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Rajiv Gerela started his early days at NELCO as a technical support
specialist for Unix Bull Systems and Oracle databases. He also did technical
evaluation and marketing of 486 systems. From the Unix Bull Systems to currently
setting up offices in Romania for Wipro BPO, a career spanning over two decades,
Gerela has come a long way to be at his current position. A popular speaker at
CIO summits and events and widely quoted across the CIO/CTO industry, he enjoys
dappling in technology and often with his sleeves rolled up.
Looking back, there are a number of projects that are still very close to
Gerela's heart-planning and implementation of fiber connectivity from the
node to MTNL exchange using 34MB and 140MB MUX equipment; migration of backbone
from IP to ATM using CISCO IGX Stratacom platform at Satyam Infoway, where the
services went live within 15 days of receipt of the ISP license. Yet another
favorite project is the relatively small but highly significant networking
project at Mahindra & Mahindra, aimed at setting up a seamless connectivity
of the heterogeneous environment running SUN, IBM, HP, all in one environment.
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Name: Rajiv
Gerela, general manager, Technology, Wipro BPO Solutions (2002 to date)
 Qualifications: BE
(Computers) Year: June 1989, Kolhapur University
Previous Assignments
General Manager, Technology, Wipro BPO (A Divison of Wipro)
Manager, Networks, Broadband Solutions (An Enron Company)
Vice President, Network, Refco-Sify Securities India
Regional Manager, Network Client Support, Satyam Infoway
System Support Specialist, Tata Elxsi (India)
Systems Executive, Nelco
Technical Achievements in
Wipro BPO
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Involved in
implementation of BS7799
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Network planning,
deployment and designed the DS3 (45MB) backbone setup on Cisco MGX
platform
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Handled ramp-up
requirements of 30 existing processes for technology operations.
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Vendor management for
procurement of various items like LAN/WAN equipment, IPLCs, NLD/local
leased lines, ISP connections, servers, PC's, etc
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Involved in build out
from ground up of the 2 new setups in West namely Belapur and Pune
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Involved in the new
center planning and build out at Romania and Hyderabad
Hobbies:
Watching cartoons,
listening to old Hindi movie songs, ghazals, karate, cricket, swimming,
table tennis |
The Big Learning
From his long stint at Nelco to Tata Elxsi, Satyam Infoway and Refco Sify
Securities, came the assignment at Broadband Solutions (an Enron company). As a
network manager in the company, he handled the network setup for the
international hosting center at Mumbai. This was when the Enron controversy
peaked in India.
Gerela is the kind who takes the day as it comes. A stark contrast to the
industry he belongs to where every step is cautiously evaluated and a back up
and contingency put in place. According to Gerela himself, the period at
Broadband was not only enriching on the work front but also helped him get
closer to family, friends and colleagues.
Attribute it to luck or sheer positive attitude, when all his colleagues were
scouting for alternate jobs and taking heavy cuts in their packages, he
continued to buy time and make the most of the learnings on offer, shrouded in
uncertainty. This period at Broadband was the first time that he had a true
international exposure and million dollars to spend on hardware. Having worked
in a truly global environment, Gerela left in early 2002 to join the then Wipro
Spectramind.
One thing Gerela takes pride in is his contacts and the way he is in touch
with his ex-bosses and clients who still look for opportunities to work with
him. A complete peoples person, Gerela is interactive both with his seniors and
juniors, mostly trouble shooting for both as a businessperson and as a team
leader.
With Peers
His first boss at Wipro was a person who Gerela held in high esteem for his
knowledge and peoples management quality. His boss had complete trust in Gerela
and allowed him a free hand to test and turn projects for better efficiency.
Call center especially voice was a completely new area for Gerela and this trust
aided him to strive for the best and increase confidence.
Gerela does not have an answer to “where do you see yourself in another 2-3
years?” However, he does know that he would like to spend more constructive
time serving the society and charity.
With Family
A doting husband and father, Gerela likes to take every opportunity to be
with his two kids and spend time playing and looking at their academic progress.
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What are you at when not
in office?
I'm a family man. If I'm not at office, I'm with my family. I try to
take time out to read as often as possible-mostly business magazines and
fiction. I enjoy both film music and ghazals and love to travel. I always
look forward to regular holidays.
In office what takes most
of your time?
E-mail. It is a sinister virtue, which most of my peers in the industry
would agree and dealing with it daily is a big time consumer and
definitely an energy sapper. Apart from that, client and internal calls.
Sticking to a set routine can never be possible in an IT environment as
things are always dynamic. You never can predict when a good, bad or ugly
incident may happen.
How do you handle and
interact with your team?
Regular fixed team meetings, periodic one-on-one calls, site visits and
making sure they all get enough time out from the office madness to
de-stress.
What is the biggest
challenge as the CIO?
Handling the dynamic nature of the business. New client requirements and
under pressure deliveries are always the order of the day. The other big
challenge, which again is across all industries, now is attrition. Getting
new people, training them and ensuring ongoing sustenance is a
high-pressure affair.
What has been the high
point in your life?
That would be way too many to count and I believe if you wait to remember
one you may actually miss out on a few better ones. I consider every
moment as a cherished one. It has its own flavor (you may have guessed I
also love food), it leaves its impression on your mind.
What's your success
mantra?
Keep attempting without the pressure of trying to succeed every time. Even
failures add to your final success.
Must have gadgets...
Laptop, mobile and camera... although I love experimenting and trying out
new gadgets, I'm not a gadget freak who would pay big amount of money to
get the latest ones at fancy. Currently I'm scouting for information on
a good camera. I recently picked up a gadget that can plug into a car
cigarette lighter point and can playback MP3 songs from a plain memory
stick. The gadget also helps me play (on a pre-set frequency) songs
through the existing car audio system on FM frequency. |
The family indulges in games like cricket and table tennis, which is a great
stress buster. Pune is the family destination for all occasions, be it a weekend
or long vacations or time out from work. Gerela is also an ardent cartoon
watcher and likes listening to old Hindi movie songs and ghazals. Tom &
Jerry is his all time favorite and he relates it to life and believes 'life is
Tom & Jerry' (either you are after a client or a client is after you).
During his stint at Broadband, Gerela had the time to pursue some of his
interests and the entire family took up Karate classes, which he would love to
rejoin today, if he has time. He strongly believes in sharing and learning and
the activities he indulges in with his family clearly indicates that.
Minu Sirsalewala
minuvs@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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