We both were investment bankers, but got bored of banking after 11 years and decided to set up our own company. This is hard work, but satisfying. We have 52 staff and plan to grow with our customer needs, which are very encouraging.

I was part of team that set up an Internet company about a year ago, which didn't do too well due to directors not getting on too well with each other.

I have a master's degree in engineering , so I have a good grasp of technology. As well as understanding business, from my investment banking experience.

Q. Where is the company based?
A. The headquarters are in Throgmorton St. in the City of London. We have 42 people in our development center in India , which of course includes all the developers and the quality team as well as some senior techies - we want to grow to 80- 100 people by end of our financial year which is in April 2002.

Q. What is the focus of the company?
A. We work in eCRM, eLearning, medical and healthcare, e-commerce solutions across various technologies. We're led by what our clients want, within these areas. Our company addresses the increasing shortage of Quality skilled programming resources in Europe and the abundance of skills in developing countries, provides our clients with access to the significant cost savings gained from utilising, European managed, outsourced programming services.

Q. What is the company's performance to date?
A. We've been fully operational since July 2001. Working on 3-4 and negotiating terms on another 20 projects and our clients are from Germany, Denmark and UK. One of the big projects - upgrading the medical audit system for the woman and childcare department that is currently running in the St Thomas group of hospitals, which includes guys and St Thoma's.

Q. Have you bought any U.K. companies to accelerate your business?
We have recently acquired a preferred software supplier to the NHS, it has its software systems in some of the leading hospitals in London.

Q. Who are your partners?
We have partnership agreements with CVAM - German consultancy with clients including Mercedes, Shell, Nestle and Sharp; Ariadne Capital, a pan-European new venture group and Customer Intelligence group that focus only on CRM solutions.

Q. Who are your customers?
A. We are currently working with GMG investment bank,Lego, Unicorn- syncron and Portland hospital. In Germany we are working with CVAM , where we are Building a LMS systems for their clients which include , Mercedes and Nestle .We are also working on proposals with BT Cellnet, and are in negotiations with Lastminute.com, Nottingham City Counci, Maersek oil and gas, TenUK and many more….

Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. We have a 6000 sq ft software centre in Gurgaon in India which we plan to grow from 42 staff to 100 by end of year (developers). Our three year vision is to have 1000 people working for Solitar.

We also have a UK operation and will have marketing offices in Germany and Denmark by end of year. At present we have 12 people in the UK, which we will grow organically to 25 by end of year.

Q. What makes Solitar different from other IT outsourcing companies?
A. Ratings
We will have ISO 9001:2000 International standard certification in Nov, we are midst our audit from KPMG and are already SEICMM Level 4 compliant . We would like to be amongst the top 100 Software developing companies in the world in the next few years.

Quality
We are driven by quality, and have a quality team constantly checking the standards of the software produced. As above we comply to ISO 9002 standards.

The European/Indian Hybrid
Solitar Systems is a Hybrid - we have taken the best of both worlds. We combine the programming skills of the Indians with the selling skills of the Europeans. The Indian companies have traditionally done well in the USA , but they have trouble winning customers in Europe, where we have a selling advantage due to our European management of the highest calibre , ex IBM, Barclays Bank, Volks-wagon group

Although we have offices in India, the front-end culture is all European which is very appealing to customers. The problem with a lot of Indian companies is the different culture of doing business in Europe. It is not just about price, it's about knowing the right people and having long term relationships. It can be hard for Indians to crack Europe because of the differences in business and work practices - They don't have the same network.

Our management style and majority of our Senior employees are European, so we are easy to deal with, and add that with cost benefits of development center in India . We can commit to our clients on both sides - Locally as well as offshore. Our customers benefit from Customer relationship management.

Q. How do you see the future of IT Outsourcing?
A. In time I believe that there will be no disparity between India and the UK in this industry, and over the next 10 years we will see the prices evening out. Communications and boundaries are coming down, and there'll be no barriers to entry - Indian companies will become more global and it will become an even playing field.

The next five years therefore provide an opportunity to use India as a competitive outsourcing facility.

Q. Who are your preferred clients?
Large blue chips accounts and technology companies, We are also keen to work with SMEs. Today's small companies, are tomorrow's big companies. The advantage is that their sale cycle is easier, taking a month or two rather than six for a large account.

PERSONAL QUESTIONS

Q. What was your lucky break?
A. Winning a scholarship at the age of 10 until he was 21 from a Swiss Institution (Pestalozzi)

Q. What's your motivation to work?
A. To help in the long run people less fortunate than me in India where I am from. To give others the opportunities that I have had.

Q. What or who has been the biggest influence on your life?
A. Carnegie - "A rich man who dies rich is a poor man"

Q. What would you like to do if you weren't involved in IT Outsourcing?
I have always wanted to be a business man. To set up businesses and opportunities to create employment for myself as well as others. A.

Q. What is the most interesting part of your job?
A. Working with some very good/talented people.

Q. What do you do to relax?
A. Fly-fishing and golf.