Future Gazers

Volume 11 - October 2005

Talking with Atul Jalan,

CEO,Manthan Systems

In this edition of Future Gazers, we present an interview with Atul Jalan, CEO, Manthan Systems. A serial entrepreneur, Atul has been associated with many successful technology ventures. Atul has considerable expertise in the retail vertical and was a cofounder of NetKraft, now a part of Adea Solutions

1. Can you give our readers an idea of how Manthan Systems came into being. What convinced you to develop a product for the global market from India ?

Manthan was born out of deep contemplation, and an aspiration to be a global leader in providing high end business solutions to the global retail and consumer goods industry.

Through my many years’ experience of working with global tier 1 Retailers and CPG companies, I could clearly see that retailers & CPG companies need to make tactical, operational, and strategic decisions in quicker time than their counterparts in other industries. The mandate to meet financial and growth goals, as well as deliver consistently high customer service levels, is transforming the way these organizations do business. It was also evident that the speed at which these companies can perform market analysis and manage the enterprise decision-making process will ultimately determine their market position and financial results.

While many of these organizations have made great strides in understanding and reporting on performance, the focus has almost always been on tracking and analyzing past results.

I felt that Manthan could create effective decision support solutions to drive our customers’ future performance across the enterprise. Manthan’s breakthrough solutions provide a cross-functional and predictive way of managing the business.

The initial rush of thoughts, ideas and inspirations were completely corroborated by my network of industry experts, analysts and potential and targeted customer segments.

Incidentally, “Manthan” is a metaphor for churning the vast sea of data within organizations to come up with the intelligence which drives excellence – the purpose of any business.

2. Can you elaborate on the principles you followed in developing

your products ?

“Synch-and-stabilise” as applied at Microsoft and many other successful firms is followed both as a philosophy as well as translated into a set of specific set of techniques for product development.

The motto that we sincerely follow at Manthan is ….” We want the best set of businesses to be our customers then it is fair to expect that our customers would also like to work with the best ….strive for excellence”.

3. What is the feedback on your products in the market? Have you faced any challenges?

We have had very reassuring market feedback from industry analysts, experts and end user organizations.

The first reaction to ARC and AStrA has almost always been one of pleasant surprise; the fact that a business analytics application that solves industry-specific managerial problems comes from India creates a 'wow' effect. The challenge, though, has been in quickly moving beyond this to active consideration and trial.

Another challenge has been in overcoming potential credibility doubts - especially since the products are not pitched on their technology strengths - which is what most buyers of technology solutions from 'offshore vendors' perhaps tend to expect. Manthan has adopted many creative ways of firmly establishing the high ground on the business domain - advisory board of industry leaders, strong reference ability from early adopters, publishing points of view, participating in industry specific business events (and not just the tech shows), sharing best practices and of course demonstrating past experience.

As with most products, a great amount of effort goes into discerning early adopters from the followers.

Of course, the value proposition of 'offshore-based' product development and delivery helps in rapidly overcoming any price hurdles, once the capabilities of the product are established.

4. Can you share some learnings in developing a product for the global market?

The product domain requires a great deal of commitment in terms of being in the race for the long haul. Unlike client-specific software solutions, a product has to make sense to a critical mass of customers for it to be a viable proposition – this means that your business models, design and development processes have to be extremely rigorous to meet customer expectations. A product implementation is a great leap of faith for a customer and the relationships you build are across the organization, and not restricted to the IT division. Your passion and commitment to the product needs to be out there in the open. But, if you could produce a best seller then the rewards and pay-offs are of magnitude.

5. Do you think there is a sufficient product mind set in India?

We are slowly getting there. The long gestational period, lack of sales & marketing strength and paucity of successful examples are the three biggest challenges to the current make-up of Indian software industry mindset.

6. Have you attempted to market your products in India? What has been your experience? What is your view on the market in India for packaged products?

Not in any concerted manner, though we have been approached by some global majors in packaged software to partner and sell in India. We may shortly do an interesting project in India, led by a Channel Partner ( a well known business consulting firm) who is consulting with a big corporate in India.