Still a Service Engineer at Heart

While crossing the ninth cross road of Thillai Nagar, Trichy one can definitely not miss Suresh Kumar Kaliappan's office Terabyte Technologies. Not only because of the number of vehicles parked there but also because of the sound coming from that residential office. "Yes, my office never worn a deserted look. Either my friends or executives from vendor companies can be spotted in my office at any of the working hours," claims Kumar, adding, "Even I do not know the reason what makes everyone love my office so much."

INITIAL DAYS
Kumar, right from his college days, has been much interested in electronics and other technology stuffs. "I spent my college days in National College and Urumu Dhanalakshmi College in Trichy. As soon as I came out of college, I joined a company which was dealing with transformers, adapters and I was given a salary of `500," says Kumar recalling his past.
However, Kumar's diligent style of working created problem for himself, as his boss started fearing that Kumar is over-qualified for his job and might quit his job and look for a better opportunity. "Later, I joined another office where I met Muthukumar, who later became my business partner," says Kumar who also says that during the second shift of his job, Muthukumar approached him for starting a new business which was one of the key turning points in his life.

INITIAL CHALLENGES
Even though Kumar faced lot of issues in the initial days of his career, he feels those were the stepping stones of his career. "In 1998, we started our physical office in a small mansion in this area just for the name sake and for mentioning in our letter head," he says further adding, "In those days it was very tough to take even one order for a month. Also, to pay the advance, it was not as easy as we had to borrow money for interest."

SHINING TIMES
The year 2000 created a major impact on the IT industry and Kumar was one of the few who grabbed the opportunity. "Our first dealing was with Zenith. We started distributing the product and slowly tied up with big brands like Epson, Samsung, Intex, Zebronics, Asus, Logitech and Umax. In those times, there were no partners who would volunteer and take up the distribution of such brands," Kumar says. On the other hand, as the business grew, he had to bifurcate the sales and service sections and bagged good orders especially through government tenders. "In the course of time, due to difference in opinions me and by business partner had to bid good-bye, but we did so with a happy and firm handshake," says Kumar adding that he thus came out starting his own organization Terabyte Technologies.

FUTURE PLANS
"I am a person who is passionate about service. I even want to retire as a service engineer. Right from the beginning, I had seen a lot of potential in service compared to that in sales with investment being only your skills," Kumar says.
FAMILY
Kumar is the only son in the family. "I have two sisters who got settled and my dad was an ex-army man. He also served the civil service department," he says. Kumar's marriage is a love-cum-arranged one. He says, "I fell in love with Saranya, who was my relative and once we revealed our love, our parents accepted it wholeheartedly." The couple is blessed with a son Onkharesh.

 

POLICIES AND ADVICES
"I believe money is not everything. I am a person who gives importance to friendship," says Kumar who never leaves an opportunity to meet his college friends. Kumar is a very active and tech-savvy person. He says, "Be it official or personal or other social activities, when I am given a responsibility, I take ownership of that." He also advices the same to budding entrepreneurs. He says, "The moment you understand your responsibilities inside and outside office, your life will be happy."

APART FROM BUSINESS
Kumar is also the secretary of the Trichy IT Association and the EC member of Confed-ITA association. He also a cricket-crazy and is a part of various cricket teams in the local level also.

SWAMINATHAN B
(swaminathanb@cybermedia.co.in)