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TCS Story . . . And Beyond
In 2003, Tata Consultancy Services set itself a mission: 'Top Ten by 2010'. In 2009, a year ahead of schedule, TCS made good on that promise: in fourteen years, the company had transformed itself from the $155 million operation that
S.Ramadorai inherited as CEO in 1996. Today it is one of the world's largest IT software and services companies with more than 2,40,000 people working in forty-two countries, and annual revenues of over $10 billion.
The TCS story is one of modern India's great success stories. In this fascinating book, S. Ramadorai, one of the country's most respected business leaders, recounts the steps to that extraordinary success, and outlines a vision for the future where the quality initiatives he undertook can be applied to a larger national framework.
S.Ramadorai inherited as CEO in 1996. Today it is one of the world's largest IT software and services companies with more than 2,40,000 people working in forty-two countries, and annual revenues of over $10 billion.
The TCS story is one of modern India's great success stories. In this fascinating book, S. Ramadorai, one of the country's most respected business leaders, recounts the steps to that extraordinary success, and outlines a vision for the future where the quality initiatives he undertook can be applied to a larger national framework.
318 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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August 7, 2016
I had purchased this book out of curiosity for India's largest software exporter. Nobody can deny the huge contributions made by the Information Technology (IT) and ITES sectors in the Indian growth story and Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) is indeed one of the pioneers in this field.
The book is written by S. Ramadorai, ex-CEO of TCS. The book starts with a little about Ramadorai’s childhood, his family and about his personal beliefs, then starts the story of TCS.
This book corrected many of the misconceptions that I had about TCS and at the same time educated me about the many challenges faced by the company.
I was under the impression that TCS had been founded after the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, but the fact is it was founded in 1968. Actually, TCS was built upon another Tata company.
I liked the way Ramadorai has described the early days of the company. The challenges and frustrations faced by the company owing to License Raj (needing a government permit to do anything), the prohibitive taxes levied on importing a computer – it was 100%, restrictions on foreign spending, lack of spare parts for the machines – all made me realize how difficult the journey had been for these people. There was no internet in those days, codes were sent on tapes; a small change meant a week’s delay. I can’t even imagine how tough working in the IT sector must have been back then.
TCS manage to survive and excel despite Government regulations, relied upon the Indian habit (which still exists) of making do with less to tackle the lack of equipment and world-class infrastructure but the greatest challenge must have been selling an Indian firm to foreign clients.
I was surprised to learn that TCS had been selling their services to American, British and Swiss clients way back in the 1970s. Back then, the world esp. the West would not have associated India with software & technology. Ramadorai has mentioned how he used to visit companies in the US to sell TCS – he did not even have a car (spending restrictions imposed by the government) and solely depended upon the subway.
One thing the narrative lacks is that the author did not elaborate how he managed to convince his clients to give their business to an Indian company. I would have loved to hear about his sales pitch and specific instances when he had managed to win over a particularly difficult client.
Barring the challenges faced due to the government policies, Ramadorai has not mentioned any big problem internal to the company. This man had started his career with TCS and retired as the CEO, you can’t expect him to wash dirty linen in public, but some issues should been mentioned. The Tatas have always been respected for their pro-employee policies, but some issues are bound to be there – clash of personalities, ideas, beliefs – these are common to all companies.
The book chronicles the many achievements of the company and many interesting facts came up. I learnt about TCS’s involvement in modernizing India’s financial markets.
The importance of branding also comes up. Initially, the TCS management had thought that their good work would speak for itself but they discovered that after the Indian economy opened up newer entrants were generating more publicity and brand recall. Then TCS employed strategic brand consultants and the “Certainty Campaign” was launched to gain more publicity.
The last chapters details how technology can be used to improve the lives of the masses esp. those living in remote areas and lack the basics of the modern life. I found this part interesting.
I had expected that the book would describe what factors led to the rise of the Indian software industry – the business and politics involved, what supported the industry and what hampered the industry. These were not described in detail.
This is a good book but it could have been great. People interested in the story of TCS or Indian software industry might want to check it out. I am sure there are other good books out there but this one is not a waste of time also.
The book is written by S. Ramadorai, ex-CEO of TCS. The book starts with a little about Ramadorai’s childhood, his family and about his personal beliefs, then starts the story of TCS.
This book corrected many of the misconceptions that I had about TCS and at the same time educated me about the many challenges faced by the company.
I was under the impression that TCS had been founded after the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, but the fact is it was founded in 1968. Actually, TCS was built upon another Tata company.
I liked the way Ramadorai has described the early days of the company. The challenges and frustrations faced by the company owing to License Raj (needing a government permit to do anything), the prohibitive taxes levied on importing a computer – it was 100%, restrictions on foreign spending, lack of spare parts for the machines – all made me realize how difficult the journey had been for these people. There was no internet in those days, codes were sent on tapes; a small change meant a week’s delay. I can’t even imagine how tough working in the IT sector must have been back then.
TCS manage to survive and excel despite Government regulations, relied upon the Indian habit (which still exists) of making do with less to tackle the lack of equipment and world-class infrastructure but the greatest challenge must have been selling an Indian firm to foreign clients.
I was surprised to learn that TCS had been selling their services to American, British and Swiss clients way back in the 1970s. Back then, the world esp. the West would not have associated India with software & technology. Ramadorai has mentioned how he used to visit companies in the US to sell TCS – he did not even have a car (spending restrictions imposed by the government) and solely depended upon the subway.
One thing the narrative lacks is that the author did not elaborate how he managed to convince his clients to give their business to an Indian company. I would have loved to hear about his sales pitch and specific instances when he had managed to win over a particularly difficult client.
Barring the challenges faced due to the government policies, Ramadorai has not mentioned any big problem internal to the company. This man had started his career with TCS and retired as the CEO, you can’t expect him to wash dirty linen in public, but some issues should been mentioned. The Tatas have always been respected for their pro-employee policies, but some issues are bound to be there – clash of personalities, ideas, beliefs – these are common to all companies.
The book chronicles the many achievements of the company and many interesting facts came up. I learnt about TCS’s involvement in modernizing India’s financial markets.
The importance of branding also comes up. Initially, the TCS management had thought that their good work would speak for itself but they discovered that after the Indian economy opened up newer entrants were generating more publicity and brand recall. Then TCS employed strategic brand consultants and the “Certainty Campaign” was launched to gain more publicity.
The last chapters details how technology can be used to improve the lives of the masses esp. those living in remote areas and lack the basics of the modern life. I found this part interesting.
I had expected that the book would describe what factors led to the rise of the Indian software industry – the business and politics involved, what supported the industry and what hampered the industry. These were not described in detail.
This is a good book but it could have been great. People interested in the story of TCS or Indian software industry might want to check it out. I am sure there are other good books out there but this one is not a waste of time also.
March 6, 2015
First let me tell you that I liked the book up to certain point. But after some pages the book looked like a an advertising brochure from TCS. The book is all about what TCS is capable of and in a very subtle way shows the love author has for the TATA brand. If you want to understand the Indian IT industry's evolution better, this book may not excite you. Yes, it has those little nuggets which gives some idea on how things were when TATAs started out with TCS. But beyond a certain point, this book is all about TCS. May be someone in sales team of TCS can use this book as a pep talk. The book somewhere on the way also smelled of elitism in the way author has mentioned about the current research and development happening across India. At a lot of places the book sounds more repetitive on what TCS does, what IITs are doing etc etc. An ok book worth reading or listening once.
July 18, 2017
Today the Indian IT Industry is doing a business of over $155 Billion worldwide, but it all started with TCS and F.C.Kohli, Father of the Indian Software Industry in 1969. During his tenure at TCS from 1969 to 1996, Kohli defined most of the rules by which Indian IT Outsourcing business works even today.
In the last two decades of starting and running an IT Services firm myself, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest of them all, presence in my world was unmistakable. Not that at my firm we partnered or competed with TCS directly, we were too small compared to them, but often we spoke about the company internally in our brainstorming sessions, we heard about them from our customers or we had seen people who left us to join them and so on. In this book, S.Ramadorai who succeeded Kohli in 1996, grew the business from 400 Million Dollars a year to well over Six Billion Dollars a year, an increase of 12 times in a roughly equal number of years, looks at his journey with TCS.
Ramadorai did his graduation in Hans Raj College in Delhi and IISC, got accepted to UCLA with a full scholarship to study computer science at Master’s level. Travelling from Bombay to Los Angeles in 1969 should have been exciting and scary for him. His first job was with NCR (National Cash Register) for $12,000/year. After returning to India and joining TCS in 1972, working there for few years he comes back to New York to promote TCS and seek business from US clients after their existing businesses were taken over by Tata Burroughs. In today’s world of globalisation, you could buy something from Amazon USA or Alibaba China and get it delivered in a week, the story of TCS importing a computer – a Burroughs B1728 (a mainframe) in 1974 for $300K plus an equal amount as taxes to Government of India looks strange. On top of this, TCS had to give a commitment to Government that they will export twice this amount over next five years. In 2003 for my business at Vishwak Solutions, we had to give a similar commitment to STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) when we imported equipments from abroad but that was to tax concessions and not on top of taxes. If you thought importing original equipment in India of the 70s & 80s were tough, importing spare parts to repair the machines were even more tough with strict foreign exchange rules. For those unfamiliar with the draconian license Raj of India, Ramadorai recalls the ten different licenses they had to get from more than ten different departments of the government to import a computer. Even with Tata’s formidable relationship with India’s power corridors, it was mind-bogglingly complex.
Indian software industry was born, not by grand design but by accident of history because India was short of foreign exchange and we had to earn foreign exchange to pay for the importation of a new Burroughs mainframe
I am a believer of less government and a lesser role for public enterprises, especially in the services industry. So I was surprised to read about in the book J.R.D.Tata’s letter to the principal secretary of (then) PM Indira Gandhi: “… it took no time at all for our politicians and our burgeoning bureaucracy to block or stifle in the process of concentrating of all economic power in the government. Instead of releasing energies and enterprise, the system of licenses and all pervasive controls imposed … brought success and wealth to a new breed of bribers, tax evaders and black marketers“. Unbelievable that someone could’ve been so brutal and frank on his comments especially at the time around license raj and emergency rule. Remember, this was the time when Government of India imposed 98% personal income tax.
Ramadorai shares an interesting data point, in 1974 time frame when they had imported the mainframe, 90 percent of a project cost TCS quoted to a client was hardware related, while software and people costs were about 5 percent each. Today Hardware and Software costs are mostly less than 5%, with the cloud still lower, but people costs for Indian IT Services firm have more or less remained static at about 50%. The first “outsourcing” contract TCS got was a migration project from Burroughs medium systems COBOL to small systems COBOL and it was for $24,000. TCS had identified in its early days servicing US clients three things which would go on to define IT outsourcing to India as such – the time difference between Bombay (India) and New York (USA) which allows to do round-the-clock delivery, due to attractive salary paid by IT industry and cultural reasons TCS engineers on projects not watching the clock, and, on the job learning especially on migration projects. In my own experience of working with customers from over 10 countries, I have found global clients to be easier than working with Indian clients. Ramadorai captures the reason when he says “They would state their requirements clearly and reject work that did not meet these standards“.
While most of its competitors were busy with exports, due to its Tata heritage TCS was doing domestic business as well. Around 1992 when NSE (National Stock Exchange) was setup in India, TCS partnered as a Systems Integrator (SI) with a US-based company TCam to implement their trading system. TCS had to prepare a proposal weighing 6.5 kgs spread over six volumes and had it hand delivered simultaneously in Bombay and in Hong Kong and the UK, where the consultants of NSE resided. Similar was the project TCS did for NSDL (National Securities and Depositories Limited) within 5 months in 1996. Ramadorai quotes NSE and NSDL to be examples of how financial and banking systems in India are world class as they embraced IT early enough in the game.
After taking over from Kohli who tended to authoritative and definitive, Ramadorai follows a style of participative management that involved discussion and suggestions rather than directives from the top. As a manager, he not only listened to what people are telling but tried to understand what they are saying and how they are saying it. In a work environment like in India that was hierarchical, a CEO needed to do this to truly understand what he hears. Today it is common across most industries but TCS under Ramadorai had created a think tank and brought in Pankaj Ghemawat, a respected professor from Harvard Business School.
Today it is fashionable for IT companies to say we are moving away from throwing resources at a problem to automation and machine learning. But in the late 1990s, the Y2K problem was the big turning point for Indian IT industry and for TCS. TCS had established their first software “factory” in Chennai where they used their own tools for migration like PQCC (Production Quality Compiler Compiler) to fix the Y2K problem and had developed a seventeen-step assembly line processes. This approach had enabled TCS to migrate between 600 to 700 million lines of mainframe code for Y2K – far more than anyone else. In the late 1980s and 1990s when TCS was developing software for Telecom companies in North America like Nortel, software code was sent on tapes back and forth between Canada and India, but as India opened its telecom sector it moved over data links of speeds of 64KBps initially.
Moving forward Ramadorai talks about how he setup an HR department under S.Padmanabhan which enabled TCS to seamlessly hire and integrate 500 people in a year to about 30,000 people a year in 2010. Here I should say TCS really set a benchmark and showed others in the industry that you could do this volume, without which their growth would not have been possible. In early days of Indian IT outsourcing, it was mostly of young engineers (then mostly men) moving to a western country with their newly married wife. The young wife often found herself setting up home in a foreign country, with a husband who was too busy to help. To help on this and to provide psychological counselling service and assistance Ramadorai’s wife Mala had made a suggestion which led to TCS setting up Maitree, an HR initiative. Today it includes Toastmaster’s clubs to salsa dancing classes and even hiking. Software is a knowledge industry and one that changes drastically often. To be competitive in that world, it is imperative an organisation has a well-developed training programme. In 2006 Ramadorai sets up a program called Ignite under Dr Raman Srinivasan. I am surprised that it took TCS this long to come up a learning programme – today even a start-up won’t be able to survive without a continuous learning programme.
In my own experience say in the late 90s, when I approached an American manager seeking for business I had to first educate them about India, the vast talent pool of engineers and my team’s own technical capabilities. Today it is all assumed, discussions starts and ends with price, features and timelines. So when Ramadorai talks of the evolution of TCS own business model and engagement with clients it resonated with me. One such example was in 1995-96 a large procurement team from GE coming to India to inspect, evaluate and select partners; for TCS the partnership that came out of it was a major learning experience which led to the setting of several dedicated ODCs (Offshore Development Centre). When Ramadorai mentions about Ultimatix, TCS internal Information System and ERP, I got very interested but quickly was disappointed when it was just 2 pages covered superficially. Similar was the mention of TCS quality process iQMS.
Under his watch, TCS did many successful acquisitions including CMS from Government of India, Citicorp Global Services and went on to establish a global presence especially in Latin America and China. The book then quickly jumps to 2004, when TCS came up with its famous IPO done which got 7.7 times oversubscribed in what was then a dull market. But as Ramadorai himself acknowledges unlike the IPO of its peers like Infosys, TCS IPO did not end up creating a huge amount of wealth for individuals (its employees) rather it achieved well the objectives of its parent (Tata & Sons).
The last few chapters of the book are mostly about Tata groups legacy and Ramadorai’s vision for Tomorrow’s India with Technology. One of the projects which TCS did that I have heard about earlier was the world-class IT system they developed for Chennai based Sankara Nethralaya, a hospital chain that provides premium eye care for the poor.
For all its historical importance recalled the book tends to be slagging and repetitive in many places, chapters run over 60 pages each with no logical grouping other than 3 broad buckets. Little to nothing told in the book was unknown to anyone who was interested with TCS. Few of the internal workings of what makes TCS tick have been revealed. This is something I find it to be in sharp contrast to books written by American CEOs.
The TCS Story … and beyond by S.Ramadorai is a good read for anyone who is interested to know how it all started for the Indian Software Industry.
https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2017/0...
In the last two decades of starting and running an IT Services firm myself, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest of them all, presence in my world was unmistakable. Not that at my firm we partnered or competed with TCS directly, we were too small compared to them, but often we spoke about the company internally in our brainstorming sessions, we heard about them from our customers or we had seen people who left us to join them and so on. In this book, S.Ramadorai who succeeded Kohli in 1996, grew the business from 400 Million Dollars a year to well over Six Billion Dollars a year, an increase of 12 times in a roughly equal number of years, looks at his journey with TCS.
Ramadorai did his graduation in Hans Raj College in Delhi and IISC, got accepted to UCLA with a full scholarship to study computer science at Master’s level. Travelling from Bombay to Los Angeles in 1969 should have been exciting and scary for him. His first job was with NCR (National Cash Register) for $12,000/year. After returning to India and joining TCS in 1972, working there for few years he comes back to New York to promote TCS and seek business from US clients after their existing businesses were taken over by Tata Burroughs. In today’s world of globalisation, you could buy something from Amazon USA or Alibaba China and get it delivered in a week, the story of TCS importing a computer – a Burroughs B1728 (a mainframe) in 1974 for $300K plus an equal amount as taxes to Government of India looks strange. On top of this, TCS had to give a commitment to Government that they will export twice this amount over next five years. In 2003 for my business at Vishwak Solutions, we had to give a similar commitment to STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) when we imported equipments from abroad but that was to tax concessions and not on top of taxes. If you thought importing original equipment in India of the 70s & 80s were tough, importing spare parts to repair the machines were even more tough with strict foreign exchange rules. For those unfamiliar with the draconian license Raj of India, Ramadorai recalls the ten different licenses they had to get from more than ten different departments of the government to import a computer. Even with Tata’s formidable relationship with India’s power corridors, it was mind-bogglingly complex.
Indian software industry was born, not by grand design but by accident of history because India was short of foreign exchange and we had to earn foreign exchange to pay for the importation of a new Burroughs mainframe
I am a believer of less government and a lesser role for public enterprises, especially in the services industry. So I was surprised to read about in the book J.R.D.Tata’s letter to the principal secretary of (then) PM Indira Gandhi: “… it took no time at all for our politicians and our burgeoning bureaucracy to block or stifle in the process of concentrating of all economic power in the government. Instead of releasing energies and enterprise, the system of licenses and all pervasive controls imposed … brought success and wealth to a new breed of bribers, tax evaders and black marketers“. Unbelievable that someone could’ve been so brutal and frank on his comments especially at the time around license raj and emergency rule. Remember, this was the time when Government of India imposed 98% personal income tax.
Ramadorai shares an interesting data point, in 1974 time frame when they had imported the mainframe, 90 percent of a project cost TCS quoted to a client was hardware related, while software and people costs were about 5 percent each. Today Hardware and Software costs are mostly less than 5%, with the cloud still lower, but people costs for Indian IT Services firm have more or less remained static at about 50%. The first “outsourcing” contract TCS got was a migration project from Burroughs medium systems COBOL to small systems COBOL and it was for $24,000. TCS had identified in its early days servicing US clients three things which would go on to define IT outsourcing to India as such – the time difference between Bombay (India) and New York (USA) which allows to do round-the-clock delivery, due to attractive salary paid by IT industry and cultural reasons TCS engineers on projects not watching the clock, and, on the job learning especially on migration projects. In my own experience of working with customers from over 10 countries, I have found global clients to be easier than working with Indian clients. Ramadorai captures the reason when he says “They would state their requirements clearly and reject work that did not meet these standards“.
While most of its competitors were busy with exports, due to its Tata heritage TCS was doing domestic business as well. Around 1992 when NSE (National Stock Exchange) was setup in India, TCS partnered as a Systems Integrator (SI) with a US-based company TCam to implement their trading system. TCS had to prepare a proposal weighing 6.5 kgs spread over six volumes and had it hand delivered simultaneously in Bombay and in Hong Kong and the UK, where the consultants of NSE resided. Similar was the project TCS did for NSDL (National Securities and Depositories Limited) within 5 months in 1996. Ramadorai quotes NSE and NSDL to be examples of how financial and banking systems in India are world class as they embraced IT early enough in the game.
After taking over from Kohli who tended to authoritative and definitive, Ramadorai follows a style of participative management that involved discussion and suggestions rather than directives from the top. As a manager, he not only listened to what people are telling but tried to understand what they are saying and how they are saying it. In a work environment like in India that was hierarchical, a CEO needed to do this to truly understand what he hears. Today it is common across most industries but TCS under Ramadorai had created a think tank and brought in Pankaj Ghemawat, a respected professor from Harvard Business School.
Today it is fashionable for IT companies to say we are moving away from throwing resources at a problem to automation and machine learning. But in the late 1990s, the Y2K problem was the big turning point for Indian IT industry and for TCS. TCS had established their first software “factory” in Chennai where they used their own tools for migration like PQCC (Production Quality Compiler Compiler) to fix the Y2K problem and had developed a seventeen-step assembly line processes. This approach had enabled TCS to migrate between 600 to 700 million lines of mainframe code for Y2K – far more than anyone else. In the late 1980s and 1990s when TCS was developing software for Telecom companies in North America like Nortel, software code was sent on tapes back and forth between Canada and India, but as India opened its telecom sector it moved over data links of speeds of 64KBps initially.
Moving forward Ramadorai talks about how he setup an HR department under S.Padmanabhan which enabled TCS to seamlessly hire and integrate 500 people in a year to about 30,000 people a year in 2010. Here I should say TCS really set a benchmark and showed others in the industry that you could do this volume, without which their growth would not have been possible. In early days of Indian IT outsourcing, it was mostly of young engineers (then mostly men) moving to a western country with their newly married wife. The young wife often found herself setting up home in a foreign country, with a husband who was too busy to help. To help on this and to provide psychological counselling service and assistance Ramadorai’s wife Mala had made a suggestion which led to TCS setting up Maitree, an HR initiative. Today it includes Toastmaster’s clubs to salsa dancing classes and even hiking. Software is a knowledge industry and one that changes drastically often. To be competitive in that world, it is imperative an organisation has a well-developed training programme. In 2006 Ramadorai sets up a program called Ignite under Dr Raman Srinivasan. I am surprised that it took TCS this long to come up a learning programme – today even a start-up won’t be able to survive without a continuous learning programme.
In my own experience say in the late 90s, when I approached an American manager seeking for business I had to first educate them about India, the vast talent pool of engineers and my team’s own technical capabilities. Today it is all assumed, discussions starts and ends with price, features and timelines. So when Ramadorai talks of the evolution of TCS own business model and engagement with clients it resonated with me. One such example was in 1995-96 a large procurement team from GE coming to India to inspect, evaluate and select partners; for TCS the partnership that came out of it was a major learning experience which led to the setting of several dedicated ODCs (Offshore Development Centre). When Ramadorai mentions about Ultimatix, TCS internal Information System and ERP, I got very interested but quickly was disappointed when it was just 2 pages covered superficially. Similar was the mention of TCS quality process iQMS.
Under his watch, TCS did many successful acquisitions including CMS from Government of India, Citicorp Global Services and went on to establish a global presence especially in Latin America and China. The book then quickly jumps to 2004, when TCS came up with its famous IPO done which got 7.7 times oversubscribed in what was then a dull market. But as Ramadorai himself acknowledges unlike the IPO of its peers like Infosys, TCS IPO did not end up creating a huge amount of wealth for individuals (its employees) rather it achieved well the objectives of its parent (Tata & Sons).
The last few chapters of the book are mostly about Tata groups legacy and Ramadorai’s vision for Tomorrow’s India with Technology. One of the projects which TCS did that I have heard about earlier was the world-class IT system they developed for Chennai based Sankara Nethralaya, a hospital chain that provides premium eye care for the poor.
For all its historical importance recalled the book tends to be slagging and repetitive in many places, chapters run over 60 pages each with no logical grouping other than 3 broad buckets. Little to nothing told in the book was unknown to anyone who was interested with TCS. Few of the internal workings of what makes TCS tick have been revealed. This is something I find it to be in sharp contrast to books written by American CEOs.
The TCS Story … and beyond by S.Ramadorai is a good read for anyone who is interested to know how it all started for the Indian Software Industry.
https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2017/0...
May 1, 2025
Before reading this book, I thought the Indian IT services industry probably had its origins in the late 80s- early 90s phase and gained momentum by the turn of the century and then it went on to become what it is today. But was surprised to learn that the Tatas bought their first mainframe computer (for their own purposes) in 1965 and set up the Tata Computer Center at Narimon point, Mumbai. At that time one needed a big room to house a single computer. So it started from there and Mr.Ramadorai joined what was not yet TCS in 1972 fresh with a degree from the US. And this book tracks his journey from there till he bacame the CEO of TCS in 1996 and beyond.
what I liked most? Evolution of TCS from 1965 till Mr.Ramadorai became a CEO in 1996. The chapters on how difficult it was to import a computer during what was called the licence raj era with its share of hilarious moments and how TCS acquired its early businesses and set up bases in various countries was what I liked best.
what I didn't quite enjoy? His CEO phase where his work became managerial (duh!:)) that most of what he recounts about having a participatory style of management, streamlining processes, succession planning, establishing a brand(Kinda liked this one) fell in the sort of generic zone. + More generic stuff that followed.
Rating: More like 3.5 stars.
what I liked most? Evolution of TCS from 1965 till Mr.Ramadorai became a CEO in 1996. The chapters on how difficult it was to import a computer during what was called the licence raj era with its share of hilarious moments and how TCS acquired its early businesses and set up bases in various countries was what I liked best.
what I didn't quite enjoy? His CEO phase where his work became managerial (duh!:)) that most of what he recounts about having a participatory style of management, streamlining processes, succession planning, establishing a brand(Kinda liked this one) fell in the sort of generic zone. + More generic stuff that followed.
Rating: More like 3.5 stars.
November 2, 2014
This is neither S. Ramadorai's autobioghraphy nor proper & complete TCS's story, but I don't think there is anyone else other than Mr. S. Ramadorai who could wright book on TCS. It includes how TCS was started and how its business evolved.
Author has tried to give as much information as he could but I think not enough details has been shared. This book mostly talks TCS under Mr. S. Ramadorai. Last chapter is more about Mr. S. Ramadorai's vision of what IT could do rather than TCS.
This is good book to read not just for people from IT industry but for non-IT people as well. Many a times other IT companies in India take credit for starting offshoring business but the fact is that TCS is the company which started the whole new industry of offshore software development.
I hope other founders and CEOs other great Indian companies also starts publishing their books as it shares valuable knowledge that can be very helpful for students and knowledge seekers.
Author has tried to give as much information as he could but I think not enough details has been shared. This book mostly talks TCS under Mr. S. Ramadorai. Last chapter is more about Mr. S. Ramadorai's vision of what IT could do rather than TCS.
This is good book to read not just for people from IT industry but for non-IT people as well. Many a times other IT companies in India take credit for starting offshoring business but the fact is that TCS is the company which started the whole new industry of offshore software development.
I hope other founders and CEOs other great Indian companies also starts publishing their books as it shares valuable knowledge that can be very helpful for students and knowledge seekers.
November 8, 2013
This book is going to be one of the life changing moment in my career. .. Could draw lot of parallels with Mr.Ramadorai.....
January 12, 2021
If one were to explore the history of Indian software industry, it is highly unlikely that the person to have embarked on the journey would find no mention of Tata Consultancy Services on any given platform associated with the industry during his endeavor. Such is the magnanimity and flamboyance associated with the Indian software giant, and the aforementioned holds true all the more so since the turn of the millennium in 2000. If the aforesaid strikes a chord with an individual's mental frequency and helps the individual forge ahead without compromising on personal convictions, then the individual is advised not to forgo the terrific reading experience the book has to offer, and definitely not the wisdom the read has in store for readers in enormity. The book titled The TCS Story & Beyond is a brilliant written piece from S. Ramadorai. In my opinion, the elements of purpose and intention made available by the author are standout features up for grabs to be grasped and practiced. Like any other professional or business tycoon from the first generation of the Indian IT industry i.e. late 1980s or early 1990s, S. Ramadorai recounts several interesting tales associated with his association with the industry and beyond, in his book. The author starts off with a prologue which reveal many a facets of his persona - hobbies as a child to family life as a retired professional, education to debut as an employee at Physical Research Laboratories (Dr Vikram Sarabhai's brainchild), post graduation degree from University of California at Los Angeles to stint at National Cash Register (NCR), first marriage to his real first marriage, travels across world to professional journey at TCS to name a few. It is evident and only befitting that the author has inherited the trait of providing detailed account of everything around him from his paternal grandfather Kannakupillay. Kannakupillay in Tamil means - A person who keeps track of his account. Pun intended. Coincidentally, Kannakupillay was a village accountant. Further, the gist on author's tryst with a game called pallankuzhi (of Malgudi Days fame) played with a wooden board and tamarind seeds, and his eye for photography make an interesting read. The funniest part is, when our nation is obsessed with cricketer Virat Kohli and prime minister Narendra Modi, the author introduces us to his bosses and mentors Faqir Chand Kohli and Naval Mody in the prologue. The Kohlis and the Modys then were and still are calling the shots.
The author's narration of TCS story begins with a detailed account on an audacious vision the corporate nurtured to realize its goal of making it to list of top ten companies by 2010. Impact of Y2K software bug of 2000 on the Indian ways of corporate life, fierce competition the company faced from IT giants of the times, series of stratagems and policies ratified by the company to stay in the race to the top, work put into effect to find clients in the West, initiatives taken to facilitate an ecosystem within the organization capable of providing intrinsic support to quality educational institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology - the IITs, focused agenda promoted internally to create the company of the future, continual learning schemes devised to foster the passionate workforce's quest for growth within the organization, restructured business models with systems and protocols suiting internal operations, events that began to take shape leading into the company going public in 2004, firm's march to the top becoming India's first billion-dollar software company and pre-empted realization of its goal to be one among top ten players in IT software and services industry by 2009 are among events extensively researched and outlined by the writer in the first segment.
Subsequently, a written commentary on building TCS the process that took effect between 1968-96 and the developments observed thereafter at TCS during the later years i.e. 1996-2002 finds penning space dedicated to it in the compilation. Challenges thrown at the start-up by prevalent political turmoil and financial turbulence during the decade of 1960-70, impact of slow growth in economy on new business establishments, the brewing challenges of developing basic infrastructure in India, shift of company's operational base in 1966, euphoria surrounding the vibrant TCS spirit all over the industry, growth observed at TCS under Yash Sahni and Faqir Chand Kohli's dynamic leadership, gist of author's impression on joining TCS, telling account on history of TCS, strong professional bond with Faqir Chand Kohli and close association with TCS, tumultuous days concerning ease of establishing business in India, author's first overseas assignment and testing ordeals vis-à-vis his American experience, his first step up the corporate ladder, corporate house's budding affairs with Swiss National Bank and SegaInterSettle (SEGA) in regard to enforcement of IT contrivances within the two institutions, firm's bid toward acquisition of project intended for instigating international standards into Indian stock market trading system, company's propensity toward financial institutions such as National Securities and Depositories Limited and Standard Chartered Bank with the extended support of technical assistance in amelioration of basic IT structure, change of guard at TCS with author taking over the mantle of leadership from architect of India's IT industry Faqir Chand Kohli in 1996, recruitment challenges that accompanied the turn of the millennium with advent of new opportunities in technology are the few among the talking points put forward by the author in the second and third segments.
Riveting insights on the corporate's new initiatives to sustain substantial growth during transformation of internal operations and quest of attaining future growth through innovation and inception of strong business principles and paradigms form the subsequent matter of tête-à-tête in the TCS companion. Nurturing budding talent, recruitment numbers of TCS and TCS way of life, incorporation of Maitree group - the set-up meant for strengthening corporate bond between the company and TCSers and their families besides promotion of intriguing concept of corporate social responsibility, Ignite - an initiative delegating the task of talent hunt and training bright minds for effective execution of innovative ideas and facilitation of innovation to employees, focused approach toward improvement of interpersonal skills like mentoring and leadership among the workforce and the organization on the whole, strategy deployed for enhancement of research, development, and design through business excellence model appropriated by the Tata Group, globalization phase at TCS, continual evolution of business model, global presence the company enjoys i.e. its global footprint, digitization which made collaboration within the organization possible to facilitate formation of One TCS, inorganic growth procured through acquisitions, renewal of TCS brand from Beyond the Obvious to Experience Certainty and the inference drawn from the overhaul are the leitmotifs which make the fourth segment an engrossing read and keep readers thoroughly occupied and on their toes during the reading experience.
The fifth segment sparks up debate on concise theories supporting the episode of company going public i.e. the opening of TCS Initial Public Offer (IPO). The top-hole facets like challenges faced leading up to the TCS IPO, events on grounds of which company opened the IPO, Tata Sons' considerations and the thoughts that went into the making of IPO, delay caused in releasing IPO in 2004 with general elections slated for May that year, company's rendezvous with Indian stock market in July-August 2004, birth of real TCS in July-August 2004, majestic grandeur of TCS global road show which marked the occasion of IPO release, matters of principle - concept of employee ownership which complicated matters after the IPO release, and TCS IPO getting listed on National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in August 2004 detailed colloquially draw attention making the read more engaging.
An exhilarating essay on the Tata legacy on lines of Leadership with Trust awaits readers in the sixth segment. The segment primarily throws light on five core values, pro-employee management practices, and cross-cultural orientation for employees engaged by the firm to carry the Tata tradition forward.
In the concluding segments, the author brings to fore the role of technology as enabler of development promptly backing it up with insights on several technologies which could help make, and secure India's tomorrow. Change in employee mindset and organizational structure with technology and innovation as integral part of business, role of cloud computing in bringing mercury levels down in the IT ecosystem, profits earned and growth achieved through breakthroughs in technology, old school trend of reverse innovation employed in development, technologies in India - mobile, cloud computing, user interfaces predominantly speech-gesture based sixth sense technology, science of ultra small matter and signs of Nano - nanotechnology, focused hardware development to support rapidly evolving software are among aspects of technology author has held dear to drive the point home in the seventh segment. Lastly, in the eighth segment author has put forth future prospects of technology in healthcare and bioinformatics - primarily molecular biology and genomics, features of public-private partnership, future of healthcare in rural India and corresponding hindrances in development process, author's take on education system, the corporate's initiatives in primary education, rural tele-education gram-MAITRA (Multimedia-based Asynchronous Interactive Remote Teaching), computer-based functional literacy programmes for adults, Arogyashri-medical treatment through mobile services or portable devices in rural India, public-private initiative in close association with Sankara Nethralaya, and a business case for education which could do climatic justice to environment and sustainability.
The points awarded to S. Ramadorai's The TCS Story & Beyond on my review scale read 4 and leave my points repository with 1 write. The TCS story in The TCS Story & Beyond is mind-blowing and encourages readers to say nothing about the rest. Pick the read for a read and the read/write cycle will follow. An excellent knowledge and information-oriented compilation. Enjoy the read, but don't miss the story. It has lot to offer. Have fun. Cheers!
The author's narration of TCS story begins with a detailed account on an audacious vision the corporate nurtured to realize its goal of making it to list of top ten companies by 2010. Impact of Y2K software bug of 2000 on the Indian ways of corporate life, fierce competition the company faced from IT giants of the times, series of stratagems and policies ratified by the company to stay in the race to the top, work put into effect to find clients in the West, initiatives taken to facilitate an ecosystem within the organization capable of providing intrinsic support to quality educational institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology - the IITs, focused agenda promoted internally to create the company of the future, continual learning schemes devised to foster the passionate workforce's quest for growth within the organization, restructured business models with systems and protocols suiting internal operations, events that began to take shape leading into the company going public in 2004, firm's march to the top becoming India's first billion-dollar software company and pre-empted realization of its goal to be one among top ten players in IT software and services industry by 2009 are among events extensively researched and outlined by the writer in the first segment.
Subsequently, a written commentary on building TCS the process that took effect between 1968-96 and the developments observed thereafter at TCS during the later years i.e. 1996-2002 finds penning space dedicated to it in the compilation. Challenges thrown at the start-up by prevalent political turmoil and financial turbulence during the decade of 1960-70, impact of slow growth in economy on new business establishments, the brewing challenges of developing basic infrastructure in India, shift of company's operational base in 1966, euphoria surrounding the vibrant TCS spirit all over the industry, growth observed at TCS under Yash Sahni and Faqir Chand Kohli's dynamic leadership, gist of author's impression on joining TCS, telling account on history of TCS, strong professional bond with Faqir Chand Kohli and close association with TCS, tumultuous days concerning ease of establishing business in India, author's first overseas assignment and testing ordeals vis-à-vis his American experience, his first step up the corporate ladder, corporate house's budding affairs with Swiss National Bank and SegaInterSettle (SEGA) in regard to enforcement of IT contrivances within the two institutions, firm's bid toward acquisition of project intended for instigating international standards into Indian stock market trading system, company's propensity toward financial institutions such as National Securities and Depositories Limited and Standard Chartered Bank with the extended support of technical assistance in amelioration of basic IT structure, change of guard at TCS with author taking over the mantle of leadership from architect of India's IT industry Faqir Chand Kohli in 1996, recruitment challenges that accompanied the turn of the millennium with advent of new opportunities in technology are the few among the talking points put forward by the author in the second and third segments.
Riveting insights on the corporate's new initiatives to sustain substantial growth during transformation of internal operations and quest of attaining future growth through innovation and inception of strong business principles and paradigms form the subsequent matter of tête-à-tête in the TCS companion. Nurturing budding talent, recruitment numbers of TCS and TCS way of life, incorporation of Maitree group - the set-up meant for strengthening corporate bond between the company and TCSers and their families besides promotion of intriguing concept of corporate social responsibility, Ignite - an initiative delegating the task of talent hunt and training bright minds for effective execution of innovative ideas and facilitation of innovation to employees, focused approach toward improvement of interpersonal skills like mentoring and leadership among the workforce and the organization on the whole, strategy deployed for enhancement of research, development, and design through business excellence model appropriated by the Tata Group, globalization phase at TCS, continual evolution of business model, global presence the company enjoys i.e. its global footprint, digitization which made collaboration within the organization possible to facilitate formation of One TCS, inorganic growth procured through acquisitions, renewal of TCS brand from Beyond the Obvious to Experience Certainty and the inference drawn from the overhaul are the leitmotifs which make the fourth segment an engrossing read and keep readers thoroughly occupied and on their toes during the reading experience.
The fifth segment sparks up debate on concise theories supporting the episode of company going public i.e. the opening of TCS Initial Public Offer (IPO). The top-hole facets like challenges faced leading up to the TCS IPO, events on grounds of which company opened the IPO, Tata Sons' considerations and the thoughts that went into the making of IPO, delay caused in releasing IPO in 2004 with general elections slated for May that year, company's rendezvous with Indian stock market in July-August 2004, birth of real TCS in July-August 2004, majestic grandeur of TCS global road show which marked the occasion of IPO release, matters of principle - concept of employee ownership which complicated matters after the IPO release, and TCS IPO getting listed on National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in August 2004 detailed colloquially draw attention making the read more engaging.
An exhilarating essay on the Tata legacy on lines of Leadership with Trust awaits readers in the sixth segment. The segment primarily throws light on five core values, pro-employee management practices, and cross-cultural orientation for employees engaged by the firm to carry the Tata tradition forward.
In the concluding segments, the author brings to fore the role of technology as enabler of development promptly backing it up with insights on several technologies which could help make, and secure India's tomorrow. Change in employee mindset and organizational structure with technology and innovation as integral part of business, role of cloud computing in bringing mercury levels down in the IT ecosystem, profits earned and growth achieved through breakthroughs in technology, old school trend of reverse innovation employed in development, technologies in India - mobile, cloud computing, user interfaces predominantly speech-gesture based sixth sense technology, science of ultra small matter and signs of Nano - nanotechnology, focused hardware development to support rapidly evolving software are among aspects of technology author has held dear to drive the point home in the seventh segment. Lastly, in the eighth segment author has put forth future prospects of technology in healthcare and bioinformatics - primarily molecular biology and genomics, features of public-private partnership, future of healthcare in rural India and corresponding hindrances in development process, author's take on education system, the corporate's initiatives in primary education, rural tele-education gram-MAITRA (Multimedia-based Asynchronous Interactive Remote Teaching), computer-based functional literacy programmes for adults, Arogyashri-medical treatment through mobile services or portable devices in rural India, public-private initiative in close association with Sankara Nethralaya, and a business case for education which could do climatic justice to environment and sustainability.
The points awarded to S. Ramadorai's The TCS Story & Beyond on my review scale read 4 and leave my points repository with 1 write. The TCS story in The TCS Story & Beyond is mind-blowing and encourages readers to say nothing about the rest. Pick the read for a read and the read/write cycle will follow. An excellent knowledge and information-oriented compilation. Enjoy the read, but don't miss the story. It has lot to offer. Have fun. Cheers!
June 4, 2017
I believe it is one of the finest book ever written describing the Indian IT industry's behemoth company. This book has vividly describes not only the TCS saga, but also the evolution of Indian IT industry. The book has tried to capture the different phases of TCS from inception till its saturation. Mr. Ramdorai has clearly done a brilliant job in capturing the journey of TCS through its struggle, different leadership styles which shaped it and its contribution to India in a sequential manner. Multiple management theories have been described in the form of real life lessons. Finally the book has thrown some light on how technology can fast pace the growth on India in different sectors. The book is written in a fluid and easy to understand language.
September 18, 2022
The book shares the journey of S. Ramadorai (the former CEO) of TCS. The book shares fascinating insights into the growth of TCS, from struggling to do business in the pre-liberalization days to becoming a world leader in software services. The Tatas strategy of investing for the future paid them huge dividends when TCS became its crown jewel. The book also shares some interesting projects worked by TCS and Ramadorai's outlook for the company and his life.
May 8, 2021
The story is very enticing. It takes us from the idea of the organisation to the various struggles and challenges to finally forming what TCS we know of today. The only difficulty in the book which I found is that there are enormous technical details mentioned, which would be alein to someone who doesn't have basic idea of those technical details.
July 3, 2021
Inspiring Indian story
Very good read about importance of TCS for India. Ramadorai is from a conservative South Indian background, where families give great importance to education and learning. Proud of Tata group and fittingly they pioneered in the field of software in India. Could have added more on corporate struggles, politics, issues in managing such huge company.
Very good read about importance of TCS for India. Ramadorai is from a conservative South Indian background, where families give great importance to education and learning. Proud of Tata group and fittingly they pioneered in the field of software in India. Could have added more on corporate struggles, politics, issues in managing such huge company.
October 26, 2025
Story of establishment of TCS and the part of Ram in it. Encompasses the bloom of IT culture in India and about a global company having values of TATA. An inspiration to many. Some of Ramadorai's quotes hit at real truth and motivational. Good writing but could have gone more into the events leading to his retirement at 2009.
March 7, 2019
Personally lived through many of the details provided by Mr. Ramadorai. Also it was fascinating to know how did it all begin. I recommend it to all IT people and even people engaged in Offshoring industry.
August 17, 2018
It’s nice book which chronicles the CEO’s journey in TCS. Only positives are discussed. No management insights are found.
January 26, 2021
Typical Gen X read
March 21, 2021
good book
June 20, 2021
Must read for every TCSer. As the name suggest this book is more of the story of TCS rather than the autobiography of the author.
November 28, 2021
TCS is just a company?
No. It's a IT company which gave birth to the Indian IT industry.
No. It's a IT company which gave birth to the Indian IT industry.
January 17, 2022
First half is good. Second half is difficult to go.
June 12, 2022
It's informative as well as inspiring how people at Tata/TCS enabled India to be a global leader in IT services and consulting industry. I pay gratitude to those pioneers for setting up this industry in India and as a result lakhs of people getting employed in IT industry in India.
December 24, 2022
2.75 stars
January 22, 2023
Great book, almost captures IT revolution in India, very well presented!
November 24, 2023
An amazing story. Shows how an intrapreneur works...
November 25, 2021
It was a good read and in a few ways, very special to me..
1) I started my professional career with Tata Consultancy Services, being recruited directly from my campus in 2002
2) This was the book I was lucky to read to my ailing father. But I could only reach halfway unfortunately together with him. A loyal TATA veteran for 40 years, my father loved it as we discussed comments made by Rata Tata or another TATA top manager
3) The copy I have, signed by the author, was gifted by a dear friend, who used to work directly with Mr. Ramadorai, back in my days in Germany
4) My first literary piece, that was published in my school magazine ( I am guessing around 1991), was about JRD Tata, a revered industrialist and then the chairman of TATA Sons
I worked with TCS for around 4 years, starting off as a developer, scaling to a project leader and then onsite lead. It is important as I may have some subconscious bias towards the book but I assure you it is worth a read. The book is a perspective on the evolution of TCS both as one of the pioneers of Indian IT industry as well as a listed TATA company starting off as internal IT wing. I can identify with many of the stories described within - "Top 10 by 2010" vision, Branding journey "Beyond the Obvious" to "Experience Certainty", Ultimatix, TCS 2004 IPO (was a year old new bee then) and so on.
I have been at Trivandrum campus and several Mumbai campuses including Borivali GDC, Yantra Park (Thane), Banyan Park, SEEPZ Andheri and one or two other Mumbai offices. As described in the book, the Banyan Park campus is gorgeous with natural beauty abound. While some chapters may read as the memoir of a long serving TCS CEO (which it is and should be) and his perspective on how TCS pioneered the Indian IT industry, others like "The TATA legacy", "Technology as the enabler of Development" and "Towards Tomorrow's India" are broader themes. It enlightened me with many initiatives I was unaware of but not surprised considering the TATA umbrella and their philanthropic character.
Healthcare, Education and Sustainability are all topics highly debated today. Not only in India but across the world. While Environmental issues and sustainability have broader implications that are debated often across world forums, access to healthcare and education as a fundamental right is left as a topic limited by national boundaries. Healthcare (experienced first hand) in India is in doldrums. COVID has made me realize that healthcare access is limited not only by wallet but also by "who I know in political or medical spectrum". Education is key to social empowerment and breaking ideological/political/religious silos globally. I agree with the author that technology, not only IT, if used in the right way, can help the transformation but has to be enabled by public private collaboration.
Ending my review with some beautiful quotes that caught my attention:
- "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" - ancient Indian proverb
- "A CEO should be judged not just by what he built but more importantly by what he leaves behind for his successor to build upon" - S. Ramadorai
- "Leadership with Trust" - TATA motto
- "never let the bad news come from any other channel than you" - Ramdorai to Ravi (then TCS Telecom business head)
- "I must tell you that I felt so proud that here is an Indian company which is considered a benchmark in governance and transparency" - Ratan Tata in a letter to Infosys Mgmt after returning from one TCS IPO roadshow.
- "I think mentoring is simply an inborn passion and not something you can learn in a classroom. It can only be mastered by observation and practice. I also realized that most mentees select you, and not the other way round" - S. Ramadorai
1) I started my professional career with Tata Consultancy Services, being recruited directly from my campus in 2002
2) This was the book I was lucky to read to my ailing father. But I could only reach halfway unfortunately together with him. A loyal TATA veteran for 40 years, my father loved it as we discussed comments made by Rata Tata or another TATA top manager
3) The copy I have, signed by the author, was gifted by a dear friend, who used to work directly with Mr. Ramadorai, back in my days in Germany
4) My first literary piece, that was published in my school magazine ( I am guessing around 1991), was about JRD Tata, a revered industrialist and then the chairman of TATA Sons
I worked with TCS for around 4 years, starting off as a developer, scaling to a project leader and then onsite lead. It is important as I may have some subconscious bias towards the book but I assure you it is worth a read. The book is a perspective on the evolution of TCS both as one of the pioneers of Indian IT industry as well as a listed TATA company starting off as internal IT wing. I can identify with many of the stories described within - "Top 10 by 2010" vision, Branding journey "Beyond the Obvious" to "Experience Certainty", Ultimatix, TCS 2004 IPO (was a year old new bee then) and so on.
I have been at Trivandrum campus and several Mumbai campuses including Borivali GDC, Yantra Park (Thane), Banyan Park, SEEPZ Andheri and one or two other Mumbai offices. As described in the book, the Banyan Park campus is gorgeous with natural beauty abound. While some chapters may read as the memoir of a long serving TCS CEO (which it is and should be) and his perspective on how TCS pioneered the Indian IT industry, others like "The TATA legacy", "Technology as the enabler of Development" and "Towards Tomorrow's India" are broader themes. It enlightened me with many initiatives I was unaware of but not surprised considering the TATA umbrella and their philanthropic character.
Healthcare, Education and Sustainability are all topics highly debated today. Not only in India but across the world. While Environmental issues and sustainability have broader implications that are debated often across world forums, access to healthcare and education as a fundamental right is left as a topic limited by national boundaries. Healthcare (experienced first hand) in India is in doldrums. COVID has made me realize that healthcare access is limited not only by wallet but also by "who I know in political or medical spectrum". Education is key to social empowerment and breaking ideological/political/religious silos globally. I agree with the author that technology, not only IT, if used in the right way, can help the transformation but has to be enabled by public private collaboration.
Ending my review with some beautiful quotes that caught my attention:
- "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" - ancient Indian proverb
- "A CEO should be judged not just by what he built but more importantly by what he leaves behind for his successor to build upon" - S. Ramadorai
- "Leadership with Trust" - TATA motto
- "never let the bad news come from any other channel than you" - Ramdorai to Ravi (then TCS Telecom business head)
- "I must tell you that I felt so proud that here is an Indian company which is considered a benchmark in governance and transparency" - Ratan Tata in a letter to Infosys Mgmt after returning from one TCS IPO roadshow.
- "I think mentoring is simply an inborn passion and not something you can learn in a classroom. It can only be mastered by observation and practice. I also realized that most mentees select you, and not the other way round" - S. Ramadorai
October 3, 2011
The book is well written and highlights the Travails faced by the IT industry pioneers in India. For somebody in the Indian IT industry today it hightlights the characteristics of associates in the early days with the characteristics of the associates today. It is a world of a difference. Associates were more dedicated, more loyal and more hardworking than they are today. Maybe the same number of associates answer to the above set of attributes but in overall percentage of associates in IT companies there numbers are very small and that is the reason one has seen a huge drop in the quality of software coming out of these companies.
While Mr. Ramadorai highlights the successes of TCS he is failed to touch upon the failures which would have added another dimension to the company that is TCS. The book leaves the reader in no doubt as to who were the pioneers of IT industry in India.
Towards the end of the book Mr. Ramadorai has put in his thoughts on Education in India and how vocational training has to be brought in and strengthened as that would open up more avenues of employment for the students passing out of the numerous schools and colleges. It would give a different means to livelihood to the millions who today strive the find a job and then try to find satisfaction with whatever job comes their way rather than being able to select a job as per their abilities and likes.
On the whole a good read for the employees of the Indian IT industry.
While Mr. Ramadorai highlights the successes of TCS he is failed to touch upon the failures which would have added another dimension to the company that is TCS. The book leaves the reader in no doubt as to who were the pioneers of IT industry in India.
Towards the end of the book Mr. Ramadorai has put in his thoughts on Education in India and how vocational training has to be brought in and strengthened as that would open up more avenues of employment for the students passing out of the numerous schools and colleges. It would give a different means to livelihood to the millions who today strive the find a job and then try to find satisfaction with whatever job comes their way rather than being able to select a job as per their abilities and likes.
On the whole a good read for the employees of the Indian IT industry.
November 14, 2016
A definitive guide not just on how India's largest IT company TCS was built starting from the mid sixties but also about the early days of the IT industry, the challenges it faced and how the leadership overcame these challenges.
The book also highlights the vision the Tata Group in general has about the future, about business and its role In society and how the company is committed to performing it's roles be it on the corporate side as a responsible profit making business or as a committed citizen to the overall development of society around it.
Former CEO Ram has outlined the various milestones the company has been through in the last many decades right from buying it's first mainframe, winning a big order from major Swiss bank, delivering software for national stock exchange NSE in India, reaching it first billion dollar sales target, becoming one of the top ten IT companies in the world to listing it's shares on the Indian stock exchange exchange and making it the most valuable Indian IT company on the stock exchange.
All in all a good read about how a nascent industry took birth in India and scaled to great heights in the decades to come by.
The book also highlights the vision the Tata Group in general has about the future, about business and its role In society and how the company is committed to performing it's roles be it on the corporate side as a responsible profit making business or as a committed citizen to the overall development of society around it.
Former CEO Ram has outlined the various milestones the company has been through in the last many decades right from buying it's first mainframe, winning a big order from major Swiss bank, delivering software for national stock exchange NSE in India, reaching it first billion dollar sales target, becoming one of the top ten IT companies in the world to listing it's shares on the Indian stock exchange exchange and making it the most valuable Indian IT company on the stock exchange.
All in all a good read about how a nascent industry took birth in India and scaled to great heights in the decades to come by.
January 7, 2014
Provides good insight into the inception & growth of IT industry in India. The initial story of TCS is basically the story of IT industry in India. As a CEO written story, it naturally focuses on the good parts rather than providing an objective view of things. Last few chapters can be safely skipped, as they mostly talk about the author's view of the current situation of India and has very little bearing on the TCS story. Recommended read if you are interested in learning about the way IT industry in India had evolved over the years.
February 10, 2013
Pretty good account of the crazy red tape faced by TCS in becoming one of the most admired and most money making IT company of the country. Its an eye opener when you come to know that not so far ago companies has to pay taxes which were twice the cost of the computer they were importing!!!
March 29, 2013
Describes step-by-step how India arrived on the IT-scene since 1970s till now. Also gives a detailed peek into what goes in to make TCS one of the respected companies. A must read for all software professionals
December 20, 2013
What makes this book interesting despite the genre being non-fiction. At least to me, this work made me look into over all perspective, just not think about immediate effect of a issue. Easy and quick read. Inspiring work as well.
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