention on assisting companies develop software products. Until now, it has undertaken end-to-end product development for organisations such as PassAlong Networks (a company that specialises in writing software products for the music industry), and Atsmai Technology (a specialist in software products for the financial industry). It is also working with Microsoft. Recently the company bagged six projects in offshore software product development. According to Pradeep Singh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aditi, “Through offshore product development, we are targeting software product companies. We tell them that they can off-load some of their product development work to us.”

The company is banking on its ability to create compelling user interfaces. It expects its offshore product development business to continue to do well this year. Currently, the biggest chunk of this business comes from the US market, but Aditi is finding takers in Europe too. Singh says, “Certain start-ups in Europe have shown interest in availing end-to-end product development and services from us. Out of the six new projects, two are in Europe. The software products in development will be used by the technology, banking and music verticals.” The company has earned strong customer references that have helped it bag interesting product development projects.

Onsite to continue

Although there is an increased focus on offshore product development, onsite development work will continue to form a large chunk of Aditi’s business. It continues to work onsite with Microsoft’s products group in the US. Out of its 525 employees, 125 are in the US, primarily working for Microsoft. Aditi also does onsite work for other companies as an extension of its offshore product development initiatives, as some of its customers insist that its employees work at their offices.

A hard road

The road that Aditi chose has been a hard one. The company has faced challenges at different levels. As Singh observes, when he started the company, he knew that the product development process is a prolonged one. Hence he ensured that there was a service line to sustain the company until its product was ready and widely accepted in the market. Back in 1994, Aditi undertook technology-based e-mail support for developers that gave its team access to Microsoft customers across the world. This experience would later prove valuable when it was time to work on UpDown—its first product that helped companies upgrade from Microsoft Access to MS SQL Server.

In 1996, the company made a serious product effort by involving Kornel Marton, the key designer of Microsoft Word, and Luis Talavera, a former development manager from Microsoft. They were supported by a core team of 15 engineers. At that time, Aditi had 150 engineers and the team was hand picked to get the top 10 percent. They brought out a CRM product called Talisma in 1998. Two years later, in April 2000, Talisma was spun off as a new entity.

The biggest challenge for the company has been finding people who excel in software product development and customising its products to user requirements. The key to success, Singh believes, is to generalise customer needs as per their requirements, and then drill down to ensure that the products meet specific requirements for that particular industry vertical. “There are different levels of complexity when it comes to customising products as some are fed with generalised software packages that do not meet their needs,” adds Singh.

Steady expansion

Aditi will continue to expand by hiring engineers who are passionate about products. The company also plans to expand its physical infrastructure. Today, it has four offices in Bangalore and one at Seattle in the US. “It is my mission to see that Aditi becomes an institution for product development in the years to come,” concludes Singh.

With so much happening on the product front and with Aditi venturing into offshore product development with confidence, the company looks set to achieve its goals.

abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com