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Traveling across the globe, as a naval officer, UM Taranath in the early'90s came across Linux open source operating system (OS), and was hooked. Realizing the potential of the technology, he started GT Enterprises in 1995. Gradually progressing to applications surrounding Linux from Berkeley Software Division (BSD) and virtualization, GT has adapted Linux in all its variants. When GT started off, there was hardly any awareness about OS, it was through GT's participation in road shows that it was able to convince customers of the benefits of OS, recollects UM Taranath, CEO.
Along with business comes responsibility, believes Taranath, and GT has a duty towards society, of paying taxes to the government, generating employment, and keeping its staff happy. But keeping staff happy is not always possible and GT is no exception to the problem of attrition. "There have been occasions when people have broken contracts, but we have to honor their decision. We try to put the onus of an employee's growth on him. This keeps them motivated. However, we do face the problem of being unable to keep matching the increasing value of a certified employee in the industry," says Taranath.
Talking about vendor pressure, Taranath feels once the principal company has tested a product, it will provide the services too. However, GT implements and tests the solution before they proceed with the deployment at the clients premises. "We have a dedicated team for implementation. Each team has an in-house support engineer who practices and completes the implementation," he says.
Believing the customer comes first, even if local vendors are unable to provide a particular technology within a given time, GT has sourced it from across the world. "The cost of procurement doesn't matter, it is the word given to a customer that is critical. We do have an inventory of solutions to meet contingencies, but in cases where the technology is new, we source it from abroad," says Taranath.
Adapting itself constantly to the changing technology landscape is important for business growth. "When something new comes up, something old is also dying. It's important to keep in touch. That's how we took the decision of getting into compilers and grid computing. We also decided to get into education for promoting our virtualization and mobile technology products. Adaptability is the keyword," says Taranath.
Managing vendor pressure to meet targets always exists, but GT charts out its targets, keeping in mind the vendors needs. "Unless we take up challenges, we won't grow as a company," says Taranath.
The company already has a joint venture in a US data center and looks set to expand within the US market. With expansion plans and new technologies, Taranath is truly following his belief of 'Come what may, one has to keep going.'
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