The Hindu Business Line : `As IBM's arm, Daksh has best of both worlds'

IN one of the largest acquisitions in the IT-enabled services (ITES) space in the country, computing giant IBM took over Daksh in April 2004. Now, 20 months down the line, Daksh's founder and CEO, Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal, who is now the CEO of IBM Daksh Business Process Services, talks about the changes at Daksh, post-takeover by IBM.

Excerpts from an e-mail interview.

Daksh was doing well and even an IPO was in the pipeline when you decided to sell out to IBM. What had triggered this acquisition?

Yes, Daksh eServices, in its independent avatar, was doing extremely well. However, we realised that BPO alone couldn't build a sustainable market, since clients are increasingly looking for a combination of technology, consulting and operations. We sold out because it gave us an opportunity to partner with the World's No. 1 IT services and solutions company and build a whole new industry altogether. As a result of the takeover, IBM Daksh is the only player that offers employees a unique combination of being a part of a global employer, a third party service provider and of Indian origin/culture.

It's been more than a year since IBM took over Daksh. How different is Daksh today?

IBM Daksh has got the best of both the worlds as a result of the acquisition. We have grown tremendously and are able to add value, being part of the world's third most valuable brand. As for what has changed, well, our employees now have limitless opportunities to grow across IBM Corporation and are proud to be part of a 3,20,000-strong global organisation.

We have witnessed significant employee movement from IBM Daksh into the larger IBM organisation this year.

After Daksh became a subsidiary of IBM, did you add new business lines or do away with some?

We have added the following verticals, post-acquisition: Financial and Accounting; Human Resource and Procurement.

How did the clients benefit? Did you have to stop servicing any client because of this transformation?

We have witnessed tremendous growth amongst existing clients and a lot of traction from new business. We are now in a position to offer transformational services to our clients. We are also able to collaborate and leverage research capabilities existing in the IBM Research Labs to marry process with technology and develop tools, which help clients improve productivity and accuracy levels. IBM Daksh continues to service all clients that we serviced prior to the acquisition.

Have you ramped up since IBM took over? Apart from Manila, are you planning any new facilities abroad?

Yes, we have grown tremendously since the acquisition by IBM. We have three new centres coming up in Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune.

All IBM Daksh centres are a part of the IBM BTO global network - with over 30 centres across the world.

Where does Daksh fit in the overall services arm of IBM?

IBM Daksh is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the IBM Corporation. IBM Daksh is the BTO arm (Business Transformation Outsourcing) of IBM in India, which rolls into the Business Consulting Services division of IBM.

How long will the name `Daksh' remain?

The name of the company will remain IBM Daksh Business Process Services for good. IBM Daksh is a very powerful combination of `glocal' - Global lineage and reach and expertise of the local BPO industry.