Building Up On Challenges

But the glamour didn't entrance him for too long, and he returned back to his home country to work with a division he is deeply passionate about - the channel.

Luck has always favored Rajeev Mittal. Be it getting used to the fast-paced
metropolitan life of Delhi, or flying to Singapore or being a part of Microsoft
India. Hailing from a small town in Northern India, Varanasi, he shifted to New
Delhi soon after his post graduation.

Being interested in numbers and strategies for as long as he can remember,
Rajeev completed his graduation from Shriram College of Commerce in Varanasi in
1984. After that, he went ahead to complete his MBA from Banaras Hindu
University in 1986.

The small town boy then moved to New Delhi and initially found it difficult
to gel smoothly, considering the metropolitan culture of the big city. But he
adjusted quickly to his new atmosphere and it was not too long before he got a
job with Wipro as a frontline sales person.

For over six years, Rajeev was involved in selling packaged software in the
Delhi region. He also used to manage channels and co-ordinate direct sales for
clients like Food Corporation of India, Punjab National Bank, NIC, Nestle and
Food Specialty.

Rajeev Mittal Director, Small & Medium Solutions & Partners (SMS&P), Microsoft Corporation India  “There are people who can think five years down the line. The furthest I can see is just three years. I have a dream to retire and do what I want, but have to figure out what I really want”

Rajeev went in for a change and grabbed an opportunity to work with IBM's
Singapore team in 1996. Working for the Asia Pacific region, his
responsibilities included working with the global ISV team and managing
alliances.

Having worked with IBM for almost five years, he worked his way around with
another global leader-Oracle. He was posted in Singapore as Director, Channels
Business Development.

Microsoft happened one evening

It was a quiet evening in Singapore when Rajeev was having a casual talk
with one of his best friends from Microsoft. The talk about channels and
partners led to his friend offering him an advice and a chance to work with
Microsoft India. "If you are so passionate about partners, why don't you
work with Microsoft?" asked his friend.

As he was already contemplating about coming back to the Indian shores and
thinking about the positives of being in India, Rajeev wasted no time in
accepting the offer and in June 2004, he returned to India and started working
with Microsoft.

"Even when I finally decided to move to India, I was more interested in
working in a city like Gurgaon, so I asked the Microsoft India team to see if
they could shift the office from Nehru Place. Luckily, they were already in the
process of shifting the premises to Gurgaon," he adds.

Family backing

While growing up as a child, Rajeev's father played an important role in
making sure that his son did well in studies. "My dad gave me all the
inspiration that I needed to succeed in life as a good human being," he
adds.

As he has always been involved with selling software, fighting against piracy
has always been a challenge to convince customers of the power of original
software and encourage them towards using the original versions. "Selling
software itself was a big challenge when I started my career," he recalls.

There were very few people back then who actually knew the importance of
software packages and how they can transform business processes. So Rajeev's
software selling involved educating the customer, on ongoing endeavor till date.

At a time when he has already worked with one of the best global companies in
the IT fraternity, Rajeev is dreaming about taking time off from his busy
schedule and quietly retiring to just be what he is — a good human being.
"There are people who can think five years down the line. I can't do
that. The furthest I can see is just three years. I have a dream to retire and
do what I want. But I will have to figure out what I really want," he
quips.

He further added, "I always make sure to take at least two vacations in
a year. My wife and son go out to explore different places. This year we are
planning to go to Goa and then possibly Egypt."

There is a general perception that people dealing with high-end technology
are always high on the technology side. Even though Rajeev has worked with all
best of the breed technology companies, he is yet traditional when it comes to
dealing with technology on a daily basis.

"I am still a traditional guy. I still read all my long mails the
traditional way, after taking printouts. So when you come to my cabin, you will
see a lot of paper work. These are small things, but then I prefer to be like
this," he smiles.

Philosophy of life

Living life the simple way, Rajeev has always believed that 'when you are
good—you are good'. "I have always believed in this notion that when
you are good at something — you are good and nothing can change this. That's
why I feel that I don't have any regrets from life," he says.

He also believes that luck has played an important part in molding his life
to its current form. "Luck has always played an important part in my life,
whether it was my first major job interview at Wipro or my IBM assignment in
Singapore. And even my Microsoft job came way because luck was on my side,"
he

confirms.

Apart from being favored by luck, Rajeev is inspired by all kinds of books.
Whether it is professional life full of boardroom decisions or personal matters,
he has taken a lot of inspiration from books like 'The Fountain Head' by Ayn
Rand or 'One Minute Manager'. "I have read these books many times and
every time I read them — there is a new learning that I get for new situations
and contexts," he adds.