2-Apr-2008, Bangalore

Clients, the very reason for our existence: Catalign Innovation Consulting Pvt. Ltd. was established in Dec 2006 as an independent consulting business. FY07-08 was the first full financial year for Catalign. During the year, Catalign added 18 new customers taking the total client base to 20. Out of the 18 new additions, 2 of them are consulting clients, 4 are corporate training clients and the rest (12) are clients who participated in open workshops organized by Catalign. In FY08, 70% of Catalign’s revenue came from repeat business, a testimony of our relentless focus on value creation for our clients.

Business portfolio: In FY08, 75% of Catalign’s business came from consulting engagements and the rest came from training. As far as consulting engagements are concerned, the year could not have been better. The engagements not only created lasting value for customers, it was a sheer joy to work with various process owners from client side. Catalign introduced its first training offering (called “Becoming a successful technical leader”) at the fag-end of last financial year (March-07). This offering was successfully leveraged during FY08. Our growing list of testimonials is an indicator of the success of this offering.

Eating your own dogfood: I am a big fan of the “Eat your own dogfood” principle followed in Microsoft (see “Microsoft Secrets” by Cusumano). In Microsoft, new products are used by Microsoft employees themselves. In technical leadership workshops, I have been preaching about creating a systematic investment plan (SIP) and invest time in writing white papers and blogging to establish personal brand. Well, the same is applicable to me as a consultant. I started blogging as a systematic activity last December and have continued it religiously. I have also written an article (jointly with Ganesh and Shri of Sasken) on competency frameworks for NHRD Newsletter (Jan 2008 issue). I don’t see any reason for deviating from the SIP going forward.

On US slowdown: Almost all of Catalign’s business comes from IT industry based in India. US slowdown will definitely impact most if not all of these customers. However, we believe what Prof. Rumlet of UCLA says in an interview with McKinsey, “Being in the right industry does matter (and its slowdown matters too), but being good at what you do matters a lot more, no matter what industry you’re in.” We will continue to keep our focus laser sharp on our strengths and aim to get better at doing that which we are already good at.

Looking into the windshield rather than rear-view mirror: What are the key focus areas for the coming year? First priority is to protect free cash flow, lifeblood of any business especially a startup. Second priority is to enhance the brand which means efforts on all fronts ranging from research, marketing, delivery and support. Third priority is to strengthen partnerships. One such solid partnership is brewing for the past several months and likely to result into our first joint offering in Q1-FY09 itself.