|
Executive Spotlight with Shiv Krishnan
|
Shiv Krishnan
President and CEO
INDUS
|
 |
| In the 07/07/2005 edition of ExecutiveBiz we had a chance to catch up with Shiv Krishnan, President and CEO of INDUS. |
ExecutiveBiz: What is the corporate background of INDUS? Why did you start INDUS?
Shiv Krishnan: I established INDUS Corporation in 1993 with the vision of effectively leveraging Information Technology to solve Business Problems. Our beginnings were in the commercial sector, but over time we grew very rapidly supporting Federal Civilian customers (non-DoD). INDUS specializes in software engineering and secure network management solutions. Washington Business Journal has ranked INDUS as the 18th Fastest Growing Company in the Washington Metro Region and the 10th Largest Software Developer.
ExecutiveBiz: What are some of the hottest trends that you are following in the federal contracting space?
Shiv Krishnan: The hottest trends in the Federal space all relate to applying technology to increase speed and access to information. Hot Federal technologies are: geospatial systems; data management, warehousing and mining; network and data security; secure web portals; and enterprise architecture. INDUS' core competencies align quite well with the hot trends in the Federal sector.
ExecutiveBiz: Last week, INDUS announced the acquisition of AB Floyd and Halifax's Secure Network Services. What was the strategy behind the acquisition at this time?
Shiv Krishnan: The acquisitions are strategic for INDUS and allow us to access 60% of the Federal market, which is DoD and Intel, we were not focused on! INDUS Corporation has developed an outstanding reputation as a leading provider of IT solutions to the Federal Government. We have established an effective presence in a wide variety of civilian agencies throughout the Washington metro area and around the country. ABFloyd Enterprises and Halifax Secure Network Services earned equally outstanding reputations providing IT support to the DoD and National Intelligence market space. Today, we have a much larger and more diversified footprint in the Federal IT marketplace creating more business opportunities, as well as enhanced career opportunities for our employees.
ExecutiveBiz: Why did you decide to choose the acquisition route? What are the benefits/downside?
Shiv Krishnan: In my opinion, growth is not an option, it is a necessity! In a strategic focused organization, you have to have a balanced mix of both internal growth and acquired growth. I think the major benefit of taking the acquisition route is immediate creation of current and future opportunities to penetrate the DoD and National Intelligence market and associated prospects in the Homeland Security space as well. I really don't see any downside to having taken this route outside of the normal challenges encountered whenever you tread on new turf and go through the associated learning curve. Given INDUS' history in this regard, I am confident that we will be up to the challenge!
ExecutiveBiz: What are the projected revenues for INDUS this year? How does this acquisition increase your projections?
Shiv Krishnan: INDUS just broke through the $100 million barrier! The acquisitions will take our currently projected revenue run rate for FY 2005 from approximately $85 million to over $110 million.
ExecutiveBiz: How does this acquisition increase the number of employees for INDUS?
Shiv Krishnan: The acquisitions increase our workforce from our current staffing posture of 500 employees to 700 employees.
ExecutiveBiz: How will this acquisition impact the existing customers of AB Floyd and Halifax?
Shiv Krishnan: All our customers get an immediate benefit of added depth and breadth in the size and capabilities of a much larger and Federal IT focused INDUS. I see only positive results accruing to our newly expanded customer base. The expanded diversity of corporate competencies and the pooled resources of all three companies creates a knowledge and experience base that enhances our ability to respond to our customers' enterprise solutions needs. Summed up, we feel we bring a better value proposition to all three companies' customers.
ExecutiveBiz: What is the biggest challenge do you face now in terms of this acquisition?
Shiv Krishnan: The biggest challenge we face is to make sure that we don't falter on integrating the companies well and realize the synergies of us coming together. I am confident that we are up to the challenge since the steps that we will go through are not unlike the processes of integrating an acquired workforce from a predecessor contractor when we win new business. While certainly there are significant differences, the foundation is there on which to build.
ExecutiveBiz: Are you looking for future acquisitions?
Shiv Krishnan: Not for the next six months! But beyond that, absolutely,YES! While I will seriously consider other acquisition opportunities that make sense in the context of our business plan and implementing our strategy, for now we plan to give our full focus to the integration and successful building of the newly expanded INDUS organization.
ExecutiveBiz: What is the future look like for Indus?
Shiv Krishnan: Becoming a $250 million company and start filling the void left in the middle market by the rapid growth of SRA, CACI, and Anteon, and acquisition of companies like PEC, Titan, and Veridian! I have always felt that the future holds great things in store for INDUS, based on our consistent corporate growth and well established track record for outstanding customer satisfaction. Now that we have extended our footprint into the very active and dynamic DoD and National Intelligence markets, I envision an even brighter future for the growing INDUS family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about Shiv Krishnan and INDUS, visit the INDUS web site at www.induscorp.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interview with Shiv Krishnan was originally published in ExecutiveBiz and conducted by JD Kathuria.
|