Few service industries are designed to be 24x7 in India, and thus there was no 24x7 mentality.
Clients do not expect the infrastructure to be any less reliable just because the service is being delivered from an offshore location; thus, the uptime requirements justify the expense.
Finally, I have to say that the most surprising aspect has been the speed at which the folks in India adapt to Western practices. They learn fast, really, really fast.
Well, if you look back, in almost two and a half years, the biggest change probably was in late 2000 when we decided to totally change the CA business model.
To me, it's really important to drive change through a team because one person, while the buck has to stop with somebody, the company is just too big for one person.
I'm very comfortable in having a strong team. I'm very comfortable in sharing the limelight with the team.
I'm equally comfortable in getting out there and taking a stand when I have to take a stand.
There is nothing in the company that is either above or below me, as far as I'm concerned.
Today we're focused on small acquisitions to add technology where necessary. I think it's fair to say we're not out looking for a large one, but I think it's also very fair to say that as a public company you can never say never.
So let's say you're using XYZ product and you want to do something very sophisticated. You subscribe to this thing, you hit a button, and a CA expert pops up in video.
It didn't make a lot of sense for us to be doing Lotus Notes implementations.
But the real focus should be on people who are buying today because the base is so big it will take a long time for any change materialize on an overall basis.
