Always keep your chin up in trying times. Be self-motivated. Be optimistic, and focus on where the rubber hits the road...

Background



Sundaram is an electronics and communications graduate from REC Tiruchirapalli.
He has held various positions in sales, product marketing, and global accounts

in Digital Equipment. He was the country manager (solutions and alliances) in

pre-merger Compaq. He has been instrumental in setting up several solution

center initiatives across the country, including the finance industry expertise

center in Mumbai and the eCommerce Lab at IIT, Mumbai. Prior to driving

solutions and alliances, Sundram served as the country manager for large

programs for four years.

Current assignment



Currently, he is the country marketing manager for HP Services. He drives

marketing and strategy for this division in the country. He also drives the ‘go-to-market’

initiatives–with a clear charter of growing the business in consulting and

integration, managed services and customer support, and is also responsible for

driving alliances with global partners.

Challenges at work



Keeping the team motivated and sustaining the long cycles involved in large

programs.

Turning point in career



A career shift in 1990 from selling Test & Measuring Instruments in

Hewlett-Packard, now Agilent Technologies, to a career in IT in Digital

Equipment (I) Ltd.

Philosophy of life



"Always keep your chin up in trying times. Be self-motivated." An

eternal optimist, his motto is focus on where the rubber hits the road.

Greatest achievement



Setting up a dinancial industry expertise center in pre-merger Compaq in

2000 in Mumbai, from virtually the drawing board to a full-fledged operational

center in a record time of two quarters. The assignment was unique in every

sense, since it involved dealing with challenges in execution at all stages.

As told to TV Mahalingam in

Bangalore