Always Aiming High

Being able to steer a
company to over Rs 1,000 crore revenue in a span of just a decade is
not a small feat. It requires a leader with determination, vision and
passion to be able to accomplish such a growth. Sunil Kakkad is one
the first generation entrepreneurs in India who can definitely be
termed as an industry stalwart.

THE INITIAL STEPS

A class apart
professional, Kakkad, on completion of his engineering in Electronics
and Telecommunications from Pune University, decided to join a system
builder called Cosmos Computers. In about 6 months, he realized this
was not his calling. Along with his friend Vijay Mandora, they
decided to start their own business firm. Kakkad said, “Business is
in the blood of a Gujarati; hence my decision did not create any
ripples or waves. I think it was just natural for me to be on my
own.” Trusting his instincts and depending on the Gujarati business
acumen, Kakkad decided to traverse the path of self employment. The
age of computers was still at its infancy in the Indian market. But
these
determined guys arranged for the capital and began to assemble
machines. However, in due course of time the entire business tanked
to bottom. Kakkad was not a man to deter due to a set back. He once
again decided to pull up his socks and in the year 1993 came up with
href="http://www.dqweek.com/NetApp-partners-with-Sai-InfoSystem">Sai
Infosystem.

ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

The initial years were
tumultuous and there were times when survival became difficult. Any
rational businessmen would have wind up the shop and moved on.
However, the duo stuck through and their sheer perseverance for
survival saw them pass these gray days. Learning and coping with
business challenges at a young age had been taxing. One fact that
used to bother Kakkad was that, he left his job quite early. “I
left my job too early and started business, I should have worked as
an employee for atleast 5 to10 years before starting on my own,”
said Kakkad. Such thoughts are bound to persist as Kakkad and gang
never got anything the easy way, and struggle was a constant endeavor
for all. However, persistent efforts were slowly delivering results
for the company. Picking up the nitty gritties on the way, and with a
vision to cross borders into newer ventures helped Kakkad to gain
mindshare and marketshare. It took them 15 years to strengthen its
hold in the Indian subcontinent.

On this, Kakkad said, “I
started business as a very immature businessman, because of
inadequate processes, high risk
appetite or say high risk high return working style put entire
organization on stress multiple times during the first 15 years.
However, as an outcome after paying heavy learning costs and
hardships, SIS emerged as a very strong organization with excellent
bonding and can withstand any odds.”

SHEER CONFIDENCE

Two personality traits
that makes Sunil Kakkad the man he is today, is his resourcefulness
and optimism. During the initial days, when money was not flowing and
business was really not giving returns, the mentioned two traits
helped him sail through the rough tides. Belief in oneself and the
organization was the key reason for SIS's success. Winds of change
blew in slowly when the company first decided to
acquire PCL with its entire staff, database and inventory. It was a
bold move but this laid the foundation for what SIS is today. There
are three mantras on which Kakkad swears by. The first one
is 'Not failure but low aim is crime'. Innovation and 'never
give up' attitude are the other two which enabled a successful
career as an entrepreneur for him. Over the years, the industry has
evolved and to sustain these changes, one has to be innovative and
dynamic. Commenting on this, Kakkad said, “Rules of the games are
changing. Initially, I was riding a bike and now am steering a big
ship. Instead of just taking risks, I am taking calculated risks.
Now, I am also trying to augment management bandwidth and focus more
on services and creating intellectual property.” This mindset has
helped Kakkad and SIS to grow by leaps and bounds. Today, this system
integration firm handles major projects across India which includes
both private and government projects. SIS, already an established
player in the systems integration market, entered into telecom services
in
partnership with BSNL for providing video telephony services.

PERFECT EXAMPLE

Turning his childhood
dreams into reality, Kakkad has been very passionate about whatever
he takes up and once he gets involved in a work, he cannot afford to
be in two minds about the work. “Initially it was very difficult
for me to strike a balance between my work and personal life.
Honestly I was not able to balance it optimally; sometimes family
suffers due to business priority,” said Kakkad. However, riding
through several turbulent waves during the initial hurdles, he then
went on to create a history of sorts, for himself and his family.
Today, he is the perfect example for his family who want to follow in
his footsteps. Kakkad attributes his successful life to his wife
Jyoti who has always managed to stand by him whatever the situation
might be. When Sai Info Systems was at its peak of business
expansion, Kakkad realized the importance of having a supportive wife
like Jyoti. A sports lover, Kakkad loves playing chess, billiard,
table tennis, and swimming. He also loves spending time with his
family watching movies as well.

FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

Leveraging on its core
expertise, Sai Infosystem is riding high on its success path and is a
well respected brand in its
field of providing total ICT solution in India and overseas. Apart
from bagging some major winning projects like video phone and
conference services in association with BSNL in this fiscal, the
Ahmedabad-based company is now all geared up to expedite its
networking reach across the country with its newly started operation
for National Knowledge Network (NKN), a mission mode project of the
Government of India. SIS India has been entrusted with the
responsibility of designing and implementing a network
infrastructure, wherein it will connect 280 universities across India
enabling a nation wide unified network. The company intends to
achieve the target through expansion in all the verticals. Having
witnessed the growth of the company at the rate of 150% every year,
Kakkad foresees Sai Infosystem to further lead the convergence wave
by becoming the top ranking convergence player with global presence.