Mrutyunjay’s Dad had asked him a few years back, “What work are you doing in Mumbai?”
Mrutyunjay said, “I am designing structure for an Olympic category sports complex for a client in the US.”
“Why can not you do it, sitting in Hubli ?” his Dad, an agriculturist had asked.
This brief and logical question set the tone for Mrutyunjay’s entry into entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurial behavior was always a part of him, even when he was working as an employee for engineering design companies. And people around him knew this very much. His Dad only provoked him to think louder.
With the communication infrastructure no more constraint and Hubli being touted as only next to Bengalore in the business and urbanization landscape of Karnataka; it was right time for Mrutyunjay to take plunge into business entrepreneurship.
The time was also ripe as Indian IT industry was preparing to open up its third frontier, Engineering Service Operations, as an outsourcing concept for engineering design and detailing work.
Born was Pluto; now incubated in the STPI incubation center at Hubli, the commercial and business capital of North Karnataka.
With over 2 decades of hands on experience in each and every aspect of infrastructure development related engineering design and detailing; Mrutyunjay had the right background. After, initial struggle that involved intense training of its engineering resources, Pluto now has faithful clients who prefer its high quality engineering skills that deliver projects with international class of processes.
Unlike the other branches of IT outsourcing, i.e. IT services and BPO; ESO (engineering service outsourcing), is highly specialized skill based service. Despite India’s huge college pass outs every year, not many directly fit into these organizations. That is where Mrutyunjay and his lieutenants have work cutout to build a formidable skill sets.
They are aware that Pluto is into a service business, however technically specific it is. They also know that creating a differentiation is only way to find a unique position in the marketplace. But creating differentiation in a service business is not easy. Is it quality, speed, size, scope, skill-set or price, that they need to focus ? They know that it is futile to excel on all parameters, and should they try that they will thin out soon and might get killed.
Pluto is working out an innovative way of delivering service that most of the service companies do not consider; and even when they realize a need to, it would be too late.
Lets wait and see what the team Pluto identifies to focus on and build ‘service excellence’ in engineering detailing and design business outsourcing, that will make them a preferred service provider. And just to remind you, Mrutyunjay is not building his value proposition around inherent low cost structure of Hubli, rather taking a path… less traveled.
What are the market reports on ESO ?
Check the Booz Allen Hamilton forecast that projects a $50b outsourcing opportunity for Indian Service Organizations in ESO space. Top this up with the growing infrastructure, engineering and manufacturing thrust in India. And of course the new manufacturing policy in India. While a huge opportunity is unfolding abroad, multinational engineering giants building shops in india, are looking out for great deal of outsourcing their engineering activities that directly feed into Indian growth story. And then the way, Airtel outsourced India’s biggest IT service outsourcing deal to IBM; expect Indian engineering companies getting into multi million dollar long term deals in ESO.
Above all, NASSCOM feels that ESO will buffer image and growth story of Indian IT services, by taking it higher on the value chain.