Expert At Networking

Service and vendor-independent networking solution has always been the forte

of PAM Network. Established in 1992 by PM Prabhu, a graduate in electronics from

the Indian Institute of Sciences, even Prabhu could not have visualized the

growth trend the company would adopt. Today it has more than 700 network

implementations covering different type of industrial sectors, research,

financial and educational organizations among others. Inspired by Sam Pitroda,

father of telecommunications in India, Prabhu set out to start on his own,

investing his entire provident fund earning into his new venture.

Foray into networking



"I was a keen observer of the telecom industry right from the year

1986. When I noticed that there would be a telecom revolution, I wanted to be a

part of it," says Prabhu. In 1992, Prabhu realized that the time was ripe

for him to enter the networking arena. So he went ahead and invested Rs 92,000

and chose to offer services to the networking industry.

"The work involved careful study of customer premises, physical layout,

application requirements, operating systems, bandwidth requirement, seamless

migration, sturdy designs and professional implementation," says he.

According to Prabhu, these work experiences has helped the company’s core

team to gather knowledge and expertise in systematic planning and implementation

of networks of large magnitude. Also Prabhu’s 25 year experience with Tata and

ABB holding various positions in marketing, network integration and process

integration, has helped him enhance the company’s vision to form a 100 percent

networking company.

Surprisingly, when several companies were registering a downfall in their

sales revenues during 1999-2000 and 2000-01, PAM Network recorded a growth of

about 30 percent during this period. "We never recorded a downfall in sales

and I attribute this to the superior quality of service we offer to

customers," says a proud Prabhu.

Focus on team effort



A thorough understanding of IT and networking has lead Prabhu to offer the

right kind of solution to his clients. This has proved to be his strength,

helping him succeed in a highly competitive networking market.

Prabhu knows that motivated employees are an essential asset for his company.

He has managed to instill a sense of ownership among all his employees. "We

all have a deep sense of belonging towards the company," says one of his

engineers.

But success has come through aggressive measures as well. "I always

focussed on team effort, instead of regional or territorial operations,"

says Prabhu.

According to him, several MNCs today are more or less restricted to regions

or territories, but never operate as a single team. "Focused team provides

a single contact point for customers making it easier for them to register

complaints or enquiries," adds he. He feels that this also helps create a

strong team that does not break down in the face of a crisis.

Going overseas



Last year, PAM Network was in the headlines with its announcement to foray

into the overseas market. Through its acquisition of an US-based company, it

made its venture into the global market.

"PAM Network has chalked out a detailed growth plan by diversifying into

process automation and e-commerce," informs Prabhu. This plan would also

include a significant increase in the scale of operations and infrastructure.

The focus of the company, Prabhu said, will be in the areas of process

automation, workflow, consultancy and implementation of local or wide area

networks.

Also on the agenda are domestic expansion plans. The company plans to have

its presence felt in several upcountry markets, which according to Prabhu would

happen in not too distant future.

The future



The company today has operations in entire country with offices located in

Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. However, for Prabhu this is not all

as he wants to establish PAM Network on a global level as well. Acquiring and

setting up of an overseas company and obtaining a quality certification will

mark PAM Network’s foray into the global arena where it wants to become an

active player.

The company proposes to arrange for further infusion of funds by promoters in

the form of equity and issue of shares to the public. Prabhu is of the firm

belief that hard work and providence will help his company grow not only

nationally but globally as well.

SUNILA PAUL in Bangalore