Continued growth brings new office in India

DS: Mark, after many months of preparation, the new office in Pune is now open. Tell me about how Magarpatta City was selected and your involvement in establishing the new Global Solutions Centre (GSC)?

MN: In Pune there is a wealth of property that is being constructed to cater for the IT and outsourcing boom. Magarpatta City was always our first choice from day one of our property hunt. It offers world class facilities and infrastructure, and an opportunity for the Global Solutions Centre to be shoulder to shoulder with tier one players.

Setting up Cerillion's Indian operations has been an immense but rewarding challenge. My involvement over the last 18 months has encompassed all aspects of the project from initially preparing the business case through to overseeing the recruitment of the first staff in the new office. I am delighted with the end result and especially pleased with the effort and commitment put into the project by the team in India.

DS: The inauguration of the new office marks the beginning of a new chapter for Cerillion. What role will this have in the on-going growth of the company?

MN: The GSC will allow Cerillion to compete with market leaders through increased investment into our core products, which will give us the edge in our industry. It will also give us an increased capacity to deliver to the unique demands of each of our customers, and to do this more competitively.

The infrastructure at the GSC will enable us to recruit the best staff from the fastest growing IT market. This ambitious & experienced skill base will allow Cerillion to be at the forefront of technology and processes. Coupled with staff in the UK and Americas , we are now able to offer truly global coverage and support to our clients.

DS: With many global hi-tech companies already present in Pune, what challenges does Cerillion face in building the local team and developing a centre of excellence?

MN: With the infrastructure setup of the GSC completed the real challenges are ahead. Knowledge Transfer, defining efficient intra-company processes, recruitment and retention of staff will be our main challenges in the coming months.

Key individuals from our London headquarters have been seconded to Pune to train and empower our new staff to be self-sufficient and drive value beyond cost savings throughout the organisation. We are also implementing suitable cross-cultural training programs that will build strong partnerships between offices globally.

Using a blend of UK and local experienced staff from market leading companies will allow us to develop structured processes that will drive quality and continue to increase our efficiency. The responsibilities given to the GSC must be aligned to the maturity of the office. It is vital that we create a solid foundation, upon which we can build a strong and efficient operation for the future.

Recruiting and retaining people in this employee's market is one of the biggest challenges. Our offer of challenging work and great career progression is helping us get the best in the market. Our commitment is to get the right staff for the long term that fit into our work ethic and culture, and to not be influenced by the demand of increased headcount and workload. This I believe will build a sound base for the GSC.

DS: So what does all this mean for Cerillion's customers and partners?

MN: As Cerillion grows by increasing its client base, the GSC will enable Cerillion to continue to provide an excellent level of service to customers and partners, whilst at the same time tackling their increasingly complex requirements. The GSC will give us this flexibility through a greater pool of talented staff thus allowing us to deliver rapid time-to-market solutions.

The GSC will enable increased investment into the product suite, quality assurance and processes in a cost effective manner. It will allow us to accelerate our product roadmap and customer-specific development programmes, and be competitive in all geographies. In addition, with support centres in the US , London and India we can now provide round the clock support coverage.

Put simply, the Global Solutions Centre means increased product investment, faster time-to-market and better value for money.

Mark Nicholls, Chief Technical Officer
Mark has over 18 years experience in the IT industry, specialising in system development, integration and delivery of large scale projects. He has been responsible for implementing a number of CRM and billing solutions around the world including the UK, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Before joining Cerillion Technologies Mark spent 9 years at Logica, most recently managing projects within the Customer Care and Billing International Business Unit.