Passion and Perseverance pay

Mohammad Akhtar Ali, founder and managing director of Digicom, has come a long way in his career. Akhtar Ali once used to convince others to buy PC is now MD of an organization and has more than 300 clients. His organization today has 50 plus corporate clients and 300 plus loyal customers. A total turnover of 65 mn INR (as of March 2012) alongwith ERP Enabled Business Process, 78% annual revenues by repeat and recommendations. Digicom, today, comprises of 90 employees and above 40 competent support engineers, with a promise of 4-hour problem resolution commitment, same day turn around for sales and services and believes in Green Innovations on Futuristic Technology (G.I.F.T).

How did Digicom come into existence?

After Mohammad Akhtar Ali completed his engineering, he joined Sparrow electronics. He was always passionate about computers and electronics and with that passion he wanted to work in the most promising field of IT.  To this he said “I recall that in those days convincing a customer to buy a PC was quite difficult and needed much persuasion. People were not much aware about computers, but now even kids know how to use it”.

Even though he was working in Sparrow electronics he was not satisfied as he wanted to do something of his own and work on things he believes in. It was then that he decided to start his own organization in order to turn his dream into reality. Elaborating he said, “My dream was to provide customers with best quality products and right services which they are looking for. I felt it could be achieved by establishing my own company which I did in the year 1995”.

Heading towards his dream Mohammad Akhtar Ali had to quit the company he was working for. Even though he was uncertain about the industry and there was no one to help him from the field. Yet he never stopped chasing his dream of providing best in class PC’s to customers at the time when PC industry was still evolving and people were learning basics of it. As the saying goes ‘where there is will, there is a way’, Akhtar Ali with no funding at all but a nominal investment of his own, he started Digicom in the year 1995. Today its about 20 years that Digicom is still running with great success.

What changes do you see from then and now in Digicom?

It’s been two decades since the company has started. Akhtar Ali said, “Digicom has come a long way from building its own Intel PC (Intel GID and IPP) to currently providing the quality and customized enterprise solutions to IT industry. All through these years I along with the Digicom team believed in quality and providing best to the provider. Gladly we have not only spoken but have even done what we said and have provided people with best products, services or solutions. It is because of our belief and work that we have received recognition within the industry and respect from customers and partners alike.”

Tell us about your achievement

For an instance “When our PC brand ‘Dreampic’ won the performance race in a competition where  Dreampic was held against the top MNC brands like IBM, SUN and DELL. Our achievement is most vivid in our commitment for delivering specialized services to telecom VAS across 60 locations in the country and even in remote areas where MNC service centers are still far from reach. We have made ourselves available there so that people can have access to IT services without any difficulty. We believe in the key words that are quality products and right attitude of services. Similarly, our top level team has been with us from day we started and has never disappointed. With that one can gauge the kind of stability this brings to our vision and future plans”.

Challenges you faced in career

I have not found many challenges and things that happened with me are a part of journey of any dream to become successful. So, I cannot term ebb and flow of my journey as a challenge. Still I can just say, “The only challenge is to consistently upgrade and scaling up to next levels of technology every couple of years.”

Support from family

Akhthar Ali is very thankful to his family for the constant support that his family has given. “I am very happy that my wife understands me and has been on my side always. My wife Dr. Shamama Afreen is a professor at IIM Lucknow. I am blessed with two wonderful kids aged 10 and 5. Apart from that everyone at Digicom is my own family”.

Hobbies and future plan

Akhthar Ali loves nature and feels we all need to work towards it so that we have a great view of this world. He said, “Farming is the most wonderful thing. In fact it is something that I like to practice in my free time. It leaves me very calm and relaxed.”

Same is reflected in his belief towards IT sector. He said his plan for future would be, “To grow the IT solutions to complete the cycle as IT leaves a lot of carbon footprint. So I would like to build Green IT in a robust and effective way which enables IT in giving back to society”.

Jurmoloya Rava

(jurmoloyar@cybermedia.co.in)