Ravi Parasuram

Background

He’s not a hard core techie or a marketing whiz kid. But his decade long stint at handling the administrative functions in the armed forces has taught him a great deal. “My experience in the army ingrained promptness in me. There was no room for procrastination there,” says Parsuram. He then moved on to managing the software operations at Xerox. He joined Sony India in 1997 and has been driving the company’s IT operations since then.

Current Job

Sony only had basic IT infrastructure when Parasuram took over. The prime objective was to unite the major business processes on a single platform. This was in sync with the long-term goal of efficient SCM systems. From the time when the company began implementing SAP R3 in 1999, the number of users has increased from 40 to 100. The IT department has started a variety of e-initiatives such as B2B, e-CRM, Intranet and so on.

Challenges at Work

“Success, without a tinge of challenge, does not taste good,” believes Parsuram. The IT department has to constantly communicate with people across all departments. The success of a project depends on the involvement of each team player. Their objectives, roles and strategies have to be clearly defined. Besides, there are bandwidth problems and other infrastructural constraints that need to be tackled. 

Beyond Work

Essentially young at heart, Parasuram enjoys activities that match his spirit of youth. He particularly enjoys dancing. He is a voracious reader as well. Spiritually inclined, Parasuram is involved with the activities of the art of living. “Art of living has changed my life. It brings peace to the restless mind affected by stress,” he says.

Philosophy of Life

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover,” he says.

As told to Shweta Verma