Believer in the dream of BPO: Raman Roy 

The acquisition of Spectramind by Wipro Ltd for a whopping Rs 407 crore is
the story of a man who believed in the dream of BPO. Raman Roy, Vice Chairman
and CEO , Spectramind, soon to be rechristined Wipro-Spectramind, cannot stop
smiling. Apart from the big bucks he made out of the Rs 407 crore deal with
Wipro Ltd, Roy's high in life today is the huge difference he has made in the
lives of so many young men and women. And the excitement is palpable in the
corridors of the Spectramind office, teeming with men and women in their early
twenties. (The average employee age in the company is twenty-three.)

When Wipro announced the take-over of the company, Roy still could not
believe it has happened. He still thinks that he may wake up to find himself
dreaming. "I am absolutely delighted about the deal. Imagine the kind of
leverage it would give us as part of the Wipro team. Next week I am going client
calling with Wipro Chairman, Azim Pemji." It is the anticipation of this
kind of leverage that would catapult the company into a different league
altogether, which Roy finds so fascinating.

Roy would continue to head the operations of the company as the CEO and Vice
Chairman of the new company with Vivek Paul chairing the Board. The synergies of
the companies are obvious. While Wipro has significant presence in high-end
telecom consulting, Spectramind will be ideally suited to cater to the technical
support and BPO needs of its existing client base. For the customer, Wipro will
become a single stop shop for all its clients' service needs.

The biggest achievement of the Spectramind team is that they believed in
their dream. Twenty-seven months ago when Roy decided to seek his dream with his
own company, he handpicked a team of former colleagues from GE Capital and
American Express. Armed with the experience and exposure to the potential of the
sector, these men were confident of their success in their chosen field.

So, what made Roy dream this big? Forty-four year old Roy was immensely
successful in setting up the call center operations of GE Capital in Gurgaon.
During his stint in the company, he came across numerous requests from the
company's clients for a range of services, which were not possible by GE's call
center since it was a captive unit. Roy saw gold in the opportunity and decided
to seek it on his own.

The next step was the careful selection of his team after which they needed
funds. It was not difficult. The team had seven options to choose from of which
Chrysalis Capital funded the first round. "We chose Chrysalis because we
identified with their team. Ashish Dhawan and Raj Konderu were young
entrepreneurs who were also dreaming big," said Roy.

A team with impeccable credentials had no problems in acquiring the first
customer, usually the bane of call center industry. "After the first
customer, we had customers lined up," said Roy.

Today Spectramind has a 3000 strong workforce built over the last two years.
And the span of activities range from answering customer inquiries about
catalogue products to high-end data mining in genomics and computing. Thus the
work force has a profile of graduates and qualified PhDs.

In an industry where ramp-up is of critical importance, how does Spectramind
manage to find so many employees? More than 18 percent of Spectramind's
recruitment is through employee referrals. The rest are through advertisements
and the regular head-hunters that the company aligns with.

A satisfied and somewhat philosophical Roy continued, "The real joy
would be to tell my grandchildren someday that I could change the lives of so
many young men and women." Roy is unstoppable as he gushed about the huge
employment possibilities that the call center industry have ushered in. Quoting
Mckinsey, he said that for every direct recruitment in the call there is one
indirect

employment that is being created in the country--the transport, the catering,
the cleaners, the house helpers are all on a job expansion spree.

Finally, the inevitable question, when would he be launching his next
venture? Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Roy brushes asides all
speculations. "I am totally committed to Spectramind. We have nursed it as
a baby. It is still a toddler. We have miles to go….."

(CNS)