Diwakar Nigam, MD of Newgen Softwares Technologies established a firm grounding for himself by following his dream of having a common workplace for the world. The bright M.Tech from IIT, Chennai, proudly asserts, "In 1992, we started with the dream of 'One World, One Workplace.' Today our vision of this has come true. India's booming BPO and captive centers of MNCs are ample proof of the same."
Right from its inception, Newgen Software chose to be a company with a difference, as it sold software products at a time when other Indian IT majors were focused on selling their IT services. Explaining the expansion, he substantiates, "We've installations in 30 countries, where our products are being used for mission critical operations in banks, insurance companies and telecom operators."
Interrogate him about his expectations at the inception and he explains, "Right from the beginning, we were convinced that Business Process Management (BPM) will be the next great wave after Enterprise Resource Management (ERP). What ERP does to manufacturing, BPM does to operations in services." He adds, "The BPM wave was well and truly on by 2003."
Speaking of prerequisites without which Newgen couldn't have reached the place it's in today, Nigam states, "A key imperative for Newgen was to establish its credibility and prove its longevity in the marketplace." And he has been constantly working hard to achieve that.
Like most people, Nigam had his share of setbacks too. Talking about the same, he reveals, "In the Indian market, one of the key challenges encountered by our company was the lack of awareness about the products we offered." Probe him further on the strategy he implemented to overcome this, and he informs, "Our consistent focus on offering high quality products and services, that went beyond implementation, at acceptable price points helped it overcome these challenges and made it a partner of choice for leading companies worldwide."
A dream and a vision require substantial and consistent efforts. A motivated mind can help one reach the pinnacle. And for Nigam the most motivating thing as he puts is, "Building a product and taking it worldwide. That's the dream I've had for so many years."
As his vision is to overreach geographical boundaries, hence selling the products was of a vital importance to Nigam. He explains, "Reaching out to global markets bring both, challenges and opportunities. Initially it was difficult to sell products in foreign markets. The mindset of foreign customers regarding Indian software was a huge challenge to overcome." For the first few years the company focused more on changing the mindsets by offering best-of-breed products.
With the expansion of an enterprise comes along challenges and metamorphic changes. As this 52-year-old explains, for Newgen the changes have mainly been "accelerating growth in existing markets" and "expanding into the developed markets."
But all doesn't end for Nigam here. The vision continues and he believes in the saying "Sky is the limit". When questioned about his future plans, he says, "My plans include making Newgen reach 100 countries in the near future, so that the world could benefit from the made-in-India products. Also, I want to enhance focus on North America, Japan, and Europe."
For a self-made person like Nigam, "role models", he says are far fetched. He firmly denies having a role model, saying that it's entirely his instinct and dreams, following the footsteps of which he has carved a niche for himself.
He signs off with a thought-provoking statement and a word of advice - "My success mantra has been that constant patience, constant innovation and a dedicated teamwork always brings positive results. For any business, a passion for the cause keeps the dream alive. Perseverance and the need to keep innovating and changing in accord to the market demands are key factors."
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