Deepak Patel is one of those CEOs who combine financial acumen with technological astuteness. He himself admits that this combination has helped him leapfrog ahead of several others in his career. About 20 years of work experience does not hurt in any case.

Deepak, who is the CEO of Aditya Birla Minacs, has been engineering a series of acquisitions for his company, and these days there is a lot of media attention on the firm. His days with EDS during the time when the company acquired Mphasis must surely be helping him in this regard.

Prior to Minacs, he was managing director and Group COO at Mphasis, and during his time, he was credited with transforming the company’s commodity voice-based business to a high-end, domain-rich knowledge process outsourcing business.

Armed with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the MS University of Baroda, he took off to the US to join EDS and did not have to look back at all. His is a success story all the way through. At almost every step of his career his ability and knowledge pulled him through. (more…)

It was a rocky start for the Hard Rock at the Falls Concert Saturday night in the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls. A poor audio mix contributed to the failings of the first half of the “BPO Plays Pink Floyd” performance.

In fact, the concert’s title was even a bit deceiving. The music, most likely geared more toward rock fans than BPO enthusiasts, was less about the internationally renowned orchestra playing Pink Floyd than about playing other rock classics. Actually, the first half did not even feature much Pink Floyd music at all, leaving audience members restless and frustrated.

A bass-heavy Jeans ’N Classics rendered the famous flute solo in Jethro Tull’s “Living in the Past” almost inaudible — and that was certainly not flutist Betsy Reeds’ fault. No one should be expected to play the flute, of all instruments, above a fully loaded and electrically amplified rock band without a little help. Jeans ’N Classics— a band based in London, Ont., that touts an understanding of symphony orchestra culture — rose to the forefront of the first half and let the strings fade into the background. (more…)