Crossroads: Part 1
by Arun Nathani on April 3, 2012
The Predicament of Choices
I intently watched the lean figure standing in front of me. I had known him for a long time now; this was his thinnest version. He had always been a self-assured good-looking chap from the day of his induction through his subsequent journey of evolvement into one of the finest professionals at Cybage. But not today. Today, he looked pale and fragile. Unless, of course, you peeped closer into his eyes… for they exhibited the same assertive illumination that I had gotten accustomed to over the years. I finally spoke, “So tell me, what is it gonna be…”
Mr. X was one of the first friends I made in my brief professional stint at Ruksun. I was his manager. Then, when Cybage started, X referred his younger brother Y to me for employment. Y was a fresh graduate from Pune Institute of Computer Technology, and clearly the brighter of the two siblings. A complete package deal—very quickly, he spread the tremors of his arrival to all@cybage! In those days, we used to measure technology professionals on six parameters (The basics have stayed the same 
)—Technical skills, IQ, Process, Sincerity, Communication and Attitude. Y exhibited equal radiance in all of the above. And since the company was small, his multi-traits didn’t go unnoticed and were leveraged to their full potential.
Y, the Engineer: Those were the nascent days of Java. The world was trying to figure out its choice between Microsoft, Java, and LAMP platforms (it still is)! Y had language agnostic talent, and thus became a defacto choice for all multi-technology-flavored projects that were abundantly making rounds in the offshore industry. Clearly, he was a first-rate technologist who exhibited the CTO traits for ‘Cybage of the future’.
Y, the Manager: As expected, for every project that Y would get assigned to as a Project Leader, the role of Project Manager would become a mere formality. You see, his crisp, clear communication and level-headed thought process, along with great interpersonal and process skills, did not leave too much scope for an official PM to provide any significant value-add. Little wonder then that the idea of grooming him towards delivery management roles started gathering momentum.
Y, the Salesman: In late 90’s, Cybage was not big enough to afford seasoned sales professionals. Yet, the organization was not that small either where it made sense for the CEO to make solo new prospect calls. So, this called for a “shared” senior resource to step into the business development role. Mr. Y fitted the bill perfectly, and started tagging along in my overseas business trips. Soon, his contribution became so invaluable that I started wondering whether his real calling was the Head of Business Development at Cybage.
The years flew by, and the 3-way bond between Y, Cybage, and me grew stronger. While I met him almost daily in Pune, the US trips presented great cementing opportunities. One of the early believers in Cybage, Y insisted that we should shy away from low-hanging fruits (small projects) and redirect our growth focus towards capturing larger, complex accounts. Around this time, we got our first major breakthrough appointment with a business group within Microsoft. But, unfortunately, after a series of presentations and lengthy due-diligence, Cybage returned empty-handed from the opportunity. I was naturally crestfallen. But it was Y who encouragingly reminded me, “Just give this a thought—the world’s largest software company found Cybage worthy enough to consider for partnership. Isn’t that by itself an incredible achievement?!!!”
Of course, it was not “all work, no play” times that we shared together. We had our moments of roaring laughter. Once even in the presence of a business prospect!! You see, in those shaping years, Cybage marketing presentations didn’t have much juice. So they needed to be spruced up with witty one-liners. One of my favorite ice-breakers was about the pre-inception days of Cybage: “I lived in Chicago for many years, and one day I decided that it was too cold for me and moved back to India.” The one-liner always managed to solicit a knowing smile from the prospect . Y, of course, had heard it a zillion times, and was more amused each passing time. And in one of those new prospect meetings, he couldn’t control himself anymore and just let go… he burst out laughing, and I joined him… and we both laughed until tears threatened to roll down… the prospect just stared at us perplexed!
No doubt, Mr. Y wore multiple hats at Cybage—from corporate strategist to granular level executor to a well-wisher and a personal friend! And as he started getting further closer, a worrying realization began to dawn on me. You see, his dependency on so many different roles had gotten so interwoven that he was slowly but surely drifting in the direction of “jack of all”! I understood that the time had come to give him clear career direction lest he ends up getting lost in the blur completely. But unfortunately, his intricate technology, management, and sales dependency made it almost impossible to weave him out of the web! Then it happened—a life defining moment in Y’s life that made the ‘weaving-out’ easier. You see, Y fell sick—terribly sick—and was forced to go on a sabbatical for three months. Cybage had no choice but to eliminate his dependencies in all realms of his contribution. And eventually when he returned from his illness, I had the golden opportunity to push him afresh in one of the three directions.
I finally spoke, “So tell me, what is it gonna be… which path do you want to pursue—management, technology, or sales?” No sooner had the words escaped my lips, I realized that this was an inconsequential exercise. I already knew his answer. So will you all shortly— his answer, his subsequent story, and of course his true identity—but after a short bloggercial break.
In the meantime, I am very curious to know which field would today’s mainstream professional choose if the professional shared Y’s talent and were to be placed in the same predicament. If you have it all, where is the future perceived brightest in the Indian IT service industry a) technical field; b) managerial field; or c) sales field?
34 comments
Hi Sir,
First of all, really admire your blog. Been here just some days and almost read a lot of it.
Coming to the point.. Too much of anything at any given point of time makes one a speacialist.. and also causes boredom in really short span of time.. sad but true.. and since a professional with the ability and inclination is of jack of all.. He is living a dream life.. never get tied down with one assignment.. take one.. finish one.. and next one tossed on the plate would be something diffferent altogether.. its a life of dream one can say.. being everywhere and anywhere.. but with the focus to achieve one objective – To win!
Had it been I would have been blessed with such a gift.. I would love to pursue it in management so I can be touch with my passion for sales and yet take up problems down on Technical pool.
by Aniruddha on April 3, 2012 at 3:30 pm. #
Y, the Salesman.
by Shrimant Dange on April 3, 2012 at 3:44 pm. #
Technical field.
by Prajakta Bhoite on April 3, 2012 at 4:57 pm. #
Simple. It’ll be Presales !!
There’ll always be bright future for a technology guy who can talk like a salesman and think like a manager.
by Mr X on April 3, 2012 at 5:12 pm. #
Y, the Chief Technology Officer, who has the potential to blend technology with business, manage, deliver and sell it all. After all, the aim of technology is to boost a system – be it a business system or a system helping define the DNA of an organization.
by Akhilesh Dubey on April 3, 2012 at 9:09 pm. #
A person like Mr. Y who has all skills rolled into one, should best wear the hat of a CEO in the Indian IT service industry
by Deepa on April 4, 2012 at 11:21 am. #
Technical field as you have rightly chosen him as the CTO of the company.
by Vikas on April 4, 2012 at 11:48 am. #
Managerial Field
by Hardik on April 4, 2012 at 1:44 pm. #
Being Mr. Y, if possibel i would have choosen to be in managerial field as Mr. Y was always able to manage all his work in the best possible way which always lead him to the success. About the question you have asked that “where is the future perceived brightest in the Indian IT service industry” its in every field, the only condition is for you to be the best in your field.
by Gaurav Vij on April 4, 2012 at 2:05 pm. #
Managerial field as He has all the skills rolled into one.
He can manage all fields of team.
Perfect Manager
by Rakesh on April 4, 2012 at 2:08 pm. #
While on paper we might define it to be any one of the direction, but such talent will continually give assuring results and value additions on all 3 direction irrespective of primary focus being technology because that is where the heart is.
In case of Y, I believe it has to be VP, (Emerging) Technology.
by BNP on April 4, 2012 at 3:22 pm. #
Given his personality, any role is cake walk. So, maybe change of role in every 2-3 years is more productive.
by Jagat on April 4, 2012 at 8:12 pm. #
Please support and mentor him to build world class product and GREAT company.
by Mahesh GB on April 4, 2012 at 8:31 pm. #
Engaging read…a person like Mr. Y will choose to be an Entrepreneur.
by Deepa on April 5, 2012 at 10:40 am. #
It’s a completely personal choice as any field presents myriad challenging opportunities for performers. But my personal thoughts are – In spite of Technical expertise commanding high respect in the Indian IT industry, it’s the Management and Sales positions that steal the glamour. Besides this, the kind of skill set and flare required for sales is something which cannot be formally taught but can only be groomed. If Mr Y has exhibited traits of a good sales person and has contributed in sales strategy, I think its Sales that would excite him more.
by Milee on April 5, 2012 at 1:30 pm. #
It depends on what is the need of the organization and accordingly we need to play
by Ashwini K on April 5, 2012 at 5:42 pm. #
Excellent write up Arun.
- Your post reminded me a incident in my career and would like to share it here. 2-3 years back, I was discussing with my boss about my career plans over the coffee. He told me that looking at my strength, i should go for the client facing role. I asked whether its the right time to go into these roles. His response was to stay in delivery role for some more time. get the experience of various delivery flavours because that helps a lot while cracking customer’s issues in client facing role. You can understand then the limitation of delivery and how and how much to leaverage it.
Mr Y in your post seems to be someone who first excelled in delivery and then used those skills to excel in all the other fields.
- Regarding the career to be chosen by Mr Y – In my opinion, he understands the cybage in and out. Additionally, he also has all your trust. Considering that cybage would like to move to next league in terms of offerings, brand positioning and client portfolio, he will be ideal choice to bring in this transformation. From few of the comments on your blog, it seems that he has chosen his role as CTO. Which validate my point that his new role will allow him to a transformational agent.
PS: I am outsider for cybage so my opinions are based on my exp only.
by Ankit on April 6, 2012 at 6:12 am. #
if i was in Mr. Y’s shoes, i would have chosen either management or sales…..
by Bhushan on April 6, 2012 at 11:50 am. #
I would place Mr. Y in Sales Field. Because, if company is not big enough then it requires similar kind of passion to get big projects.
by Shailendra on April 6, 2012 at 12:25 pm. #
I believe management needs a protective, well thought direction and, keep all is well skills, in its responsibility. And Sales need you a leader, on front, you make it and again hunt for another future..!
I am SALES, passion blended with techie experience.
by Animesh on April 6, 2012 at 3:26 pm. #
Excellent words about Mr. Y.
I was always thrilled and get the goose bumps when I heard that organization got new clientele and always thought that how we have started communicating with them about our capabilities and our competency to deliver what they are looking for. I believe it’s the technical competency and management skills that were required for becoming a good Sales guy…
This always thrills me to become a Sales guy in my career, And bring business to company. Sales brings lot of challenges and thrill to day to day activities where lot is on stack and motivates you to deliver more than what you have as outcome is really exhilarating!!!
by Anjan Salgia on April 6, 2012 at 4:54 pm. #
by Amit on April 6, 2012 at 4:58 pm. #
Wow….A wonderful and an exciting read indeed!
With the multiple facets that Mr. Y has, its really difficult to predict which of the roles he will stick too. As rightly said by Aniruddha (very first commenter), I too feel that for Mr. Y variety must be the spice of life and with the different roles he played offered him not just learning but also kept monotony at bay.
No clue what Mr. Y is up to !! Only the next blog can disclose
by Mugdha on April 7, 2012 at 10:59 am. #
Mr Y should be an Entrepreneur ! With perfect combination of sales, technical, and managerial skills, he can build a world class company.
by Dharmesh on April 9, 2012 at 9:42 am. #
Of course “Technical Field”.
Technical Field-
IT is very volatile field.Every moment new technology upgrades & is born every corner of the technology world.
So, Business firm will be stand in competition successfully with highly skilled technical people only.No other option.
Last but not the least-Technology always born can not be copied.
Management Field-
To manage the people there are lot of techniques, which you can easily copied down even from successful business units.
Sales Field-
Maintain excellent Quality-Cost-Delivery to customer then no need to take extra efforts on Business Development.Customer will follow you definately………………
by Amar on April 9, 2012 at 12:30 pm. #
My Y should be a product manager who can conceptualise products , convert small ideas into world class products.
My Y is a gem.
by Dilip on April 10, 2012 at 10:39 am. #
What gives confidence to customers about the service provider ?
My Ans : Their good technical and problem solving skills.
Quality which helps to hold the customer for long time ??
My Ans : Customer relation management or simply maintaing good relationship with client so that they feel free to express their concerns and we at the same time can help them to solve them with our skills.
For this communication, attitude and technical skills are important.
Is mere providing solution to ones problem enough ??
My Ans : No. Unless one is able to use it, solution is useless. So along with solution one needs to have some estimates about time and fund needed to achieve it. So that client can plan according to his conveneince
So if I would had been in Mr. Y’s place I would have choosen
a position which could participate at all discussion for technology at all levels
by Rahul on April 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm. #
Mr. Y should be in technical field. He can assist multiple sales guys while talking to prospects to solve technical queries.
by Ketan on April 11, 2012 at 3:01 pm. #
Hi Sir,
When the Universe came into existence it was blessed by various particles all carrying different objective. Likewise man too is made up of various characteristics and at times they are needed to be explored,some do it perfectly like Mr. Y and some still try to explore them while there are others who never try.Every field is unique and innovative but it is still incomplete till it is blended with others.IT is no exceptional in it and the managerial and the sales are its pillars ofcourse base is technical.
by Anurag Shrivastava on April 12, 2012 at 6:21 pm. #
Very interesting blog and comments.. Looking forward to reading the sequel to this one.
by Deepa on April 17, 2012 at 5:07 pm. #
The question is like if one could hop, walk and run then what would one want to do? For me the three are inseparable for success in any path but yes focus towards one’s KPIs is definitely different in each path. So if one has to choose then the management path is a middle path which is more of operations but still allows one to enjoy the technical and sales side depending on the situations, if one has got it all. As its the ground level situational experience which makes the technical and sales side more practical.
by Archana Pingle on April 20, 2012 at 11:10 am. #
Mr. Y should be in the Technical Field
by sandip pandit on April 20, 2012 at 12:47 pm. #
Technical field.
by Karthik on April 20, 2012 at 5:31 pm. #
An intriguing question!
Instead of conversing about future in IT services industry, I would like to make a statement , that, if you are like Y, you will always be successful on any turf you are thrown in.
Like any other service industry, IT revolves around PEOPLE, PROCESS,PROFICIENCY, Price, Promotion, Place, and Physical Evidences. Its a fact that people like Y have not only the capability to take organization to business peak but also could touch the lives of all individuals in an organization.
They have the capacity, capability and compatibility.
With the competence of talked level, future of INDIAN IT service industry revolves around ‘people like Y’ and not other way round. NO position could hold them and they would touch ALL in positive ways. Let Y be at a position where he could be involved with virtually ALL.
And if I have it all, I would like to be in a position which is near to LEADERSHIP qualities of BUILDERS / TRANSCENDENT.
by US on April 25, 2012 at 7:03 pm. #