THIS is one company that is not fazed by the current slowdown that is plaguing the IT industry. And while most IT companies are painting pictures of gloom due to lack of contracts and no revenue, 33-year-old Pradeep Erinjery, managing director of the Rs 15 crore Thirdware Solution Limited, is brimming with ideas. As he modestly says, "If you are fundamentally strong, you will overcome."

What started in 1995, by selling ERP software packages, Thirdware Solution Limited has multiplied into a technology solutions company meeting enterprise application solution needs for a vast range of manufacturing and distribution companies. These include application solutions like ERP, CRM and B2B. In short, its activities that involve the entire business cycle of manufacturing from pre-sales, sales, training, consulting, implementation, and support to application management services.

Though Erinjery started small, this former electrical engineer is not one to take things lying down. As chairman and chief operating officer, Erinjery has visions of Thirdware becoming a global service provider and "eventually moving towards becoming a learning organisation." His motto: "Each day make progress and as long as that happens, you are on your course."

Erinjery was bitten by the entrepreneurship bug during his consultant days with QAD Inc, a US based company, in 1993. His job profile included suggesting enterprise solutions to various companies. Realising there was a huge potential for ERP solutions both in India and worldwide, Erinjery branched out on his own and started the company along with his partners. And the gamble paid off - in a decade of its existence, Erinjery has helped Thirdware move up the corporate ladder. His policies and strategies have even encouraged the Ford Motor Company, USA, to invest in a 20 per cent equity stake in the company.

Currently, he is responsible for managing the operations of providing sales and implementation support and training to customers and distributors in the region. The key ingredient of his success is, in his words, "A team based approach; the responsibility of the leadership is to provide a goal and a direction."

This has seen the company rise from a five-man organisation in 1995 to a 150-strong company today with a turnover that has multiplied from Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 15 crore today, and with offices in UK, Germany, USA and Singapore. Erinjery has achieved this because he has structured his organisation sans any hierarchy. "All are colleagues and functionally organised, but within the set-up there are leaders. It is essential for individuals in a services firm to understand that customer satisfaction is important. They should be able to articulate," avers Erinjery. His only advice to young entrepreneurs is, "Do it early, when one has energy and risk."