l SSI has got Aptech’s global reach and widely known brands. What has Aptech gained from this deal?

To begin with, muscle. All Aptech centers can now say they represent India’s largest IT training company. SSI has some extremely high quality reserves in terms of technical expertise given its core competency in high-end training. We can certainly leverage these strengths.

l How do you plan to tackle issues like competition among SSI-Aptech vendors in the same geographical areas? Would you be consolidating the number of centers in such areas?

Aptech is our main career product while SSI operates in its own space, addressing the high-end re-skilling and re-training market. The branding and advertising activities for each division will continue independently. Of course, there will be overlapping areas, which we will need to rationalize over a period of time. We have absolutely no plans of closing down any of the centers. Yes, when there was little information available about the impending merger, there was insecurity among franchisees. But now that it has been conveyed to them that none of the centers will be shut down, they have been pacified. The overall strategy is clear to them now and we are concentrating on motivating them.

l What are your plans on implementing Aptech’s famed "McDonald franchisee model" across SSI centers and integrating the business processes of the two companies?

Aptech centers operate in a ‘career development’ environment. Attendance is compulsory and we have report cards going out to parents. SSI courses are oriented towards professionals already working in the IT industry. It does not make sense to mix the two environments. But yes, there is no reason why the McDonald’s model should not be replicated across SSI centers. The model works on the principal of benchmarking standards for retail outlets. For instance, the McDonald’s manual specifies that the floor in all its outlets should be mopped five times a day, not only the premises, but two blocks on either side of the retail outlet, should be kept absolutely clean. At Aptech, we replicated this model in detailing norms for distribution of course material, the availability of reference books for students, the teacher-student ratio in each center etc.

l How do you propose to deal with issues like the duplication of functions of people/departments?

There will be areas where parallel competencies among employees of both companies exist. However, this will happen in very few cases. For when SSI splits vertically, SSI, the corporate will remain with its software business. Only its training business will merge with Aptech. Aptech has just 446 people and SSI’s training division too has just another 435 employees, so the numbers are very low. Even in cases where redundancies come to the fore, I am confident that people can be redeployed in new roles within the organization. There will be no pink slips.

l What are your plans for standardizing teacher training and course material? How do you plan to ensure continuity in training even as these changes are implemented?

Each of our centers has independent faculty and standardized course material. As of now, both Aptech and SSI centers will continue as before. At a later stage, when we plan the national ‘train the trainer’ and faculty certification programs, we shall study and implement the best practices in both companies.