A Report submission as part of evaluation for Operations Management

Professor: Dr. Satyajit Majumdar

Organisation Selected:

Electronic City, Sector 18,

Gurgaon, Haryana 122015
www.aricent.com
Submitted by:
Avinash Kumar Singh
M2014HRM010

About Me:
I am Avinash Kumar Singh and am from Harinagar, a small town in Bihar. I have completed my
B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communications engineering post which I worked for Aricent as
Software Engineer Trainee for 8 months. I learnt the core values of focus, perseverance and
patience at an early stage in my life. My father who is a patient, disciplined and determined
individual, would spend countless number of hours in his endeavours to build his business from
scratch and thus has always acted as a source of inspiration for me. Living in hostels all my life, I
have built adaptability as one of my strongest traits and be it as a School Prefect or a College Student
Placement Coordinator, it has been my belief that one can be held in high esteem only when the
organization he/she is associated with too earns respect.

INDIAN IT INDUSTRY
Introduction:
IT industry in India has been one of the most significant growth contributors for the Indian economy.
The industry has played a significant role in transforming Indias image from a slow moving
bureaucratic economy to a land of innovative entrepreneurs and a global player in providing world
class technology solutions and business services. The industry has helped India transform from a
rural and agriculture-based economy to a knowledge based economy.
India is the world's largest sourcing destination for the information technology (IT) industry,
accounting for approximately 52 per cent of the US$ 124-130 billion market. The industry employs
about 10 million Indians and continues to contribute significantly to the social and economic
transformation in the country. India's cost competitiveness in providing IT services, which is
approximately 3-4 times cheaper than the US, continues to be its unique selling proposition (USP) in
the global sourcing market.
The Indian IT and ITeS industry is divided into four major segments IT services, business process
management (BPM), software products and engineering services, and hardware. The IT-BPM sector
in India grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per cent over 2000-2013, which is 3-4
times higher than the global IT-BPM spend, and is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 9.5 per cent to
US$ 300 billion by 2020.
Revenue and Growth [1]:

Government Initiatives [2]:

The adoption of key technologies across sectors spurred by the 'Digital India Initiative' could help
boost India's gross domestic product (GDP) by US$ 550 billion to US$ 1 trillion by 2025, as per
research firm McKinsey.
Some of the major initiatives taken by the government to promote IT and ITeS sector in India are as
follows:
India and the United States (US) have agreed to jointly explore opportunities for collaboration
on implementing India's ambitious Rs 1.13 trillion (US$ 18.22 billion) Digital India
Initiative. The two sides also agreed to hold the US-India Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Working Group in India later this year.
India and Japan held a Joint Working Group conference for Comprehensive Cooperation
Framework for ICT. India also offered Japan to manufacture ICT equipment in India.
The Government of Telangana began construction of a technology incubator in Hyderabad
dubbed T-Hubto reposition the city as a technology destination. The state government is
initially investing Rs 35 crore (US$ 5.64 million) to set up a 60,000 sq ft space, labelled the
largest start-up incubator in the county, at the campus of International Institute of Information
Technology-Hyderabad (IIIT-H). Once completed, the project is proposed to be the worlds
biggest start-up incubator housing 1,000 start-ups.
Bengaluru has received US$ 2.6 billion in venture capital (VC) investments in 2014, making
it the fifth largest recipient globally during the year, an indication of the growing vibrancy of
its startup ecosystem. Among countries, India received the third highest VC funding worth
US$ 4.6 billion.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANISATION [3]

Timeline:

1991:
Established as
Hughes
Software
Systems (HSS)
inNew
Delhidevelopin
g
softwaresolutio
nsin the areas
of VSAT-based
networks.

2004:
Was acquired
byFlextronics, and
changed its name to
Flextronics Software
Systems
(FSS).Expanded
development
operations
inKiev,Khersonand
Vinnytsiain
theUkraine;Randbur
g,South Africa;
andBeijing,China.

2006:
Was acquired by
Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts and Sequoia
Capital as part of a
$900 million sales of
software
companies.
Renamed to Aricent
with headquarters at
New Jersey.

2009:
Aricent Approved for
Latest CMMI Level 5.
2011:
Rebranded to Aricent
Group.
2013:
Rebranded to Aricent
and shifts headquarters
to California.

Aricent develops software and provides technology services to application, infrastructure, and
service providers with operations in 19 countries worldwide.
The company is one of the largest privately held companies in Silicon Valley, with 800 customers,
and employs more than 10,000 consultants, designers, and engineers at 36 locations worldwide. The

company licenses its own software products for use in telecommunications design, manufacturing,
and service with 40+ years' design experience through frog, including products for Apple, Disney,
GE, HP, Sony, and many other Fortune 500 brands. The products group at Aricent is one of the
market leaders providing enabling software to leading telecommunication companies all over the
world. Aricent licenses more than 125 software frameworks to equipment manufacturers, device
manufacturers and service providers.
Market Segments:
1. Embedded Systems: Aricents Semiconductor & Embedded solutions are specifically
designed to accelerate time to market, optimize cost and improve productivity for customers
across industry segments. Aricent provides a one stop shop solution for Semiconductor
companies, OEM/ODMs and Carrier service providers for all Embedded System Integration
requirements.
2. Software and Internet Services: Aricent offers unique expertise in connectivity, device
engineering, Social, Mobile, Cloud and Analytics enablement of applications and services
expertise that has helped software and Internet service vendors accelerate product
development, customization and the testing of both application and back-office platforms.
3. Communication Infrastructure: This forms the core of the Aricents business. Being a
market leader in this field Aricent provides end to end solution in this domain. From helping
telecom equipment manufacturers identify critical market requirements for broadband
products, translate them into specific product requirements and target the ideal product
phasing for different product features to the later part of testing and product support services
Aricent provides all.

MULTIMEDIA
DEVICES
APPLICATIONS
MANAGEMENT
SECURITY
MOBILE & SOCIAL
ANALYTICS
CLOUD & DATA CENTER
M2M / loT
NEW NETWORKS
WIRELESS
WIRELINE

Figure: Demonstration of Aricents End to End solution for different services

The Embedded Systems and Software & Internet Services market segments of Aricent started in 2013
after the company sought to diversify its business through the skills it has acquired through its
experience in communication infrastructure domain. Not only this, Aricent has now been partnering
with different automotive companies to provide Human interface solutions for the upcoming concept

cars. Communication infrastructure segment still today is the main stay of the Aricents business
accounting up to 60% of its business. The business processes of the company are like any typical IT
services company which range from Client acquisition to software rollout to providing onsite support
services.
BUSINESS PROCESSES OF THE ORGANISATION [4]
For all the market segments especially Aricent is divided into three departments. They are:
1. Product Engineering Services (PES): The Product engineering services department is the
name given to the development department of the organisation. This branch helps designing
the products and developing software for the same with the initial testing.
2. Testing: This department coordinates with the Product Engineering Services and works
simultaneously on the product being designed to find bugs and errors that might create
problem at the client side.
3. Product Support Services (PSS): This department of the organisation helps in the
maintenance of the product at the client side. This division works with the client in the
implementation of the product at the client side and after implementation providing after sale
service for the product till the service life of the product.
To support the above departments there are various enabling functions in the organisation. These
enabling functions are:
1. Human Resources: This function is one of the most important functions for the organisation
as employees work in a high pressure environment and Human Resources helps employees to
work efficiently in that high pressure environment by providing various services ranging from
as small as facilitating concierge services to as critical as caring for the employees family in
case of medical emergency.
2. Finance: Finance provides following services to the business:
a. To the Board of Directors and Investors:
Plays a crucial role to increase shareholder value, manage financial risk, control costs
and ensure compliance with exacting governance regulations.
b. To Managers:
Timely and relevant input to improve the quality of their decisions and to provide
better methods of planning, managing and monitoring performance.
c. To Employees:
Provides various services that help optimize their financial tasks in the areas of salary,
advances, reimbursements and taxation. The effort is to resolve their queries and
problems in a timely and accurate manner.
3. IT: This functions helps in satisfying day to day needs for requirement of hardware and
software needs of the internal clients, i.e, PES, Testing, PSS, HR, Finance, Legal, etc.

4. Legal: It supports Aricents strategic ambitions and helps in achieving high standards
of ethics and compliance. It aims to provide responsive, innovative and practical approaches
globally to manage risk in Aricents business operations.
5. Marketing: It helps in acquisition of new clients, management of existing clients and
maintaining the brand image of the organisation.

6. Quality: The Quality Group, along with Subject Matter Experts; defines, develops, maintains
and continually improves software development and allied processes, and also provides
support through trainings, audits, management reviews and rewards. The Quality Group also
ensures company-wide certification and compliance to the most appropriate quality standards
in the telecommunications software industry.
7. Procurement: The role of procurement commences immediately upon receipt of an
approved Resource Requisition and completes on the handover of the material to the user, bar
coding it and releasing payment to the vendor. Procurement at Aricent is driven by the
objective of institutionalizing the industry best practices to constantly reduce the procurement
lead time and optimize the cost of acquisition.

8.

Real Estate and Facility Management (REFM): Facility management embraces a wide
range of function and support services, including janitorial services; Housekeeping, security;
property or building management; engineering services; space planning and accounting; mail
and messenger services; records management; Caf Services, Environment, Health and safety
systems, transport services Library, Gym, Front Desk and other support functions. It is the
job of the facility manager to create an environment that encourages productivity, is safe, is
pleasing to clients and customers, meets government mandates, and is efficient.

In Aricent a business process starts with the acquisition of a new client or acquisition of a new project
from an existing client. It can be represented as follows:
Business Development
(Functions Involved
Marketing, Finance, Legal,
Engineering Services)

Procurement of Resources
(Material & Human)
(Functions Involved Finance,
Procurement,
HR,
IT,
Engineering Services)

Implementation
&
Post
Implementation Services
(Functions Involved HR,
Product Support Services)

Infrastructure Setup
(Functions Involved
IT, HR and REFM)

Product Development
(Functions Involved IT, HR,
Product Engineering Services,
Testing, Quality)

Business Processes in Detail:

1. Business Development: The marketing team in collaboration with the consultants try and
find new clients - either by identifying business needs in a particular region and selling that
business idea to a client or by identifying business needs of a company and then selling the
Aricents competitive advantage to that company. Another method is to further assist the
existing clients to develop new technologies and enhance their product line in the areas of
expertise with Aricent. Eg.: Aricent helped develop Vodafone its 2G system first based on
simple BTS and then when FQxx BTS came in the market, Aricent only helped Vodafone
further develop 2G functionality based on the FQxx BTS.
The marketing team after developing a business client completes the deal by identifying
financial implications, forecasting of estimated date of delivery with the assistance of Product
Engineering services, legal formalities through the legal department and thus completes a
cycle of business development. After this the requirement forecasting is done and
procurement for the same is initiated.
2. Procurement of Resources (Material & Human): After the business development the
requirements are forecasted like number of machines, type of talent pool needed, required

human resource present or to be recruited, types of equipment needed for development and
testing, cables, wires and other consumables needed. After this forecasting the Procurement
function starts the procurement of needed items except the Human resources which is initiated
by the HR department. The Procurement function follows TL 9000 standards and it completes
all the processes from generating tender to payment to vendor.
3. Infrastructure Setup: The team to work upon the product would then require seating area,
security access to its designated areas, ID cards, travel support and cafeteria access which is
taken care by the Real Estate and Facility management function. The setup of needed IT
infrastructure is taken care by the IT team. All along both the teams collaborate with HR
department for better roll out of services to internal client.
4. Product Development: The product development is the business process where actual
development of the product takes place. Aricent has three competitive advantage in the
industry:
a. Speed: The IT space is a highly competitive space. Speed is of utmost importance and
this is what Aricent provides by utilising its resources to the full capacity and adhering
to Agile methodologies and certification models like CMMi certification this speed is
met with high quality standards. The work environment is such that majority of the
projects have been either completed under the normal forecasted completion time
period or under the forecasted extended time period. The speed and quality is achieved
by the following methods:
i. Cross functional teams are formed for a particular project such that each team
functions like an individual in a large team made of cross functional
disciplines. There would be a sub-team of developers expert in one domain of
the project, another sub-team of developers expert in another domain of the
project. Along with this there would be a sub-team of testers who would start
the testing simultaneously. Then there would be Principal System Engineer and
a team Director, a CRM and an Integrator. These sub-teams work like one
single team and hence completing smaller modules quickly and thus the
project on time.
ii. Quality is maintained by the team through following the CMMi guidelines and
to adhere to these standards the Quality department enforces strict compliance
and ensures that quality of code is maintained and a standard coding procedure
and bug reporting is followed throughout the organisation for better
coordination.

Figure: Quality Management in Aricent

b. Cost: The on-time product delivery and high resource utilisation, the Human Resource
cost which is one of the largest cost components of any IT industry is kept competitive
and is considered to be one of the most optimised in the industry.

c. End-to-End Solutions: Due to its in-built expertise Aricent provides an end-to-end

solution for the communication equipment manufacturers and communication service
providers. This stands out from other competitors as Aricent has a vast experience of
20+ years and a standard process throughout its team which helps in complete quality
product delivery on time due to all phases of products serviced through internal
clients. It provides from consultation to identify new business opportunities to product
support services.
5. Implementation and Post Implementation Support: After the completion the first phase of
implementation is the test phase of implementation where a CRM, one cross functional team
of Product Engineering and one team of Product Support services help the client in
identifying any bugs in the product and fixing if that bug. In the later stage with full
implementation, one team of Product Support Services helps the client in maintenance of the
product for the service life of the product.
Through these processes Aricent is able to fulfil its client need and through ensuring Speed &
Quality, Cost and end-to-end product solutions it is able to maintain the competitive advantage
that helps it to remain one of the largest Communication infrastructure services provider
organisation in the world.

Figure: Example of end-to-end solutions for various communication related solutions.

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT [4]
Human Resources department has been successfully partnering and co-creating an environment and
culture that leads to higher individual and organizational performance, adding value in the changing
business environment. All HR systems and processes are made in a way that are easily scalable and
aim to achieve excellence in services delivered, enabling high employee satisfaction. Being a global
player with centres across the globe, policies are framed with a global mind-set, catering to all
employees.
HR at Aricent is guided by the following:

1.

Developing the critical competencies at every level to manage changing customer and
employee expectations.

2.

Building a strong employer brand and meeting the talent requirement and more importantly
the right quality through the hiring engine.

3.

Building a culture that promotes employee engagement and performance accountability.

4.

Robust systems and processes to meet the requirement of a new scale of operations.

5.

Creating positive employee experience and internal customer delight.

Role of HR in Aricent:
1.

Resource Management: People are the key to Aricent's existence and operations. RM is the
centralized function for allocation and deployment of engineers to various projects. RM's goal
is to staff the organization optimally in order to meet the current and future needs timely
while keeping the cost under check. For projects, RM strives to ensure that they are fully
staffed on time with right skills. With engineers, RM works to match the allocations with
engineer's work preferences. Since, one of the key competitive advantages of the organisation
is COST the Resource management plays a vital role. It is taken care that no employee is kept
on bench and there is flexibility in movement of employees in terms of teams, technologies
and locations.

2. Learning and Development: Since, Aricent is consistently evolving and innovating so as to

meet the future demands of the business in which it operates L&D is an important function. It
is also important to maintain the flexibility of employee movement across different
technologies and roles. This helps in proper utilisation of the Human Resource and hence
cost-efficient operation. L&D Vision of Aricent Enable Aricent to become the best in class
Communications Software Company through an outstanding Learning and Education
environment. The 5 point manifesto of L&D in Aricent is:
a. An Effective Frontline Leadership that delivers project efficiencies
b. A cutting-edge Senior Leadership that defines and drives growth and profitability
c. Linkage to an Optimal Talent Mapping and Competency Development across the
organization
d. An environment towards total Customer Centricity
e. Learning and Development processes that are aligned to business goals
3. Reward & Recognition: Since Aricent works in a high speed, precision and quality
controlled environment it becomes necessary to celebrate excellence in the organisation and
rightly so, the Rewards and Recognition function at Aricent is named as Aricent celebrates
excellence. The recognition can be for any of the following behaviours:
1. Client First 2. Leadership
3. Collaboration
4. Innovation 5. Constantly Learning 6. People Management
7. Quality Delivery
4. Compensation & Benefits: Aricent strives to attract and retain the best talent in the industry
by striking a right balance in terms of compensation and people friendly practices that align
with organizations business strategy. Aricent derives its compensation philosophy primarily
from the following principles:
a. Market Oriented: Aricent periodically benchmarks with organizations of comparable
size and business on compensation levels and practices through participation in

industry compensation benchmarking surveys. Aricent arrives at its compensation

strategy for every fiscal year based on an appropriate level of competitive positioning
using an optimal budget that is in line with the business objectives for the fiscal.
b. Competitive Positioning: Aricent arrives at an appropriate compensation positioning
every year based on its business strategy for the year, market benchmarking data,
attrition levels across positions, and ability to retain as well as attract the best talent
from the market.
c. Equity: Equity is achieved by ensuring that people who are performing
similar/comparable roles with reference to the position profiles and with comparable
performance and potential should be within a narrow range in their respective salaries.
d. Pay for Performance: Aricent has a philosophy of distinguishing performance levels.
The salary increases (and hence the salaries) of employees at a relatively higher level
of performance rating would be higher. This promotes a culture of meritocracy, and
thereby encourages everyone to give their best.
5. Annual Performance Review: It helps the organisation and its leaders to assess the
organisations capabilities and expertise and thus offer best value to the client. It also help
managers to assess talent in their teams and to make strategic recommendations to leaders
about where they may need to develop or add skills.
6. Counselling and Shared Services: The HR department also helps in mitigating conflicts in
teams as collaboration amongst teams and members of a team is necessary to remain agile in
its operations. Not only this, the HR department also helps in planning the career path of an
employee. HR along with REFM helps an employee take care of his day to day activity while
the employee works with complete peace of mind without worrying about his medical and
other necessary aspects of life. The completion period of all activities are driven by strict
SLAs and an employee is provided with all services from sending a letter to travel
management to renting a house to special taxi services and easy payments of all the
expenditure incurred on the job. All this is done hassle free and with a click of button. The
systems are fully automated and the employee has to go nowhere for his needs.
PERFORMANCE METRICS AND RATING SCALE [4]
The performance for incentive pay-out is measured at two levels:
1. Company Performance:
a. The Company Incentive Plan(CIP) has two parameters that are related to the
Companys performance:
i. Company Revenue
ii. Company Profit (EBITDA)
b. The CIP assigns equal weight to both of the key Company parameters (Company
Revenue and Company Profit). Once the Company profit achieves the threshold level,
the CIP payout % will be determined based on the actual achievement level of both
Company parameters (separate multipliers shall be computed for each parameter
based on the achievement level and the Company payout % will be determined based
on the factored multipliers). CIP payout % will further determine the overall
incentive/bonus pool available for distribution and payout to eligible employees.
c. The following table summarises the CIP for FY 2015-16:

2. Individual Performance: Aricent uses five point rating scale to measure performance of its
employees. It cuts across all functions and departments.
a. The following table gives the detail about the rating scale and complete description
about each rating scale:
Rating
Extraordinary
Performer

Definition
Consistently over achieves goals and relentlessly delivers client value, builds
trusted and sustainable client relationships. Delivers phenomenal, measurable
and lasting business results, with innovative practices. Self-driven who
proactively takes initiatives and demonstrates excellence in delivery, quality and
process before time with complete accountability. Viewed as a role model by
peers and team members. A creative person and a great mentor who collaborates
exceptionally well across teams, and require minimal supervision. Goes above
and beyond to develop, engage and retain our people.
Excellent
Often over achieves goals and delivers client value. Contributes significantly to
Performer
lasting business results and demonstrates excellence in quality, delivery and
process on time. Mostly proactive in accomplishing assignments and requires
periodic supervision and guidance. A great mentor who focuses on developing,
engaging and retaining our people. Uses innovative practices in his or her daily
assignments and collaborates well across teams.
Highly
Valued Achieves most goals and delivers client value. Highly dependable performer
Performer
who satisfactorily delivers quality and process, mostly on time. Contributes in
delivering business results with visible organizational impact and helps develop,
engage and retain our people. Supports the creation of offerings to help our
clients grow. Requires periodic supervision and assistance to accomplish
assignments and collaborates occasionally.
Inconsistent
Inconsistent in achieving goals and delivering value to our clients. Lacks
Performer
consistency in delivery, quality and process, and does not always achieve
timelines. Not a good collaborator and rarely contributes ideas that may help our
clients succeed. Communicates with team occasionally and less focused on
developing, engaging and retaining our talent. Requires considerable supervision
in accomplishing assigned tasks.
Highly
Does not achieve most goals or deliver value to our clients. Does not collaborate
Inconsistent
nor work as an effective team member. Executes poorly on delivery, quality and
Performer
process, and misses most timelines. Does not understand what might help our
clients succeed and does not contribute ideas or create offerings. Hardly
communicates with the team and is not focused on developing or retaining our

people. Requires very close and constant supervision and assistance to

accomplish assignments.
The CIP bonus is paid out twice in the year and the amount is a mix of both the performance ratings.
So if company has achieved the target and the employee is an Extra-ordinary performer then he/ she
will get around 120% of his usual prescribed bonus whereas if the employee is a Highly Inconsistent
Performer then he/ she will receive 0% of his usual prescribed bonus for the same company
performance. The process of Performance Management in Aricent is explained by the following
figure:

References:
1.

NASSCOM

2.

India Brand Equity Foundation

3.

www.wikipedia.com

4.

Aricent Intranet vpn.aricent.com

5.

Interview of Mr. Mukesh Software Engineer, Aricent