TalentOnLease (Techies On Demand), is a new age online platform that aims to address the challenge of Tech Talent shortage faced by the industry by bringing together clients and partners on a single platform to collaborate for mutual gains.
Excerpts of the interview with Mr Daya Prakash, Founder – TalentOnLease
Tell us something about your background?
I started my career in 1994 with an IT company and was heading the delivery for a large US organisation. In 2000, I got a break with LG as Head of application. In a short period of time, I was elevated to Chief Information Officer (CIO) in 2006 and was leading IT Operations of the company in India.
I worked with LG in various roles from 2000 to 2013. In 2013, I decided to launch my own consultancy venture. The SME industry experienced rapid growth in 2013. I realized that these companies needed CIOs to capitalise IT operations but were unable to engage full-time CIOs due to budgetary restrictions, so I took the decision to provide small businesses with CIO-on-demand services so they wouldn’t have to hire full-time CIOs.
I worked on that concept for about four years. However, as I tried to scale the business, I realised few challenges. The clients I engaged with expected that I would be part of complete product life cycle from strategy to planning to execution. And I felt that it is like once I was working for one company now, I’m working for multiple. Scalability became a challenge.
How did TalentOnLease start its journey?
During my consulting days when I was providing CIO On Demand services, after couple of years, I realized that the model was not scalable as every client wanted my face time. So I started to deliberate along with few old time friends as to how to overcome this challenge? In the process end up deciding to work together on a common mission that we all were passionate about i.e. to address the skill shortage challenge faced by the IT industry. We decided to extend the definition to Techies On Demand from CIO On Demand. Once it was clear that we wanted to address the challenge of “Tech Talent shortage” the next big question was How? Traditionally this challenge was being addressed in two ways
1. Through IT Service companiesand
2. Staffing and Recruitment companies.
We realized that despite these two traditional channels industry was still grappling with the challenge so there was something big missing for sure. We worked on an innovative approach and decided to be a platform focusing on two trends i.e. Hyper Personalization and On Demand Economy and that’s how TalentOnLease started which is into providing Techies On Demand.
How did you win over your first customers and your first business partners?
Honestly speaking! I was not much concerned about how to get my first customer. However, to get my first partner was my key priority. We decided not to follow the path followed by the typical IT service providers. We aimed to become a platform that facilitates the entire experience with clients and partners smooth.
We met a lot of mid-sized IT service companies during the process and convinced them to solve their biggest pain point – resources on the bench which is a huge pain point for an IT company as these resources are no longer billable once the project is over. Here I would like to add that these resources on bench are resources who possess certain level quality with proven track record as the company doesn’t want to let them go.
The major focus was to get such 5-10 credible partners at the beginning where we have such resources who we are confident that they’re able to deliver against any challenge. So, we could have ready talent pool of resources that are pre-screened, vetted and are ready to work on any kind of engagement.
You worked in reputed organisations like LG and backed by an experience of over two decades in corporate sector. Who and what inspires your entrepreneurial journey?
I was encountered by the challenge that after reaching the top position in my career where do I go from here? The next level of growth could come either from switching the industry or the company. I might have new opportunities and experience. But still remain in the same boundaries. So that is one factor that I had in my mind and that is the reason I was looking for a completely different set of challenges.
The second aspect was that you only have a limited amount of time and shelf life while serving organisations after a point in your career. This raises the question of where I could still picture myself in next 10 to 15 years. These were the two challenges, and I thought that if I start putting effort in some venture that I start, I could achieve both.
A World Bank reported stated that the world could face recession in 2023. What are your views on it?
The economic slowdown and tough economy are all harsh truths. However, the pandemic scenario has pushed the digital transition forward more quickly and opened up enormous potential for the IT workforce.
People left companies in response to a pandemic’s multiple fold rise in demand as their salaries were doubled or tripled. Therefore, those who have enhanced their knowledge or upskilled need not worry at all.
The industry will therefore adapt. In 2023, time would be difficult for those who did not upskill. However, I believe that the demand for IT services will outweigh the supply to a point where we won’t need to worry too much but as I said one need to stay relevant.
What was your biggest challenge with TalentOnLease, and how did you overcome it?
We are a platform. We have a demand from our clients at one end and the supply from our partners on other. So, what is the most difficult thing for us is to maintain the balance on both sides. So, trust and authenticity are two of the founding cornerstones of our platform.
When we reach out to potential partners, sometimes we come across companies that claim to have a ready pool of candidates, even claim these resources as their employees but that may not be true. So, building trust and authenticity is paramount on both sides, whether for clients or a partner.
We get in to the in-depth details when we deploy resource, we even try and get, to a level where we do a reference and background check of the candidate before we deploy. So that is the kind of trust and authenticity with which we want to give confidence to our client.
How do you reach out to your customers and your other stakeholders?
Our thrust has always been on building the platform’s reputation, which provides trust and authenticity. We have acquired a lot of business through referrals from our customers.
Since I was CIO, I was part of the CIO community. I also engaged with CXO as well as Founder communities in last two to three years, there’s lot of business that is flowing in from these two channels as well.
I have realized that if you have a solution for which there is a demand and they have had some good experiences with you, you will surely get business.
Rapid Fire with the Leader TalentOnLease:
What is your biggest aha moment?
Last September, when I got the opportunity to work with one of the leaders of the industry through our mutual discussion. They wanted to hire about 35-40 resources in a month and we provided them around 30.
What motivates you to keep going?
The realisation that TalentonLease is addressing one of the biggest challenges of the industry —talent acquisition which is hampering the growth of lot of enterprises and startups.
What according to you are the three most important habits to be a successful entrepreneur?
Passion, Perseverance and People Orientation.
Whom did you approach for advice?
I do have a set of entrepreneurs and mentors who are just a phone call away and are willing to give me guidance whenever I need it. It was absolutely impossible without their support /guidance to create a bootstrapped business that is profitable today and happy to share that we are on a growth path.
