Ajay Mathur

Independent Consultant ( 1 Aug13 - Present )

I have setup a Consultancy Practice ( Called Midas ) along to carry out

1. Strategy Projects in IT / Telecom Space

We help companies to form their IT strategy to meet their growth demand, train personnel and execute identified projects to meet the business demands. Identify and project the benefits derived from the initiatives to the management.

2. ISO Audits

We Train personnel to understand requirements of ISO certification, help companies to prepare the ISO documentation and carry out Mock audits finally leading to ISO Certification.

(1) Operations Director ( TechMahindra ) for Globe Telecom Account ( 26 Sep 2011 - 31 July 2013 )

My Team was responsible for Managed Services and Professional Services with Globe Telecom, Philippines. The Operation were designed around a well-knit team of professionals responsible right from Contract Closure, setting up the Operations team to support Globe’s IT Operations, Transitioning from Globe’s Operations to TechMahindra driven Operations to reaching Business as Usual Phase ( BAU ) with Continuous Improvement, Change Management, Projects. The operations span across Network Management, Service Desk, Change & Resource Management, Operations Planning & Transition and Enterprise Systems to provide L1/L2 support and Projects.

IT Governance - Shared Services at Reliance Technology Services ( 1st Apr 2011 - 25 Sept 2011 )

The objective was to bring in synergies in IT Service Management across the 5 group companies of Reliance (Rcom, RInfra, RPower, RCapital, Rent) from the earlier setup of each of the companies having their independent services organization. The scope includes consolidation of Infrastructure support, Vendors, Manpower Skills in the initial phase.

The initial task of the group of 150 personnel from Operations, Planning was to obtain signoff on the scope of the activities and the SLA’s to be targeted. As the clarity on the scope & SLA’s emerged, initiate the operation in the desired fashion with a smooth transition to reach a BAU with centralized support.

Head IT Governance for the Wireless Business at Reliance Communications, ( Jan 2010 - Mar 2011 )

The activities covered by my team of 7 personnel were Contract formation and operation, Budgeting for IT, Infrastructure planning and architecture, Data Security and realization of Business Value.

The internal IT department of RCOM operated without strict SLA’s for delivery or reviews of the Delivery, IT Operations. A code of conduct was setup to govern the entire IT activities to a strict SLA, reporting regimen through a Contractual agreement. The activities conformed to the COBIT standard which helped to identify areas of improvement. The identified areas were then prioritized for implementation and monthly reporting of activities, reviews held to bring in tightness in the entire operation.

As a result of this activity, requests prioritized by the business and actual benefits being derived through IT have started to be measured.

BSS OPS : Head - Planning & Service Delivery for Personal Business - Reliance Communications Ltd. ( July 2007 - Dec 2009 )

The function ensured capability building within the Wireless line of business . My team of 10 personnel was responsible for Infrastructure Planning, Solution Delivery, Measurement & reporting of operational activities, Running Projects, ensure quality of delivery through Planning and Administering User Acceptance Testing and Process management. The strength of the UAT this function was 25 personnel.

The Planning Function monitored the load on key systems in prepaid / postpaid billing, mediation, interconnect, eRecharge, Voucher Loading, SMS gateways and triggering upgrades to prevent degradation in performance well in time.

The Service Delivery role was responsible for the tracking of change requests from Personal Business, Corporate Wireless and the VAS Support Group. The complete lifecycle of a business request from initiation to planned release, carrying out user acceptance test planning and execution, deployment planning is carried out and tracked. This group also services requests made by circles which are largely related to providing MIS capabilities to support the circle operations.

New processes and capabilities were brought in through execution of Transformation Projects. The project group oversaw the complete project management using cross-functional teams. Our role was to ensure that deliverables were as per the functionalities desired and roll- out the products with adequate training to the end users.

The entire BSS Operation (Pre-paid & Postpaid Billing, Mediation, Interconnect, Provisioning Operation ) was governed through well controlled and recorded processes conforming to ISO 9001. The processes were recorded using the ARIS tool.

Chief IT Solutions Engagement, Broadband & Telephone Division - Bharti Airtel Limited ( January 2006 - July 2007 )

I was the Head of IT for this Line of Business, reporting directly to the Joint President with a functional reporting to the Head of Solutions engagement of Bharti Group. The LOB has a high technology focus and has witnessed growth in subscriber base from 0.6 Mn to 1.3 Mn subscribers within one year. Myself and my focused team of 10 personnel along with 100 outsourced personnel from IBM managed the technology platform and had been directly instrumental in a short span of 11 months to

- Gain acceptability from management teams amongst all locations to move to a centralised manner of software development with proper version control. This had resulted in moving to common practices across the circles.
- Focus on the customer was created through standardizing workflows and practices to service subscriber requests uniformly across India. Effective use of call center technology to retain subscribers in the volatile telecom market.
- Standardise definitions of financial and closely watched parameters. Generate MIS directly from a central location.
- Encourage functions to use BI tools provide proper training, handholding and make most of the daily MIS available through the use of these tools.
- Move to standardized CRM packages from the home grown systems and manage the transition. This was effectively carried out in the pilot and rollout during the implementation of the Oracle CRM Sales system, closely being followed by the CRM service module.
- Work closely with the corporate to select standard applications, get them accepted by the business for deployment.
- Deploy ITIL processes to improve the Information Process Management.

Consultant - Head of Information Systems for India at Ranbaxy (Jan ‘2004 - August ’2005)

I reported to the CIO, with full responsibility for Budget formation, deploy projects using cross functional teams, manage Hardware / Software / communications infrastructure, Training. The India team comprised of 20 personnel comprising of 5 IS personnel, technology consultants and cross functional members. Some of the notable work to establish Ranbaxy as a the number one player in India were to

- Digitally link the entire field force of 2000 personnel to the center. This has been carried out by deploying web based portals, PDA based solutions to improve implementation of Business Strategies by reducing feedback time to 1 day.
- Customer database formation, maintenance, providing integrated views of the same to Senior Management using online portals.
- Improve the effectiveness of Internal Processes in the area of customer promotions, receivables by linking the SAP to the field personnel using web based workflow systems. It helped to reduce receivable days by 33% and better control on Promotion expenditure
- Improve Sales by identifying Invoicing potential at the level of SKU/ Stockist, based upon Secondary Sales.
- Digitally Secure “India Databases”.

Head of Information Systems - MMI, Dubai (July ‘2000- August ’2003)

- Maritime and Mercantile International is a part of the Emirates Airline Group having a turnover of US$ 750Mn in 2003 and is in the business of trading and retailing liquor/ FMCG products, Third Party Logistics, Provide Travel Services to Corporates, Leisure Retail. I was reporting directly to the CEO of the company with budget responsibility of 1.5% of turnover with complete responsibility for providing services to the business functions and customers. The function comprised of 17 personnel. Some notable areas of work being

- Electronically link customer’s ordering systems to MMI’s to reduce the time between order to delivery at the customers premises to 4 hrs as opposed to 2-3 days. This helped improve the Market Share of the company from 40% to 60% as well as improve internal controls on the operation.
- Select and deploy a world class warehouse package “Exceed 4000” at the third party logistics facility of the company for external and internal customers. This application was linked to the company’s ERP system to enhance internal control, Ports & Customs authorities systems to enable transparent electronic linkage, with systems of preferred customers to capture orders, advance shipment notice, and provide online MIS to them. This initiative positioned MMI as the preferred Logistics provider with multinationals (Toys R Us, Unilever, Epson, Philips etc..)
- Enhanced control on retail stores by deploying the Microsoft Retail solution at all outlets of the company and linking the tills in real time to the center.
- Deploy PDA based solutions for Van Sales using Pocket PC platform.
- Link all Systems to Data Warehouse to enable flexible views of operations to senior management.

GM, Business Solutions- Ranbaxy, New Delhi (August’1996- July’2000)

This position reported to the CIO of Ranbaxy and was instrumental in paving the way for globalizing processes and practices for the company. Majority of the effort was to provide confidence to the Board to move away from Be-Spoke platforms to robust global practices resulting in

- Obtaining buy-in from senior management to move the processes to a single world class package (SAP) globally, be recognized as emulating good practices by agencies like FDA. The effort resulted in SAP being selected as the preferred ERP. Complete Hardware, Software selection and installation was carried out by me and my team. I was a member of the management steering group for the deployment of the project.
- Provide Workflow solutions to R&D, manufacturing sites to increase velocity of information flows to reduce time to market in the area of recording tracking results obtained in Lab tests, pilot plants to meet FDA requirements. The quality module of SAP was also linked transparently to SAP screens, giving a feel of using only a single solution across the company.
- I also coordinated the Y2K efforts across the globe for the company.

GM, Information Systems - Godrej Soaps Group (October 1995 - August 1996)

I was reporting directly to the CEO ( Mr Adi Godrej) in this role. The budget handled was Rs 14 Crores with a team comprising of 25 personnel. The following was achieved

- Map and implement processes on the Mfg/Pro ERP package for all divisions of the company, namely manufacturing and distribution of own brands of Soaps and detergents and those of P&G, Sara Lee, Pillsbury products, Beverage manufacturing & Distribution, agricultural products manufacturing & distribution.
- Connect all locations of the company through WAN / LAN and modernize all infrastructure at each location.

Senior Systems Manager - Unilever India (July 1986 - October 1995)

- ERP selection (Mfg/Pro), Project Lead the ERP package implementation across the company. Several pilots were carried out using cross functional teams in the areas of Manufacturing, Finance, Commodity Buying, Sales and Distribution, Profit Center Planning & Accounting, Advertising and Promotions, Exports, Central Procurement. My team was also responsible for IS related training for the Asian region.
- Provide Systems related inputs for the Market Research Department of Unilever, Exports Division.

Senior Systems Analyst, Telco an Indian Benz Affiliate (1983 - 1986)

Provide Systems support for the Honda Accord Project, Simulate ‘Flexible Manufacturing System” on the computer to evaluate proposals from Japanese companies, Coordinate and deliver IS training to employees.
On Study Leave for M.Tech from Telco (1981 - 1983)
Engineering related Jobs at Telco, a Benz Affiliate (1977 - 1981)

Engineer, Telco an Indian Benz Affiliate (1977 - 1983)

Mechanical Engineering Operations at Telco, a Benz Affiliate (1977 - 1981)