Raj Jain
Vice-chairman & managing director, RS Software (India)

Software professionals opting for their own venture after a stint abroad aren’t a rare breed. But Raj Jain, vice-chairman and managing director of RS Software (India), stands out. This is because in a state bereft of the presence of industry and IT firms, Jain was brave enough to choose Calcutta as the venue for his maiden venture. He put the city on the national software map when all else chose to ignore it.

The business, as such, came quite easy to him. He was always solid in academics. Jain did his schooling from Bishop Cotton, Simla. He went on to do his graduation from St Xaviers College, Calcutta. After that, he moved to the US where he acquired his second baccalaureate, majoring in software engineering and marketing. Subsequently, he also did his MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

If the software engineering background allowed him to become an entrepreneur in hi-tech space, his MBA programme helped him identify a clear vision, and chart out the strategy for his venture. Some experience was also needed. So Jain put in time as a software consultant in Los Angeles.

“I could visualise the huge opportunity emerging as a result of the rapid developments in the fields of computers and telecommunications,” says Jain. “I was good at analysing any situation, and coming to a conclusion.” He realised that the demographic factors in the developed countries were such that there would be a fewer number of people available to go to universities and become software professionals. This would create a large gap in the supply of talent to build software applications for corporate America and corporate Europe. “I knew from the beginning that this trend would create a huge opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to leverage the availability of English-speaking engineering talent,” he says.

Outsourcing was catching on. The traditional Indian markets for talent were being cherry picked by leading software companies. Calcutta, a virgin market then, beckoned. In November 1991, Jyoti Basu, West Bengal chief minister at the time, inaugurated RS Software.

It wasn’t a cakewalk, however. Jain had to face his share of hurdles. Says he: “Although India’s economic liberalisation process was in the making, I had to deal with significant bureaucratic challenges to obtain the licence needed to import the latest IBM 390 technology into India. Working with Indian banks was the next challenge as Indian financial institutions and the laws in India presupposed lending against tangible assets only, making it difficult for them to appreciate the potential of knowledge assets like software applications.”

It needed patience and perseverance. He had acquired that. From an early age, Jain read Dr S. Radhakrishnan and this greatly shaped his philosophy of life. Combined with the values of Jainism, instilled at home from an early age, this shaped his business principles. “These values enabled me to build an organisational culture that believes in maximising value to all its stakeholders, both through the growth years as well as the “downturn” years of the Indian software industry,” adds Jain.

Jain has taken RS Software from a humble start-up in 1991 to become a $25 million revenue company, as estimated for the current fiscal year.

When the IT industry got impacted globally by the dotcom bust phenomena and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Jain built a strong turnaround management team, to ensure the company’s recovery in a quick time frame.

And for his work and initiative, he has been feted widely. In 1999, Ernst & Young acknowledged his success by conferring on him the Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Jain served on the executive council of NASSCOM and is also a member of the Calcutta Chapter of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organisation) and TIE (The IndUS Entrepreneurs).

So what keeps this techie going? “I enjoy reading various business magazines and surfing the Net for current business and technology updates. I exercise regularly and enjoy my occasional game of golf. And then there’s socialising and the opportunity to catch up with family and friends,” signs off Jain.

Based on a conversation with Shibani Chattopadhyay in Calcutta