The Hindu Business Line : Mohapatra quits as Aricent President

Mr Mohapatra, who is currently serving a notice period and would be released by July-end, is understood to have put in his papers over difference of opinion with senior management.

A statement circulated by the company to its employees recently said that Mr Mohapatra was leaving Aricent (formally known as Flextronics Software Systems or FSS) to pursue other interests.

Meanwhile, Mr Ashish Bhardwaj, Aricent's CEO, is taking over Mr Mohapatra's role.

When contacted, Mr Mohapatra refused to comment on the move.

Sources, however, said that Mr Mohapatra had differences over the management style of the top officials based in Palo Alto.

"He will explore various options including joining as head of technology practice in a large firm, COO of a mid-level firm or CEO of a $20-50 million company," the sources said.

"He is also looking at the possibility of starting off his own venture, or joining a PE firm or venture capital fund which has interest in the technology space."

In August 2006, Aricent (then FSS) had announced the appointment of Mr Mohapatra as its President.

An FSS veteran, with over 14 years in the company, Mr Mohapatra had been Executive Vice-President and COO of FSS and was assigned the new role following the demise of Mr Arun Kumar, President and Managing Director, in July 2006.

With corporate offices in California, Aricent offers software services and products that enable the global communications equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers to improve time-to-revenue and maximise efficiency.

It has more than 350 clients worldwide.