Computers Today November 1-15, 2000; Circuit

"We are enabling Indians to plug into the world of infinite opportunities," claims Atul Punj, chairman of Spectra Net Ltd, the company which recently commissioned its broadband services for Delhi and Gurgaon. "The Internet has entered our homes and businesses. Soon it will redefine everything around us. A key ingredient for the Internet to be successful is state-of-the-art Net infrastructure to converge different media. And this has been the main motivation for our launching Spectra Net in India." But then, Punj himself is refining his traditional brick-and-mortar business. He has long been interested in information technology and the inception of Spectra Net has realised his dreams. After his graduation in commerce from the Delhi University, he joined the family business of Punj Sons Pvt. Ltd in 1979 and established new lines of activity. Since then, he has made the firm's revenues touch $300 million. He is a member of the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) National Committee on Information Technology and is also a member of the CII National Committee on E-commerce. According to him, the dictionary meaning of 'convergence' is 'to bring together as one'. Whenever things coming from many directions or sources combine to meet at one place, are said to have converged at that point. "Spectra Net brings together and provides as one, a diverse range of services that are currently available from different service providers. Imagine a system that allows information, communication and entertainment through one single cable. This means you will be able to surf the Net, watch infotainment programmes and hold interactive communication through a single wire." Perhaps that is the reason why he calls his offering a "one input, infinite output" advantage.

Anup Varma, chief operating officer, bplnet.com, the Internet subsidiary of the BPL Innovision Buriness Group, says he has two wives: Kajri, his better half, and lately, the Internet. According to him, with convergence of entertainment, electronics, telephony, IT and appliances on the anvil, the company is rightly positioned as the Internet company offering premium products and solutions on the Net. "These three words are a powerful summation of not only what we do but how we do them." A B.Tech. (electronics and telecommunications) from IIT, Kharagpur, and an MBA (marketing and systems) from IIM, Bangalore, Varma started his career at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur as a software engineer in 1982, working on Burroughs mainframes. However, he did not find the assignment exciting enough and left to pursue higher studies at IIM Bangalore in 1984. Later, he worked with Wipro Infotech (1986 to 1994) in several sales and marketing assignments at various locations. He also worked with Compaq Computer (1994-'99) in Bangalore. With the advent of the Net, Varma joined bplnet.com in July 1999. He says, "bplnet is ideally positioned to leverage its strengths in convergence and brand equity and is now driving its Internet business."

Anurag Tyagi has been appointed chief technology officer (CTO), Telecom, Subex Systems Ltd. His responsibilities will include building up technical expertise for Subex, the study of new and emerging technologies and their applications, and customer requirements and business analysis from a technical perspective. He has done M.Phil in computer science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He also holds an M.Tech degree in computer science and technology from the University of Roorkee and a B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Regional Engineering College (REC), Durgapur. Earlier, he was a visiting scholar at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Shriram Gadre

Enterasys Networks, a Cabletron Systems company, has appointed Shriram Gadre as the regional sales manager for the western region of the country. He will be responsible for executing the sales and administration functions in the region. He will be specifically responsible for initiating business from the Government and vertical industry, including banking and finance.

As the business development manager for Adobe Systems India, Himanshu Goyal is responsible for developing business for the company's Systems Solutions in the entire country. Prior to joining the company, Goyal was responsible for marketing and sales of Adobe products at Wipro. He has five years of experience in business development. A Bachelor in Engineering from BIET, Jhansi, Goyal specialises in relationship management and technology marketing.

Girish S. Paranjpe has taken over as chief executive, Financial Solutions, Wipro Technologies. The division provides IT services and solutions to global customers in banking, insurance, securities and in other financial services. Paranjpe has more than 10 years experience with Wipro. He has represented the company and the infotech Industry at various public forums, including the Prime Minister's Task Force on Information Technology and at the NASSCOM.

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in Knowledge Management (KM) worldwide, says Sandhya Shekhar, consultant and ex-chief technology officer of BconnectB.com, a B-to-B portal from Aptech Ltd. "More and more organisations now recognise that KM is critical to the survival and growth of their business. However, more often than not KM implementations are merely glorified departmental solutions, created to address specific problems," says Shekhar. "Till a realisation sinks in and CEOs are willing to establish a KM index for critical and repetitive activities of the firm, it will remain a topic for magazines and seminars," she adds. Shekhar has co-authored with Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Aptech, a comprehensive book on KM, brought out by Tata McGraw-Hill.

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