The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
January - 2008 - issue > Last Word
Captive centers: start-up challenges
Anilesh Seth
So I want to talk about some of my key experiences around starting a captive unit for a huge U.S. based, multi-billion dollar retail organization.
Don’t compare a start-up captive unit to an entrepreneurial venture; the challenges faced are quite different. They can range from “Our home corporate policy states that we do this in a specific way and can’t deviate from the established norm”, and extend to “So do I report into someone in the U.S. or someone here?” among others.
Of all the issues I can think of, I want to focus on one very important aspect - it needs to be out there - and I’ll explain why – yet it can just as easily be overlooked. In a captive start-up, it is the absence of systems and processes.
Take our example – in just 9 months, we’ve gone from zero to 200 people. This number sounds small when you compare it to a large established systems integrator or services provider that already has 50,000 employees plus. The difference is that the established services provider has been around for many years and has systems and processes that have evolved over time. Not so with us.
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