CHAPTER 8
DATAMATION
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Chetan Sharma setup Datamation Consultants in August 1987 with 50,000 rupees (Rs). By 2003, he was at the head of a company with an asset base of Rs 58 crores (USD 12.7 million that year, 2003; a crore is equivalent to Rs 10 million). Chetan believes his company has shown a model for bridging the digital divide, a model that he wants to sustain as the company grows.
Datamation Consultants was started with the dear aim of facilitating the inclusion of the disadvantaged in the workplace. Specifically, Datamation uses information technology (IT) training to extend job opportunities to women from socially or economically Wily disadvantaged backgrounds. Today, Datamation Consultants has 1,880 employees in 30 offices across India and more than 600 clients across ±e globe. About 30 percent of its employees are women from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Datamation was one of the earliest data mining companies in the Country A data mining company maintains its own database, and occasionally buys data from other sources, depending on its client's needs, ft then sifts through the information, analyzes it, and identifies trends and patterns that add power to the client2s direct marketing effort. However, data mining is only one of the things Datamation does. Its services include software solutions, Web-based solutions, and business advisory services.
'I wanted to exploit the power of databases for marketing gains," says Chetan. "The concept of data mining was common abroad in 1985, but in India, selling it involved changing mindsets."
It was a struggle initially, he recalls, as he recounts the story of Delhi Lotteries, one of his earliest contracts (Makaan 1998). The project involved processing prizewinning tickets surrendered by stockists, the shops that sold the tickets. Datamation's rival put in a bid of Rs 1.35 per lottery ticket, while Chetan bid only 14 paise, or Rs 0.14. Delhi Lotteries could not believe anyone could do a good job so cheap. Says Chetan: "It took 18 months of persuasion to get the contract. I had to explain how the PC had changed computing reality."

This Case Study was written by Surya Prakash Loonker under the supervision of prof. Marie Lisa M Dacanay, Program Director for Social and Development Enterpreneurship, Asian Institute of Management (AIM), in coordination with Ms. Barsha Poricha, Senior Programme Officer of the National Foundation for India (NFI), as part of the AIM-CAFO (Conference of Asian Foundations and Organizations) Research Project on Social Enterpreneurship supported by the Japan Foundation. Datamation is currently involved in software development, advisory and research work, data processing, medical and business transcription, data conversion, direct marketing and customer relationship management (CRM), CD/DVD reproduction, content development, and geographical information systems (GIS).
The company's achievements continue to be defined by its mission, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of its 600-plus clients are multinational companies— including ABN-AMRO, American Express, Bank of America, Citibank, Hewlett-Packard, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Malaysia, KLM (the Royal Dutch national airline of the Netherlands), MCI (the international telecommunications company, one of the top three long-distance and international carriers in the U.S.), Nestle, The Economist, and Time Inc.—and despite the fact that over 30 percent of its business comes from abroad (Makaan 1998).
As far as Chetan is concerned, one of Datamation's enduring achievements is the fact that it has won tenders, or formal offers, to conduct 8th Standard (Grade) -exams in 24 out of 32 districts of Rajasthan.

• CHETAN'S EARLY INFLUENCES
Chetan was affected by the fact that in India low literacy rates, traditional gender roles, lack of marketable skills, and lower educational levels make it difficult for women to find employment, especially skilled or technical jobs. Thus, women often settle for jobs that are low-paid and require little skill. The problem is compounded for women from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are often forced to work in the informal sector of the economy, which affords little job security or growth potential.
Chetan personally knows the obstacles facing disadvantaged people and groups. He had a speech disability in childhood and suffered the mockery and ridicule of classmates and the children he grew up with. His mother struggled to bring him up and to rectify his speech disability. Chetan remembers that she made him read a lot and speak aloud. She even adopted some extreme measures, like putting marbles under his tongue, to make him speak clearly. Fortunately, her efforts paid off when speaking to Chetan today, it is hard to imagine that as a child he suffered from a severe and debilitating speech disability.
The seeds of social entrepreneurship, Chetan believes, were embedded in his psyche even when he was a child. He says the struggles that he and his far-from-well-a ff family experienced while he was growing up instilled in him a deep sense of the need to conserve resources for a rainy day—he still remembers his mother trying to make both ends meet within a very frugal household budget. Chetan himself had to struggle a fair amount just to get a decent education, and he managed to pursue his studies in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Dhule in Maharashtra with the help of scholarships.
Along with his personal struggles, his childhood in his maternal grandfather's home—in the tribal, backward Dhule District of northwest Maharashtra—constantly brought Chetan in touch with the realities of grassroots poverty; acute water scarcity; and all the other disadvantages that millions face on a day-to-day basis.
For Chetan, this exposure to privation and struggle was extremely potent, especially when combined with his mother's and grandfather's nationalistic ideology, and their memories of participating in the freedom struggle. From an early age, he was exposed to the tenets of Gandhian thought, to the idea of community development, and to the realization that political independence had not brought with it an end to poverty and exploitation in society.
While privation exposed Chetan to the need for financial security; he is of the opinion that his upbringing in an orthodox "Brahminical" home left him with the belief that life was about much more than just money. Equally important, he was raised with a basic belief in renunciation and giving away. His maternal grandfather, a distinguished lawyer, used to give away far more than he kept for himself Since the grandfather had become a widower at an early age, he did not see any reason to conserve money, says Chetan, and thus gave away whatever he had earned to some institutions for the blind.
In a society in which the dowry is still standard practice, marrying a girl is considered an act of ultimate benevolence. Without a dowry, it is almost impossible to get a girl married in some castes in Indian society. The dowry, along with the marriage ceremony itself, is a very expensive proposition in India. It's a great burden especially for the poor. Because of the dowry, poor people often find it immensely difficult to get their daughters married. Many families save money for their entire life 'so that they can get their children married properly. Chetan is a Brahmin, which means he belongs to a caste within the Hindu religion whose members are considered caretakers of God. He -put up the money so that several Brahmin girls could get married.
Such concern is the result of his mother's strong influence. Chetan says his mother instilled in him a deep sense of outrage over rising unemployment, exploitation, voicelessness, helplessness, political bankruptcy, and the marginalization of the communities. More urgently, she drew his attention to the pitiable state of women, specifically to the lack of economic empowerment among them.
Even as she instilled in him this deep commitment to helping the disadvantaged, especially women, Chetan's mother also suggested that he address social concerns by being an entrepreneur and establishing his own business venture. She encouraged him to become an entrepreneur rather than serve any organization. Chetan readily admits that it was his mother's ideology and her deep concern for women that left a lasting impression on him and committed him to the path he has taken (Sharma 2003).

• THE PATH TO DATAMATION
The path that Chetan chose to take was far from paved. He did well in school initially, getting the highest grades in his district and zone. (India is divided into 28 states and 7 union territories. Each state is further divided into administrative units called districts. There are 602 districts across India. A group of districts is called a zone.) Chetan, however, did not do well in high school, and owing to a lack of flair for physics, he graduated with poor grades.
Adding to his woes, his family went through a particularly difficult phase—his father's work was failing, and he was let down even by those among his kith and kin whom he trusted and depended upon. The family's income was unstable, his father was tense and unhappy, and his mother was in a constant state of anxiety; having to run the household with meager resources and to plan for the future of two unmarried daughters. Even though Chetan was only 19 at that time, she began depending on him for financial support.
Chetan, meanwhile, was applying to universities for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). He finally decided on Pine University's Symbiosis Institute of Management. Naturally, his family could not support him, so he started working, initially with Bradma India, an office automation company of the Tata Group. Chetan feels that this experience contributed substantially to his affinity for office automation and systems. Subsequently, he worked for Bajaj Auto Limited, the largest two-wheeler company in India, which manufactures about one million scooters a year.
Those were hard days, with office and factory work till three in the afternoon, then MBA classes from four till late in the evening. Chetan lived by himself in Pune and managed to maintain his punishing academic and professional schedule. The income derived from his double job gave Chetan a chance to fend for himself as well as to support his mother financially. A deep urge to succeed drove him forward, and he topped the university's MBA program.
After getting his MBA, Chetan acquired work experience in the computer division of BPL India in Bangalore, a branch of British Physical Laboratories (BPL), among the top 10 home-appliance companies in India. It was at BPL that Chetan acquired a lot of exposure to software. After completing one year in that company, Chetan decided to relocate to Delhi, along with his parents. There, he joined the Minerals and Metal Trading Company (MMTC), a government-owned enterprise, and at one time the only company allowed to trade in minerals and metals in India. The job came with a title—assistant divisional manager of the computer division. The corporate exposure, Chetan believes, gave him a solid foundation, allowing him to experience how businesses are run and also making him realize the importance of profits. However, he had not lost his zeal for helping the disadvantaged, and the exposure to for-profit companies only strengthened his resolve to plow back profits for a social enterprise. He developed his vision for social entrepreneurship. As Chetan puts it (Sharma 2003): "I realized profits are very important to sustain a business. However, my fundamental belief has been that the profits are meant to be used by those who have no access to resources.... The social goals I set aside for myself have helped me design a competitive and sustainable business model."
A year after relocating to Delhi, Chetan decided to found Datamation Consultants. As a first-generation entrepreneur, he started with no financial support and with zero capital. Neither Chetan nor his family possessed or had access to the capital required to kick-start a social enterprise. But as strong as his zeal was his belief that "nothing is impossible if you decide on it" His spirit of do-or-die prompted him to seek a solution.
The choice of the IT sector seemed extremely obvious to Chetan. He candidly admits: "I lacked the resources for manufacturing, and finance was too routine. I knew I could make it only in marketing, and I was eager to apply my IT skills." (Makaan 1998.) His belief in "focused marketing" was also crucial The idea, picked up from his work and readings, that good database management is impossible without IT infrastructure, was encouraged by his close friend Janice Brodman, who has a doctorate in education technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and who had great faith in direct marketing.
The choice of this particular social enterprise also stemmed from Chetan's recognition that the IT sector had become the driving force in India's economic. development, and in accelerating job and revenue creation. He saw that, as the opportunities in this sector continued to grow, IT jobs had the potential to create financial stability for greater numbers of employees. Chetan was sensitive to the reality that lack of adequate training, high illiteracy rates, and low familiarity with computers and the Internet had kept women from entering the IT job market in significant numbers thus far. This was despite the fact, in his view, that women employees bring several additional values to the workplace, like loyalty, attention to detail, and good interpersonal skills. It was this state of affairs—women being disadvantaged in terms of employment, coupled with the perception of opportunities available in the IT sector—that determined Chetan's vision for Datamation Consultants.
Chetan bought his first computer almost entirely on credit from a vendor he knew well. Using his mother's modest savings as his rotating line of credit, he started Datamation Consultants. Even after he founded the company, the financial struggles continued. He says that he "would often borrow from [his] mother's savings and return the money a month later, only to borrow again" (Makaan 1998). His father brought in a team of financiers, but while that improved liquidity it seriously limited Datamation's operational freedom.
Meanwhile, Chetan went to the United States, since his market research pointed to business opportunities abroad. While he was there, Datamation's employees went on strike. In 1991, the financiers decided to auction off the business, putting out a public notice inviting bids. Chetan came back home in time to bid Rs 800,000 and buy back his company. The financiers agreed to accept payment over a year, and over the next few months Chetan worked incessantly to put together the money, using Datamation's revenues.
A spot of luck came Datamation's way when Chetan's U.S. trip bore fruit in 1992 in the form of a USD 500,000 contract from AMER Telecom, a subsidiary of communication giant MCI. This was a data mining project to promote the company's toll-free services. Datamation saw its first greenbacks at the end of 18 months of effort. Says Chetan: "We were thrilled and overwhelmed. It was a huge project, and everyone was exhausted. The project had been conceptualized in Washington, and the database was in India. We had pushed ourselves to the limit, and we knew that huge bills awaited us." (Makaan 1998.) Datamation was truly o~ its way.
Struggles in financing his company and a near-takeover did not diminish or change Chetan's or Datamation's vision. Chetan continually drew inspiration from the Jews, who survived the Holocaust and decades of discrimination. His belief that "success that comes from struggle and from the pursuit of excellence is enduring, unlike success that comes easily and without pain" (Mayan 1998) maintained for him the clarity of his vision—inclusion of the disadvantaged, especially women, in the workplace.
Chetan is emphatic about the importance of plain and simple hard work. The longest break he has ever taken from work is a day. Even on his wedding day, he was fine-tuning a tender document till three hours before the ceremony. For him, success is very much about work. Since there is no place, as far as he is concerned, for runners-up, he aims to be nothing less than number one. He is clear that there can be no extraordinary gains without exceptional effort. "There have been times when I haven't gone home for days in order to meet a deadline, and deadlines are sacrosanct," he stresses (Makaan 1998). He is aware of the costs: he could not spend enough time with his mother, who died of cancer, and he feels he does not spend enough time with his children, who are growing up. However, this is, for him, part and parcel of making his dream come true.

• A CONTINUING PROCESS OF SELF-RENEWAL

Chetan believes in continually updating his skills and broadening his horizon. In addition to his formal qualifications, he constantly speaks in public and attends conferences and seminars dealing with his area. of expertise.
In the past few years, among other activities, he attended the World Bank seminar on "Building Sustainable Livelihoods by Implementing a Partnership between the Private Sector and Community" (December 2001); the South Asia Fund-Raising Group seminar on "Fund-Raising and Resource Mobilization by the Voluntary Groups" (January 2002); the seminar on "ICTs for Development and Gender" at the Second Annual Baramati Conference, sponsored by the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, and MIT Media Labs Asia Ltd.. (May. 2002); and a workshop on "Building a Development Gateway for the Civil Society:
Government and the Private Sector and Partnerships in the Area of E-Commerce and Content Partnerships" for the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India. (A comprehensive list of different conferences and seminars that Chetan has attended over the years is included in Annex 8.2).
Chetan has also been a regular visitor to IT fairs, such as CEBIT in Germany, Comdex in USA, and CRM and direct-marketing conferences across the globe. He also writes on topical subjects, such as the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in poverty alleviation and in enhancing the-competitiveness and profitability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs); gender and development; and trade barriers and trade imbalances.
In addition to Datamation, Chetan continues to be involved in the implementation of ICT projects at the grassroots, partnering with a large number of voluntary organizations. He is working to help implement ICT solutions in the primary education and health care sectors in some parts of India.

• VISION, MISSION, AND STRATEGY
"At the convergence and intersection of information technology and human development" and "Committed to the creation of employment opportunities for deprived youth, women, and physically handicapped." Such slogans, flashing in Datamation's Website (http://wwwdatarnationindia.corn), reflect Cretan’s vision for the company to provide a platform for the socially and economically disadvantaged people in India's ICT sector (Sharma 2003).
Cretan’s vision inspired the setting up of an innovative public-private partnership program in which Datamation worked with local nonprofit partners to give disadvantaged women the training they need, and then recruited successful trainees for full-time jobs within the company.
Datamation's train-and-hire program was thus envisaged as an extensive public-private partnership between the company and more than a dozen not-for-profit nongovernment organizations (NGOs).
The list of Datamation's partner NGOs was extremely broad. It included the Datamation Foundation, a nongovernment organization started by Chetan Sharma in January 2002. The other partner NGOs were: Nan Raksha Sarniti (NRS), Prayas, Action India, Nanhi Kali, Katha, Arise & Shine Church International, Deepalaya, Udayan, the Help Care Society, Azim, the Premji Foundation, and the American India Foundation.
These partner NGOs were not chosen haphazardly. Chetan established definite criteria for selecting an NGO as a partner. The criteria include:
• the strength and institutional capacity of the NGO;
• the extent to which creation of sustainable job opportunities formed a core factor in the mission of the NGO;
• the efficacy and impact of the NGO's efforts in serving the target communities; and
• the ability of the NGO to implement low-cost IT training courses.
Chetan sought to ally Datamation's vision with the institutional capacity of Datamation's partner NGOs. He thus established a format in which the partner NGOs offered free or low-cost, six- to eight-month IT training courses to marginalized groups of women.
The courses were comprehensive in range, and included:
• basic computer operation;
• software applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint; and
• the fundamentals of software development (though the trainees were not expected to become programmers).
Recognizing that English education is not accessible to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and that English is not widely spoken among them, Chetan insisted that serious efforts be made to provide training in local languages. Knowledge of English was thus emphatically not a prerequisite to hiring, a significant change from established formats in the IT sector. This policy dramatically broadened the outreach of the program.
To realize the breadth of the social aspect of Datamation's vision—women's empowerment and personal development—Datamation Foundation was also involved in providing life-skills training in such areas as health care, communication skills, professionalism and work ethic, and knowledge of worker's and women's rights.

Successful graduates of the training course could apply for entry-level jobs with Datamation. Recruitment tests were set up to examine technical skills, numerical and quantitative analytical aptitude, and written and spoken communication skills. They also served to assess professional attitude and work ethic, and the ability of potential employees• to cope with the stress of working long hours at a computer terminal.
No preferential treatment was given to the women in the hiring process. They were required to pass the same rigorous recruitment testing process applicable to all other hires. Datamation, says Chetan, was and is committed to hiring women who have the skills and qualifications to succeed on the job. Compromising hiring standards, he concludes, would hardly benefit the company or the social mission.
To ensure the continued success of new employees, a mentoring and, training system has also been established. The mentoring focuses on professional etiquette, stress management, communication skills, life skills, and new developments in technology as they relate to the jobs. The cultural transition that occurs once the initial hire is made often requires daily attention, and the mentoring is seen as playing a critical role in employee retention and success.
The train-and-hire program has proven to be very cost-effective for Datamation Consultants because it creates a loyal employee base and therefore reduces manpower attrition rates. Datamation has added to its staff strength, year after year. Professional development and continuing technical training are provided to all of Datamation's staff, but Datamation has found that more consistent technical "refresher" courses are needed for the women hired from this program, since the lack of good primary education and a low familiarity with technology mean that their need for retraining is higher than that for other recruits. The staff time needed for this ongoing support does incur additional cost to Datamation, but a large bulk of the interaction and retraining is supplied by the Datamation Foundation's board members and volunteers, and thus does not subtract significantly from the company's bottom line.
Today, Datamation has around 30 centers around the country. Major offices are located in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, with several others in rural locations. Whenever possible, international contracts are serviced from the rural locations, creating both social and financial benefits. The work extends the IT sector into under-served areas of the country, while generating higher profit margins due to lower operating and labor costs.

• MANAGING A DOUBLE BOTTOM LINE
"I want to run a commercially successful venture with the spirit of an NGO," Chetan says. "Money is important for survival, but it's useless beyond a point. Moving into bigger houses and buying new cars isn't my idea of success. I'm not the only one who's worked hard here, and I'd like my co-workers to prosper with me." (Makaan 1998.) Chetan stresses that Datamation offers not charity but social investment, which simultaneously benefits individuals, communities, and its own business interests. Datamation maintains a close working relationship with its partners, especially the Datamation Foundation. There are regularly scheduled staff meetings, and frequent opportunities for communication and feedback. The staff of Datamation Consultants regularly works with foundation and other partner NGO staff, resulting in an efficient hiring process following the training program. Established as a private nonprofit entity, the Datamation Foundation was set up by Datamation Consultants as a way to focus on Datamation's social goals in a structured and independent manner. The Datamation Foundation's stated mission is to provide social services and outreach to marginalized groups in India through innovative uses of ICTs and the creation of employment opportunities. The main activity that supports its mission is working with Datamation Consultants on the train-and-hire program. Datamation Foundation acts as an umbrella organization for the nonprofits in the partnership. Under its guidance, the NGOs have developed a platform for networking and creating common strategies and objectives. For its part, Datamation Consultants supports partner NGOs-in their wider organizational needs. The support includes hardware and software development, Website design and maintenance, and technical support. Datamation conducts a needs assessment of each new partner NGO to determine the extent and type of technical support needed. Dedicated staff hours and resources donated for all the partner NGOs are estimated at highly subsidized costs, including overhead and administrative costs. Funding in the form of cash grants is not a major provision of Datamation's partnerships with NGOs, though some funds may be disbursed on a case-by-case basis. Partner NGOs have independent funding sources. The Datamation Foundation, however, is entirely funded by Datamation Consultants.

• DIVERSE PORTFOLIO

Chetan is emphatic that a diverse portfolio of services—the model that Datamation follows—is extremely important in ensuring not only the sustainability of the business but also balanced returns for the company. Datamation has never, according to Chetan, been dependent on a singular service for its sustenance and survival, even though a large number of services offered by the company have been at the lower end. The Datamation services portfolio consists of the following:
• Call centers
• Transaction processing
• Logistics and courier services
• Transcription houses
• Portals/vortals/exchange
• Internet-based services
• Multi-purpose tele-centers
• Geographical information systems (GIS) applications
• Content aggregation and consolidation • Tele-medicine
• Information services
• Data centers
• Online/offline computer-based education
• Online government services and e-governance
• Management advisory and consulting services
• Market research and business intelligence services

• COMPREHENSIVE MARKET COVERAGE -AND LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS

Important in Datamation’s operational and expansion strategy has been an equal focus on the domestic and international markets and on all segments of the Indian economy. This has ensured uninterrupted business for Datamation. The company has extensively targeted the huge untapped potential of the Indian market at a time when most competing companies were simply thriving on outsourcing business offered by the international markets. Datamation thus picked up business from alt parts of the country. Even the remotest corners of the country were not left untapped.
The company concentrated its marketing efforts on the following sectors of the Indian economy, all with a pan-Indian presence;
• central as well as stare government departments, including closely held government companies;
• multinational corporations (MNCs), including traditional large Indian companies that are in the top 500 bracket;
• the nonprofit and development sector of the economy, including bilateral and multilateral agencies and international development organizations;
• academic institutions and universities; and
• research organizations.

The lower end of the market was not tapped by Datamation due to the inherent risks associated with such a segment.
Chetan emphasizes that Datamation’s focus on the domestic market, at times even at the cost of lucrative international business opportunities, has enabled the company to forge long-term partnerships with the local institutions in the Indian government as well as with organizations in the private sector, including MNCs. Such a strategy, he feels, has paid rich dividends through sustainability and endurance.
In addition to a fairly comprehensive coverage of the domestic market, Datamation also focuses on all English-speaking Anglo-Saxon economies worldwide (apart from European economies). According to Chetan, this has ensured a steady 40-percent business from the international markets (Sharma 2003). During the last two years, Datamation has focused significantly on the Chinese market, and collaboration has been sought with a large number of Chinese universities and academic institutions.

• MAINTAINING A SATISFIED AND DEDICATED CLIENTELE

Datamation works extremely hard to ensure a first-class marketing relationship with its clients. Chetan believes that the emphasis on retaining clients from all market segments—by offering personalized services and adopting a highly involved and relationship-driven approach with them—is critical in this endeavor. Ensuring its client base has involved extensive spending on communication services. Thus, Datamation offers 24/7 service—that is, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—spread over at least 360 days in a calendar year, with everyone's cellular phones being kept on all the time, and office phone lines also being answered all day long. Along with ensuring uninterrupted business from its clients, this has encouraged client confidence in Datamation. Chetan and Datamation can boast a client retention rate of over 90 percent (Sharma 2003). Success in maintaining client confidence has definitively helped the company's growth as a responsible social enterprise. Datamation's clients—including those drawn from large Fortune 500 companies, namely, Nestle, American Express, Bank of America, ABN-Amro Bank, and HS BC—have consistently reposed their faith in the "social" model of the business, as well as empathized extensively with the company's philosophy of creating large-scale employment opportunities. Client confidence in Datamation has translated into preferred treatment for the company. However, Chetan says, the preferred treatment is also grounded on the fact that Datamation ensures there are no compromises in quality, service, and pricing. Satisfied clients have assigned to Datamation sustainable projects of long- term implications, says Chetan, adding: "Without the solidarity of the clients, it would not have been possible to build Datamation into a socially responsible business" (Sharma 2003). Several of Datamation's clients have actually visited its offices to observe work on the ground. They have also deputized team members to inspect Datamation's facilities and infrastructure, to assess the social impact of the company's work, and to see how it is making a difference in the lives of its employees. In order to assess the impact of Datamation on the lives of its employees and to determine how much the company's backing has assisted in personal and professional growth, representatives of some companies have conducted random interviews with the staff The feedback that emerged from these field interviews with the employees has been extremely positive—and the reality of Datamation being visualized as a social venture with a deep passion for assisting the deprived and disadvantaged has played a catalytic role in cementing client faith in the company.

• INCLUSIVITY & UNDERSTANDING AS A WORK ETHIC
Given that the adversities faced by most vulnerable communities are of a serious nature and can be surmounted only over a period of time, Datamation has adopted a very reconciliatory and understanding attitude toward its entire staff. Every staff member is assigned to a mentor who has spent several years in the organization. Apart from providing the staff member with a foothold in the

DATAMATION’S EXTENDED FAMILY
Datamation sees itself as an extended family, standing together in good times and hard times, Rajesh, assistant manager at Datamation, lost his wife after they had their second child. In this tragic hour, the entire organization stood behind Rajesh, supporting him in rebuilding his life. The company also notified the clients whom Rajesh served about the tragedy. It is a testimony to the close relationship that Datamation shares with its clients that all of them supported Rajesh in his moment of grief. When Shivani and Surender, both staff members working at Datamation, decided to tie the knot despite a lot of differences in their family backgrounds, the company facilitated the process of their marriage by talking to their parents directly. It played the benevolent role of matchmaker. Hemant Singh and Padam singh, two brothers working at Datamation for many years, started drifting apart due to family differences. The management observed the strain both brothers were going through and immediately decided to take remedial steps by taking on the role of peace broker, mediating between two warring parties. The brothers and their families were able to bury their differences and stay united after that. professional life, the mentor assists that person overcome the "adversities" that he! she faces.
The senior management team follows an open-door policy, allowing employees and staff easy access, so that they can seek help regarding all sorts of problems and concerns. Structured and unstructured meetings are also organized from time to time. The organization strives to be an "extended family," with the management team involved in almost every major decision that a Datamation employee makes in regard to career and family. Both in times of happiness and tragedy, the team believes in standing together—from enthusiastic participation in weddings to shared grief in times of tragedy.
The feeling at Datamation of being part of an extended family spreads to the families of staff members. Therefore, when their relatives are having trouble getting work, staff members refer them to Datamation for job opportunities. The management also plays the role of benevolent employer. Employees get absorbed if a vacancy exists for a suitable position at Datamation anywhere in the country. The employees are also encouraged to loan money among themselves in the event of financial difficulties, on repayment terms that are mutually acceptable. Team members are also encouraged to greet their seniors at their homes on festivals and other ceremonial occasions.
This policy, by which the senior management combines its work with the~ role of human resource development, is both cost-effective and integrative. In addition, the fact that the decision-making process is highly decentralized ensures the feeling' of an "extended family."
• DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES
Of Datamation’s nearly 1,900 employees, 35 percent are women. About 85 percent of the women are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Of the 80 employees in Jaipur, not a single one speaks English. In India, women working in the IT sector earn approximately 88 percent more than those in non-IT jobs, and Datamation's salaries reflect this trend. A newly hired trainee can expect to earn a starting salary of USD 60-70 per month, with growth potential to USD 100 per month after the first year of successful performance. Over the next few years, Datamation expects to add over 3,000 additional jobs, a significant percentage of which will be available to successful graduates of the training courses (Sharma 2003). The employees who work for Datamation Consultants are mostly the sole breadwinners in the family, making Datamation's contribution doubly relevant. Chetan sees Datamation as an example of how a business model innovation involving the use of ICTs can accelerate social development and corporate success. For him, one of the most important achievements of Datamation’s social investment efforts has been in expanding the traditional definitions of corporate responsibility and corporate citizenship. Investment in training provides significant benefit to the workers, while also helping to ensure that the company has a strong, skilled workforce. The results have been encouraging: a majority of the female workforce, hailing from underprivileged segments of Indian society, have benefited from the training and support services provided by partner NGOs, and function as loyal, disciplined, and productive employees.
For Chetan, the key to Datamation's success lies in its model of public-private partnership, which creates a cost-effective means of achieving parallel social objectives for both Datamation Consultants and the partner NGOs. The partnership allows each parry to leverage its comparative advantage to achieve greater benefits. It is through this partnership that Datamation is able to bring minority and disadvantaged women—a segment of the population that does not have substantial access to employment opportunities elsewhere—into its organizational mainstream.
This partnership model offers valuable lessons on how ICTs can effectively reach out to poor and uneducated social groups, thereby transforming individuals and communities. Datamation’s train-and-hire program actually bridges the digital divide, by demonstrating that technology is not the exclusive d7omain of affluent or educated populations. Instead, technology can be applied in ways that are relevant to the lives of the poor and uneducated and can be used in tangible and profitable ways to empower the disadvantaged, those at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Chetan's social entrepreneurship has received national and international recognition. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Consultant Award initiated by the Government of India and is the recipient of the Global Economic Forum Award. He has been listed on the International Who's Who of Professionals and has also been chosen as a finalist for the World Bank infoDev's information and communication technology-based project on the creation of sustainable livelihoods in India's IT industry for the socially and economically weak people.

• DILEMMAS AND CHALLENGES
Chetan is extremely cognizant of the future needs of Datamation. The Datamation Foundation is currently seeking outside donor funds, especially for the vocational training component. There is also a need for adequate transportation for workers, as well as subsidized quality day care facilities. Day care and a connectivity infrastructure that would facilitate telecommuting would help address the challenge of post-maternity retention, Chetan feels. Currently, very few women employees continue working after the first child is born, representing a significant loss in the female workforce and associated training costs. Government support for infrastructure development is thus a primary concern for Datamation. Chetan has tried to improve the retention of married women at Datamation Consultants after the first child is born, and the company currently has a retention rate of25 percent in this category. The improvement in Datamation's retention of married women with families is indicative of a greater desire on the part of the family members to support financial independence. Competition does not deter Chetan. He is open to competitors visiting his office and interacting with his employees. Thousands have visited his offices across the country. Chetan's approach is of a larger social benefit—he hopes that his visitors have taken away positive pointers from the operation of Datamation as a social enterprise, and that they are implementing these in their organizations. Data mining, with which Datamation started, has become a growing concept. There are now more than 100 players in the market. Since profit margins are narrow, volumes must be high, and so, to cover risks, Datamation has moved into direct marketing, including telemarketing, the Internet, and direct sales and software development (Sharma 2003). Instead of being limited by competition, Chetan has broadened his vision, and now hopes to offer services so complete that he can take' care of the entire back office operations of his clients. Earlier, business process outsourcing companies (BPOs) ha& offered to buy Chetan's company for over Rs 100 crore (Ps 1,000 million). Chetan refused to sell, since he was afraid that the new owners would sack all his current employees and hire more educated, sophisticated people from the middle class. While the move would bring in profits, it would negate the social aspect of his entrepreneurship. Similarly, he did not go public because he felt that this would put extreme pressure on the company to make profits quarter after quarter, even at the cost of employee welfare and the social objectives which the company stands for. For Chetan, the main challenge continues to lie in maintaining a sustainable social enterprise. One model of development he is considering is consolidation. This means turning each office into a profit center. He realizes that whatever decision he would take would need to uphold the core organizational philosophy of Datamation of using ICTs in the service of the weakest of the weak, as well as offer employment opportunities to women and other economically and socially deprived sections of Indian society. REFERENCES
Makaan, Anupama. 1998. "Datamation Consultants—A Winner." Intelligent Investor magazine. October.
Sharma, Chetan. 2003. Answers to an interview questionnaire.

ANNEX 8.1
DATAMATION FINANCIAL DATA

March
1987 March
1998 March
1989 March
2001 March
2002 March
2003
Sales turnover for the period ending March 2003 (domestic and international) Rs 5 lakhs Rs 15

lakhs Rs 48

lakhs Rs 17.5

crores Rs 22

crores Rs 28

crores

(USD 6.2M)
Assets (fixed, immovable, plants and machinery, stocks) cumulative (after discounting whatever has been depreciated and cannibalized) Rs

50,000 Rs 3

Iakhs Rs 15

Iakhs Rs 45

crores Rs 50

crores Rs 58

crores

(uSD 12.7M) NoTEs:
As of 2003, USD 1 = Rs 45.51
1 Iakh = Rs 100,000
1 crore = Rs 10 million

ANNEX 8.2
SEMINARS & CONFERENCES WITH CHETAN AS PARTICIPANT OR SPEAKER

• Presentation, "New and Emerging Technologies" in the EuroIndia 2004 Summit New Delhi. The speaking engagement covered emerging technologies impacting poor sections of the Indian society

• Facilitation and documentation, "ICTs for Reaching the Unreached Communities in India:' a UESCO-Datamation

Foundation two-day workshop with eminent international, government civil society and UN representatives.

• Presentation, "Upscaling and Enhancing CT-Enabled Tele-Center Models in lndia" for the World Bank and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

• Presentation, Planet Finance Conference on Microfinance in Brussels.

• Presentation, lCT4Development Forum at the World Social Forum 2003, Mumbai, on behalf of Action Aid.

• Facilitation and chairing of a session on 'Need for Capacity-Building and Training" among development partners at the

South Asian Regional Meeting of One World South Asia. 2004.

• Presentation, Youth Employment Summit-Hyderabad 2004, on employment opportunities for the youth in the CT sector. Presentation, South-Asian Consultations on Gender and ICTs at the World Summit on Information Society (\NSIS),

• Facilitation and documentation, South-Asian Conference on "Gender in Information Age at the South-Asian Consultations

on Gender and ICTs in New Delhi, November 2003.

• Presentation paper and case study on Fostering Economic Independence by the Use of Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs) amongst Marginalized and Underprivileged Women" at the Gender and ICTs Forum, Kuala Lumpur, on

behalf of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).

• Presentation, paper and case study on "From Oral Traditions to ICTs: A Case Study of Preserving Traditional Arts and

Crafts for Economic Sustenance" at a seminar organized by S.N.D.T. University, India's first women's university.

• Presentation, on the pre-birth elimination of the female fetuses (PBEF) at the UNIFEM/UNFRA workshop in New

Delhi.

• Presentation, paper at the National E-Governance seminar on "E-Governance Application to Help Track Radiologists,

Ultra-Sound Clinics and Hospitals Indulging in Selective Sex Tests and Abortions of Female Fetuses" at Chandigarh.

• Presentation, paper at the seminar on "Usage of Communications and Advocacy on the Re-Natal Diagnostic Act

(PNDA) for Controlling Pre-Birth Elimination of Female Fetuses (PBEF)" organized by the Center for Advocacy and

Research (CFAR).

• Seminar on "Corporate Consortium-2003 for Livelihoods" organized by the Dr. Reddy's Foundation, Hyderabad.

• Seminar on "Usage of Technologies in the Informal Sector of the Economy" organized at the Third Baramati Conference,

2003.

• Seminar on Fund-Raising and Resource Mobilization, organized by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, Dhaka

• Seminar on "Using Tele-Centers for Building Sustainable Livelihoods" organized by the infoDev, World Bank.

• Seminar on "Building Sustainable Livelihoods by Implementing a Partnership between the Private Sector and the

Community' World Bank December 2001.

• Facilitation, workshops on "Fund-Raising and Resource Mobilization by the Voluntary Groups" for the South Asia Fund-

Raising Group in January 2002, September 2002, and September 2003, covering such topics as CT-based fund-raising

and deployment of earned income.

• Seminar on "ICTs for Development and Gender" at the Second Annual Baramati Conference in May 2002, sponsored by

the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, and by the MIT Media Labs Asia Ltd. MIT—or the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA—is the world's leading engineering and research-based university

• Presentation of a paper on "Managing Risk Management in the Event of an Information Technology Downturn" at the

Pricewaterhouse Coopers Global Convention, 2002.

'Presentation of a paper and holding of a seminar under the aegis of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization

(UI"J 100) and the People's Republic of China's Science Commission on Configuration Management

• Facilitation, workshop on "Building a Development Gateway for Civil Society Government and the Private Sector and

Partnerships in the Area of E-commerce and Content Partnerships" for the Ministry of Information Technology, Government

of India

• Presentation, seminar organized by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIERA) on "The

Role of ICTs in Capacity Building in Educational Policy and Planning~ 2004.

• Presentation, workshop on 'Empowering the Poor through Rural Information Centers" organized by the World Bank's

Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar series, PREM Poverty Reduction Group, Global CT Department infoDev, Sustainable

Agricultural Systems, Knowledge and Institutions Thematic Group, World Bank