Digital Transformation is beyond technology; it’s a culture change

by | Apr 17, 2018 | Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is a buzzword that has taken the world by storm. Is it just about technology or there’s more to digital transformation?

It is a fast moving world, and technology is evolving each day with a rapid pace. The new age customer likes speed, innovation and convenience. That’s where enterprises began to realize the need to reinvent their business models and transform digitally. While most industry leaders are already en route digital transformation, several enterprises worldwide are gradually stepping up.

But what does it take to make this buzzword a business reality? How long does digital transformation really take? From a broad perspective, digital transformation is mostly about bringing in new technology and digitizing business processes. However, if you dig in deeper and take a closer look, there’s a lot more to it than just technology implementation. Digital Transformation is a culture; an ongoing, long-term process. It touches all aspects of an organization, including its various departments, its people, processes and policies.

Digital transformation is beyond digitization; it calls for a change in organizational culture. As a CIO, you must understand that there are several layers to digital transformation hidden beneath technology implementation. Here are 4 critical aspects to an enterprise-wide digital transformation apart from implementing technology innovations.

Change Management

Even the smallest of organizational changes are faced by employee resistance; and we’re talking of digital transformation here. Before you set on a journey to transforming your business digitally, it is important to ensure that your people are comfortable with the new change. There are three key stages to an effective change management in an organization.

Awareness – Educate your people about digital transformation, and the value it holds for the organization and them.
Assurance – Build confidence in your workforce that digital transformation is for good and it will make work easier for them.
Assistance – Support them throughout the transition phase. Be a mentor, be a guide.

Training and Development

Implementing innovative technology and latest applications is a great initiative, but it’s of no good if your people are not competent with it. As a CIO, it is an implied responsibility that you must train your workforce with the new technology coming in.

Conduct Learning & Development programs that equip them with the upcoming business processes and develop their skills to keep up with the change. It will not only prepare them for the upcoming digital transformation, but will also enhance their productivities. Additionally, it will help you retain valuable employees, and drive digital transformation smoothly.

Enterprise-wide Digitization

True digital transformation is when your entire organization is influenced digitally, including your front end activities, back end processes, day-to-day operations and complex business critical activities. It could be as simple as implementing and AI-enabled bot on your company website or as complex as automating your enterprise’s risk management practices.

Digital transformation is not an instant process. It takes months, even years for an enterprise to fully transform digitally. It is a continuous process that fetches long-term benefits for an enterprise. The best strategy to carry out an enterprise-wide digital transformation is to focus on one department (or process) at a time, and integrate them together over time.

Risk Assessment and Plan of Action

Digital transformation leads to massive business change. However, it carries a set of challenges and risks that need to be addressed cautiously. It involves huge investments and business efforts to implement or migrate to new technology. For successful digital transformation, it is critical that you deploy the right technology in the right department and choose the right implementation partner.

Before you start with the implementation, revisit the areas of risk and come up with a plan of action to cope up with the risks. It could be internal risks, such as lack of IT resources to carry out the project, or external factors like stringent governance regulations. A strategic risk assessment can help you manage any risks that come along and implement digitization successfully in your enterprise.

The whole idea behind digital transformation is to help businesses grow and stand out in the cut-throat competition. Successful digital transformation is digitization runs across your entire organization and your people, processes and policies are in sync with the digital revolution.

Prakash Balebail is the founder and CEO of Estuate. He comes with over two decades of experience in driving digital transformation across industries and strong expertise in disruptive technologies like AI, Automation, IoT and Machine Learning.

 

[Infographics] – Why Mobility?

by | Apr 2, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation, Inforgraphic, Product Engineering

Today mobile phones can do much more than making calls. There’s been a massive evolution in mobile technology. With an app for almost everything, mobile phones are an indispensable part of our daily lives. We’re in the era of handheld devices and chances are you are reading this infographic on your mobile too. Here are 5 ways mobility is impacting businesses.

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Scandal: What you need to know

by | Mar 26, 2018 | Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation, Governance Risk and Compliance

The Cambridge Analytica scandal has caused a worldwide debate. Here’s all you need to know about it and more.

You thought Facebook was safe? Well, we all thought so until the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal shook up social media and global politics like never before.

What is this scandal all about? Should you, as an entrepreneur be more concerned about data security at your enterprise now? This article gives you the inside story of what exactly happened and what you must learn from the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Cambridge Analytica is a London based data analytics and political consulting firm incorporated in 2013. It helps political parties with data mining and elections strategies. It all started in 2014 when Aleksandr Kogan, a researcher developed a personality quiz app on Facebook. As much as 270,000 Facebook users installed the app and took Kogan’s quiz. Little did they know that the developers were able to access their personal data through the app. That’s not all; they could access personal information of their “Facebook friends” as well (without their permission).

All this personal information, which should have ideally been deleted, was being saved in a private database and sold to Cambridge Analytica. Allegedly, personal data of about 50 million Facebook users was hacked in this manner. Cambridge Analytica used this information to create about 30 million psychographic profiles to influence elections. The company has worked on elections all over the world, including the Bihar Assembly Elections in India in 2010. It is also said to have a major role in influencing the recent US Presidential Elections.

Quite obviously, this massive scam has affected the social media giant too. Soon after the news was out, the hashtag #DeleteFacebook went viral on social media, impelling people to quit Facebook. The company’s shares immediately tumbled in the stock market, and accounted for a loss of $35 Billion in a single day.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his account, “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you.” He also addressed the media expressing his apologies on the matter and assured that the Facebook team is investigating all applications that use personal user data and auditing suspicious activities more closely.

Cybersecurity incidents affect an enterprise adversely in multiple ways. They lead to legal implications, cause loss of reputation and create financial dents too. But does it affect you? When a data breach as big as that can occur at Facebook, it can affect any business any time. Enterprises collect heaps of information from a variety of devices on a daily basis. The more information you collect, the more accountable you are to protect it and avoid any kind of misuse.

This incident has increased the need for IT security across the globe. It’s time to learn a lesson from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and review your Information Security programs for better. To prevent cybersecurity incidents at your enterprise, you need more than just a data security program. You need to educate your employees about the importance of business data, instill best practices around data privacy and monitor your IT operations more diligently; and continue this throughout the information lifecycle.

Why Automation? 5 Reasons to Automate your Business Processes

by | Mar 19, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation

Business Automation could sound overwhelming, but it offers scalable benefits to modern enterprise. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider automating your business.

In the business world, there is always scope for improvement. Enterprises are constantly looking for ways to improve performance levels and gain an edge over the competition.

Many businesses worldwide are adopting process automation as a key strategy to stay ahead in the run. When we talk about automation, it usually gives a picture of robots and machines replacing human resources in an organization. Many small enterprises also think that automation is only for big enterprises, since it is an expensive affair.

These are all just myths. The truth is; automation simplifies human activities and it actually reduces operational costs in the long run. Also, a business of any size and nature can automate its processes and improve performance significantly. If you’re still not convinced, here are five key benefits of automating your business processes.

1. Cost Effectiveness
Far-sighted entrepreneurs consider automation as a strategic investment rather than expenditure. Once the initial implementation costs are covered, business process automation proves to be a worthy investment. Automating redundant activities reduces the need for extensive labor, minimizes paperwork expenses, overhauling and maintenance costs.

2. Time Saving
Business process automation is all about simplifying day-to-day recurring activities by letting machines and software do them for you. For instance, humans spend hours together testing application performance and generating reports. By introducing automated testing, test cases can be executed within minutes, saving massive time and efforts. Automation leads to faster processing of voluminous tasks and reduced turnaround timelines.

3. Enhanced Workflow Efficiencies
A reduction in enterprise costs and the time involved in executing operational activities leads to improved workflow efficiencies. As automation takes care of recurring and monotonous tasks, employees can focus their attention towards core business processes and revenue generating activities. Automating business processes allows enterprises to achieve more results with fewer efforts.

4. Accuracy and Consistency in Operations
A huge drawback associated with manual processing is the possibility of errors. Humans tend to make errors; especially when there are huge volumes involved. Manual processing is also inconsistent, as there are chances of missing some steps. Automation eliminates the chances of errors, leading to enhanced accuracy. It also follows a standard operating procedure, ensuring consistency in performing tasks.

5. Reduced Employee Turnover
In contrast to the myth related to automation; many enterprises have experienced a reduction in employee turnover since the introduction of automation. Executing recurring activities on a daily basis gets mundane and monotonous for employees. Automation solves this problem and allows people to take up more challenging and rewarding activities, leading to employee satisfaction. Satisfied employees tend to perform better and stay with organizations for longer times.

Enterprises worldwide are adopting automation solutions across various departments to streamline business operations. Some of the key areas where automation software and tools are being used widely are customer support, marketing, social media engagement, administrative activities, sales and analytics. Regardless of the size or nature of your business, introducing automation can prove to be a winning strategy and transform your business significantly.

How is analytics reforming healthcare?

by | Feb 26, 2018 | Data and Analytics

Big data and analytics are playing a strong role in revolutionizing healthcare services. Check out how analytics is impacting the healthcare industry.

In today’s digital world, data drives industries. Enterprises are rapidly becoming data-intensive with information coming from various sources and in various forms. Analytics helps in leveraging this big data to strategize and improve performance.

There’s been a huge shift in the way industries operate with the use of analytics in decision making. Healthcare is one such area where analytics plays a major role in driving operations and delivering services.

Healthcare analytics focuses on understanding clinical and pharmaceutical data in a logical and profitable manner to allow healthcare entrepreneurs make sustainable decisions. Here are five ways in which healthcare analytics is improving the way healthcare is provided worldwide.

Accurate Diagnosis
Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect to providing quality healthcare. Analytics has increased the accuracy of medical diagnosis. With the help of advanced analytics and algorithms, a patient’s medical condition can be diagnosed more accurately than before. For example, by combining Genomics (the study of genes) and analytics, it is now much easier to determine which gene in a patient’s body is responsible for a rare medical condition.

Preventive Medicine
Analytics also helps physicians and medical professionals predict the occurrence of diseases beforehand based on several factors. These include environmental factors, disease agents and lifestyle choices. For instance, by analyzing the disease trends and connected Electronic Health Records (EHR), the presence of a flu or virus can be predicted and medications for the same can be provided before it affects the masses. This is especially helpful in preventing epidemics and improving public health.

Personalized Treatment
Personalized medicine or precision medicine is the practice of developing tailored treatment methods and drugs. Personalized treatment enables hospitals to offer patient-specific treatments and fight rare diseases. Analytics helps determine the root causes of diseases and helps in producing personalized medicines for them. As of 2017, the global market for personalized medicine was estimated to be worth some $1.58 billion, forecasting a growth up to nearly $2.8 billion by 2022.

Improved Patient Experience
It is critical for healthcare organizations to offer quality healthcare throughout the patient cycle. Several healthcare enterprises are now using analytics to understand patient progress, monitor health status and offer proactive care. Doctors are also offering wearable devices to ensure that the health of their patients can be monitored even after they’ve been sent home. This eventually leads to better patient experience and improved brand image.

Clinical Data Security
Today’s healthcare industry is driven by data. Every day, heaps of clinical data is collected by healthcare organizations. A lot of this data is sensitive in nature, such as patient medical history, confidential details etc. This data needs to be protected to avoid security incidents and comply with healthcare regulations. Analytics helps identify the loopholes in clinical data management and take measures to secure such sensitive clinical data.

This is the era of massive digital transformation. Analytics is impacting the healthcare industry in the most progressive way. From clinical analytics to predictive analytics and wearable technology, the healthcare industry has come a long way in offering quality and value-based services. The healthcare analytics market is expected to reach USD 24.55 Billion by 2021. In the coming years, analytics will be at the forefront of healthcare, substantially improving global health and wellness.

Sources:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-healthcare-analytics-med…

Impacts of mobility on the business world

by | Feb 12, 2018 | Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation

Mobile technology is a growing business trend. Here are 5 reasons why you must consider adopting mobility in your enterprise.

Mobile phones are an integral part of our daily lives. A research conducted by British psychologists states that an average adult spends roughly 5 hours in a day using his phone.

Thanks to smartphones that come with numerous apps that make life simpler as well as entertaining. From online shopping to food delivery, web maps to mobile banking, and social media to self-healthcare apps, there’s an app for almost everything today.

As much as 269 billion mobile apps were downloaded in 2017. This rapid growth in the mobility sector is inspiring all businesses to embrace mobile technology in some form or the other. In this article, we have listed out the top 5 reasons why all businesses need to enter the world of mobility.

Greater accessibility
This is the era of hand-held devices. As of February 2017, mobile devices accounted for 49.74 percent of internet usage worldwide. Mobility is reshaping the way businesses reach out to customers. Increased mobile data usage is pushing enterprises to think ‘Mobile First’. Mobility ensures that your customers can access your products and services anytime from anywhere. It also enables you as a business to attract potential customers and engage existing customers effectively through interactive apps and mobile responsive sites.

Improved customer service
In a world where customer is the king, businesses are constantly on their toes to offer better customer service and enhance customer relations. Mobility is hugely impacting customer experience in multiple ways. It enables you to offer a personalized shopping experience based on customer purchase histories and preferences. It also facilitates faster and easier troubleshooting with 24X7 customer support. Mobility is turning out to be the foundation of excellent customer engagement.

Renewed marketing strategies
Gone are the days when marketers used to shoot email campaigns to customers only to get spammed later. Mobility is changing the role of marketing. While 65 percent of email is spam, less than 10 percent of SMS is. Traditional marketing methods are being reformed and mobile technology is being used more and more to capture markets and promote products and services. Marketers are using SMS marketing, mobile advertising and social media marketing, changing overall marketing strategies based on target markets.

Enhanced internal communication
In addition to using mobile technology to engage customers and increase sales, businesses are also developing applications and web portals to facilitate internal business communication. It is a great way to establish a strong network across the enterprise. Today, about 60% employees use apps for work-related activities. Whether it’s sharing important business information, or keeping them engaged and ensuring business goals are effectively met, enterprise mobility is now a critical component to improving internal business communications.

Better branding
Mobile technology and mobility tools expose your business to millions of potential customers, leading to improved brand awareness. The more your customers know about you, the more they’re likely to do business with you. The customer always wants more. Having a mobile responsive site, a round-the-clock support mechanism, a well-performing app, are all ways to improve your business brand and get an edge over competitors.

The concept of mobility is exciting because it is technology made portable. In a world where the customer is time-poor, businesses have to go that extra mile to offer convenience. Mobility delivers convenience, flexibility and speed, which is why customers are embracing it in all ways. Have you already entered the world of mobility to improve your business?

Prem Shankar Patel
Senior Manager
Prem brings nearly three decades of analytics and information management experience to Estuate. He is a recognized expert who has received several awards over the years. In 2003, he was awarded the Center of Excellence (CoE) Champion Award for introduction of advanced training and certification for BIDW architects and consultants. In FY03-04 and FY04-05, he received the Best Faculty of the Year Award for his significant and effective contribution as a faculty member in the delivery of BIDW training. Previously in 2005, he received the Feather in My Cap (FIMC) Award for defining metrics for BIDW projects and establishing organizational norms. Prior to joining Estuate, Prem worked in various strategic positions at Wipro Limited and R S Software (India) Ltd. He holds an M. Tech in Computer Science from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Nagaraja Kini
Founder and Chief Financial Officer
Nagaraja has more than two decades of engineering, business development, consulting, alliances and management experience in software development, integration and implementation. He has worked extensively with global teams to consistently simplify ERP implementations for businesses. Nagaraja brings with him the commitment, willingness, and capability to anticipate and act on the continually evolving needs of a business.
Prior to founding Estuate, Nagaraja served at Oracle as Director in Application and Industry Solutions group within Global Sales Support. Nagaraja holds a Master of Technology in Industrial Electronics from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, and a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the SJ College of Engineering, Mysore, India.
Nagaraja Kini
Founder and Chief Financial Officer
Nagaraja has more than two decades of engineering, business development, consulting, alliances and management experience in software development, integration and implementation. He has worked extensively with global teams to consistently simplify ERP implementations for businesses. Nagaraja brings with him the commitment, willingness, and capability to anticipate and act on the continually evolving needs of a business. Prior to founding Estuate, Nagaraja served at Oracle as Director in Application and Industry Solutions group within Global Sales Support. Nagaraja holds a Master of Technology in Industrial Electronics from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, and a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the SJ College of Engineering, Mysore, India.
Marc Hebert
Chief Operating Officer
Marc joined Estuate in December, 2008 as its first Chief Operating Officer. Marc is a recognized expert on offshore outsourcing. He has appeared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, was interviewed in Investor’s Business Daily, and has been widely quoted in major media publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, New York Times and Boston Globe on offshore outsourcing. He is recognized as an “IBM Champion” for his role in expanding the market for IBM’s Information Lifecycle Governance product line.
Prior to Estuate, he served in leadership roles at large global corporations, including as the CMO at Virtusa Corporation; EVP, Marketing and Alliances for Sierra Atlantic; and Vice President for eight years at Oracle Corporation. Marc holds a Bachelor of Science degree in experimental psychology from Harvard University, and an MBA from Stanford University.
Marc Hebert
Chief Operating Officer
Marc joined Estuate in December, 2008 as its first Chief Operating Officer. Marc is a recognized expert on offshore outsourcing. He has appeared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, was interviewed in Investor’s Business Daily, and has been widely quoted in major media publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, New York Times and Boston Globe on offshore outsourcing. He is recognized as an “IBM Champion” for his role in expanding the market for IBM’s Information Lifecycle Governance product line. Prior to Estuate, he served in leadership roles at large global corporations, including as the CMO at Virtusa Corporation; EVP, Marketing and Alliances for Sierra Atlantic; and Vice President for eight years at Oracle Corporation. Marc holds a Bachelor of Science degree in experimental psychology from Harvard University, and an MBA from Stanford University.
Seemakiran Upadhya
Global Delivery Head and Managing Director, India
Seemakiran brings to Estuate more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry. She has been successful in building high-performing teams for the Delivery, Sales, and Operations departments. She was instrumental in setting up Estuate’s India center. Prior to joining Estuate, Seemakiran worked at Satyam, where she developed, tested, and implemented software projects in Oracle Technologies across multiple domains. She is highly proficient at working with a global client base.
Seemakiran holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Karnataka University.
Seemakiran Upadhya
Global Delivery Head and Managing Director, India
Seemakiran brings to Estuate more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry. She has been successful in building high-performing teams for the Delivery, Sales, and Operations departments. She was instrumental in setting up Estuate’s India center. Prior to joining Estuate, Seemakiran worked at Satyam, where she developed, tested, and implemented software projects in Oracle Technologies across multiple domains. She is highly proficient at working with a global client base. Seemakiran holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Karnataka University.
Prem Shankar Patel
Senior Manager
Prem brings nearly three decades of analytics and information management experience to Estuate. He is a recognized expert who has received several awards over the years. In 2003, he was awarded the Center of Excellence (CoE) Champion Award for introduction of advanced training and certification for BIDW architects and consultants. In FY03-04 and FY04-05, he received the Best Faculty of the Year Award for his significant and effective contribution as a faculty member in the delivery of BIDW training.
Previously in 2005, he received the Feather in My Cap (FIMC) Award for defining metrics for BIDW projects and establishing organizational norms. Prior to joining Estuate, Prem worked in various strategic positions at Wipro Limited and R S Software (India) Ltd. He holds an M. Tech in Computer Science from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Prem Shankar Patel
Senior Manager
Prem brings nearly three decades of analytics and information management experience to Estuate. He is a recognized expert who has received several awards over the years. In 2003, he was awarded the Center of Excellence (CoE) Champion Award for introduction of advanced training and certification for BIDW architects and consultants. In FY03-04 and FY04-05, he received the Best Faculty of the Year Award for his significant and effective contribution as a faculty member in the delivery of BIDW training. Previously in 2005, he received the Feather in My Cap (FIMC) Award for defining metrics for BIDW projects and establishing organizational norms. Prior to joining Estuate, Prem worked in various strategic positions at Wipro Limited and R S Software (India) Ltd. He holds an M. Tech in Computer Science from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Sreekantha B. S.
Head Strategic Projects
Sreekantha brings to Estuate more than 33 years of experience in IT. He has successfully sold and delivered over 130 turnkey software projects worldwide for various clients across a variety of sectors - from software, finance, manufacturing, utilities, services, and more. Prior to joining Estuate, Sreekantha led Buzznet (a Malaysian software company) for 17 years and Inventa Corporation (a US-based software company having an office in Malaysia) for 6 years.
Through his experience, Sreekantha brings in-depth knowledge of software engineering, delivery, and implementation of software projects across all technology sectors that have emerged over the last 30+ years. Sreekantha holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communications from Mysore University and a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Newport University, USA.
Sreekantha B. S.
Head Strategic Projects
Sreekantha brings to Estuate more than 33 years of experience in IT. He has successfully sold and delivered over 130 turnkey software projects worldwide for various clients across a variety of sectors - from software, finance, manufacturing, utilities, services, and more. Prior to joining Estuate, Sreekantha led Buzznet (a Malaysian software company) for 17 years and Inventa Corporation (a US-based software company having an office in Malaysia) for 6 years. Through his experience, Sreekantha brings in-depth knowledge of software engineering, delivery, and implementation of software projects across all technology sectors that have emerged over the last 30+ years. Sreekantha holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communications from Mysore University and a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Newport University, USA.
Piyush Singh
Practice Head - Insurance
Piyush has fifteen years of work experience, including one year with Estuate. Piyush holds a Master of Computer Applications degree from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune. Piyush is a highly accomplished professional with a wealth of experience in IT services and product engineering. Piyush has worked with PwC and Accenture in the past and his last positions were Delivery Manager and Dev Lead respectively.
He has received the Great Performance award from PwC and the ACE award from Accenture. Piyush has also delivered many end-to-end projects on a medium to large scale.
Piyush Singh
Practice Head - Insurance
Piyush has fifteen years of work experience, including one year with Estuate. Piyush holds a Master of Computer Applications degree from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune. Piyush is a highly accomplished professional with a wealth of experience in IT services and product engineering. Piyush has worked with PwC and Accenture in the past and his last positions were Delivery Manager and Dev Lead respectively. He has received the Great Performance award from PwC and the ACE award from Accenture. Piyush has also delivered many end-to-end projects on a medium to large scale.
Subbarao Satyavolu
Chief Delivery Officer, Americas
Subbarao is a results oriented Senior Leader with 30+ years experience in Enterprise Solution Consulting, Enterprise Program Management, Digital Enterprise Transformation/IT Modernization, Product Engineering, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), IT Service and Operations Management (ITSM/ITOM) and Strategic Account management. Global experience in building & managing high performing teams in solving complex business & technological challenges for the clients
Subbarao is a proven problem solver with extensive experience in the IT industry. He has been recognized as an outstanding performer by his employers, Hitachi/Sierra Atlantic and Computer Sciences Corp (CSC). Subbarao has also been certified in Six Sigma and Project Delivery Excellence by CSC University. In addition, Subbarao is certified in Supply Chain Management and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Subbarao holds an M. Tech in Computer Aided Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and has also completed an Executive Development program at Cornell University in New York.
Subbarao Satyavolu
Chief Delivery Officer, Americas
Subbarao is a results oriented Senior Leader with 30+ years experience in Enterprise Solution Consulting, Enterprise Program Management, Digital Enterprise Transformation/IT Modernization, Product Engineering, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), IT Service and Operations Management (ITSM/ITOM) and Strategic Account management. Global experience in building & managing high performing teams in solving complex business & technological challenges for the clients. Subbarao is a proven problem solver with extensive experience in the IT industry. He has been recognized as an outstanding performer by his employers, Hitachi/Sierra Atlantic and Computer Sciences Corp (CSC). Subbarao has also been certified in Six Sigma and Project Delivery Excellence by CSC University. In addition, Subbarao is certified in Supply Chain Management and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Subbarao holds an M. Tech in Computer Aided Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and has also completed an Executive Development program at Cornell University in New York.
Satya Bobba
SVP, Global Head of GRC and Customer Success
Satya Bobba brings more than 20+ years of experience in building market-leading enterprise SaaS products and solutions. Her experience spans engineering, cloud strategy, business development and customer success. Her passion is to help customers achieve GRC goals while simplifying their processes and reduce implementation costs. She brings more than 14 years of domain experience in building and delivering GRC solutions to top enterprise customers across Financial Services, Life sciences, Hi-Tech, Healthcare and Quality verticals.
Prior to joining Estuate, she worked at MetricStream as AVP Cloud Strategy, Global Head of Platform Engineering and Head of Advanced Engineering GRC Products and Services. Earlier in her career, at AOL and Netscape she held technical roles in enterprise server technologies and personalization frameworks. She has a bachelor degree in Computer Science from Andhra University.
Satya Bobba
SVP, Global Head of GRC and Customer Success
Satya Bobba brings more than 20+ years of experience in building market-leading enterprise SaaS products and solutions. Her experience spans engineering, cloud strategy, business development and customer success. Her passion is to help customers achieve GRC goals while simplifying their processes and reduce implementation costs. She brings more than 14 years of domain experience in building and delivering GRC solutions to top enterprise customers across Financial Services, Life sciences, Hi-Tech, Healthcare and Quality verticals. Prior to joining Estuate, she worked at MetricStream as AVP Cloud Strategy, Global Head of Platform Engineering and Head of Advanced Engineering GRC Products and Services. Earlier in her career, at AOL and Netscape she held technical roles in enterprise server technologies and personalization frameworks. She has a bachelor degree in Computer Science from Andhra University.
Prasanna Kulkarni
Vice President - Sales and Marketing
Prasanna is a seasoned Technology & Sales leader with over two decades of valuable global experience. Prasanna has been with Estuate for the past 5 years, leading the Sales and Marketing department with excellence. Prasanna holds a Bachelor of Engineering from GCoE, Amravati and a Stanford Advanced Program Management qualification from Stanford Center for Professional Development. Before joining Estuate, Prasanna held various leadership roles at HCL, Wipro, Nihilent Technologies, and Godrej.
Prasanna Kulkarni
Vice President – Global Sales and Marketing
Prasanna is a seasoned Technology & Sales leader with over two decades of valuable global experience. Prasanna has been with Estuate for the past 5 years, leading the Sales and Marketing department with excellence. Prasanna holds a Bachelor of Engineering from GCoE, Amravati and a Stanford Advanced Program Management qualification from Stanford Center for Professional Development. Before joining Estuate, Prasanna held various leadership roles at HCL, Wipro, Nihilent Technologies, and Godrej.
Stanley Perumala
Global Practice Delivery Lead
Stanley Perumala is the Global Practice Delivery Lead with 8.6 years at Estuate. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from International Technological University, which is his area of specialization. Stanley has 16 years of experience and has held various positions at Netpace, Cognizant and Hewlett-Packard. He has received multiple accolades for his achievements such as building an innovation segment with zuora and leading the BRM practice.
Stanley is a key contributor for the BRM practice, having built the team from the ground up and building the core team for the same.
Stanley Perumala
Global Practice Delivery Lead
Stanley Perumala is the Global Practice Delivery Lead with 8.6 years at Estuate. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from International Technological University, which is his area of specialization. Stanley has 16 years of experience and has held various positions at Netpace, Cognizant and Hewlett-Packard. He has received multiple accolades for his achievements such as building an innovation segment with zuora and leading the BRM practice. Stanley is a key contributor for the BRM practice, having built the team from the ground up and building the core team for the same.
Prakash Balebail
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Prakash brings more than two decades of software development & implementation experience, including over 16 years in several key roles in Oracle Corporation. His management principle has been to provide commitment to continuously improve how he serves all of his customers, partners, and employees by anticipating their needs and exceeding their expectations through a culture of creativity & forward thinking.
Prior to founding Estuate, Prakash was the Senior Director in Oracle Applications Global Sales Solutions team, which built complex Oracle E-Business Suite application demonstrations for Sales activities. Additionally, he had leadership roles in the development of Oracle’s much-acclaimed Business Flow Accelerator (BFA) for the E-Business suite. During this time, Prakash also built the highly-regarded India operations team from the ground up. Prakash holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Karnataka University in India.
Prakash Balebail
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Prakash brings more than two decades of software development & implementation experience, including over 16 years in several key roles in Oracle Corporation. His management principle has been to provide commitment to continuously improve how he serves all of his customers, partners, and employees by anticipating their needs and exceeding their expectations through a culture of creativity & forward thinking. Prior to founding Estuate, Prakash was the Senior Director in Oracle Applications Global Sales Solutions team, which built complex Oracle E-Business Suite application demonstrations for Sales activities. Additionally, he had leadership roles in the development of Oracle’s much-acclaimed Business Flow Accelerator (BFA) for the E-Business suite. During this time, Prakash also built the highly-regarded India operations team from the ground up. Prakash holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Karnataka University in India.
Geetha Somayaji
Vice President Finance & Human Resources
Geetha brings over two decades of experience to Estuate in her role as an accomplished leader of Finance and Human Resources. Since joining the company in 2011, she has been instrumental in developing the financial infrastructure of the company alongside the founders, and she has come to be known a a cherished mentor to many within the organization. Geetha holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and Accountancy from Bangalore University, India.
Prior to her role at Estuate, she worked in payroll processing and tax returns for Gene's Fine Foods and Jay's Tax & Keeping Services. In her personal time, Geetha enjoys exploring the outdoors and spending quality time with her family.
Geetha Somayaji
Vice President Finance & Human Resources
Geetha brings over two decades of experience to Estuate in her role as an accomplished leader of Finance and Human Resources. Since joining the company in 2011, she has been instrumental in developing the financial infrastructure of the company alongside the founders, and she has come to be known as a cherished mentor to many within the organization. Geetha holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and Accountancy from Bangalore University, India. Prior to her role at Estuate, she worked in payroll processing and tax returns for Gene's Fine Foods and Jay's Tax & Keeping Services. In her personal time, Geetha enjoys exploring the outdoors and spending quality time with her family.
Brad Rickman
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
Brad Rickman is Estuate's Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) providing oversight and leadership for customer success, sales, marketing as well as strategic partnerships. He is passionate about building customer relationships that grow multiple years over through delivering world class value as a technology partner. Brad has over 30 years experience in the software and technology industry in verticals of telecom/media, retail and ecommerce, financial Services, utilities and healthcare.
Prior to Estuate, Brad was CEO of SmarTek21 for six years, a technology services company where he led a team that grew top line revenues by 3X and EBITDA by 5X in his tenure. Prior experiences include Senior leadership positions in sales and marketing at T-Mobile, Ericsson, Deloitte, and six early stage software companies that grew to market values of over $1B.
Brad Rickman
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
Brad Rickman is Estuate's Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) providing oversight and leadership for customer success, sales, marketing as well as strategic partnerships. He is passionate about building customer relationships that grow multiple years over through delivering world class value as a technology partner. Brad has over 30 years experience in the software and technology industry in verticals of telecom/media, retail and ecommerce, financial Services, utilities and healthcare. Prior to Estuate, Brad was CEO of SmarTek21 for six years, a technology services company where he led a team that grew top line revenues by 3X and EBITDA by 5X in his tenure. Prior experiences include Senior leadership positions in sales and marketing at T-Mobile, Ericsson, Deloitte, and six early stage software companies that grew to market values of over $1B.
Ron Judd
SVP, Business Development
Ron Judd is a client-focused and problem-solving senior leader who focuses on balancing business impact and technology for clients. Ron's curious nature challenges teams to discover "how the client benefits in both quantifiable and qualitative results." Ron brings deep domain knowledge in technologies, including digital transformation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), experience management (CX), governance, risk & compliance (GRC), IT service and operations management (ITSM/ITOM),
content management (WCM), hierarchical decision analysis, tech-debt reduction programs, application programming interfaces (API), robotic processing automation (RPA), and chatbot, from across financial services, healthcare, consumer products, retail, and manufacturing industries. With over 30 years of experience in client engagement roles, Ron focuses on developing and maintaining relationships across organizations.
Prior to joining Estuate, Ron served in sales, marketing, and product leadership roles with IBM, SmarTek21, RoadBotics, InMoment, OpenText, Interwoven, PictureTel, and NEC Japan, as well as several early-stage technology startup firms. Ron lives and works in the Greater Boston area with his wife and family and maximizes his personal time by spending it with family, officiating college soccer, and taking care of several horses. Ron graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with degrees in Business and Computer Science.
Ron Judd
SVP, Business Development
Ron Judd is a client-focused and problem-solving senior leader who focuses on balancing business impact and technology for clients. Ron's curious nature challenges teams to discover "how the client benefits in both quantifiable and qualitative results." Ron brings deep domain knowledge in technologies, including digital transformation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), experience management (CX), governance, risk & compliance (GRC), IT service and operations management (ITSM/ITOM), content management (WCM), hierarchical decision analysis, tech-debt reduction programs, application programming interfaces (API), robotic processing automation (RPA), and chatbot, from across financial services, healthcare, consumer products, retail, and manufacturing industries. With over 30 years of experience in client engagement roles, Ron focuses on developing and maintaining relationships across organizations. Prior to joining Estuate, Ron served in sales, marketing, and product leadership roles with IBM, SmarTek21, RoadBotics, InMoment, OpenText, Interwoven, PictureTel, and NEC Japan, as well as several early-stage technology startup firms. Ron lives and works in the Greater Boston area with his wife and family and maximizes his personal time by spending it with family, officiating college soccer, and taking care of several horses. Ron graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with degrees in Business and Computer Science.