MIRA INFORM REPORT

Report Date :

21.01.2011

IDENTIFICATION DETAILS

Name :	APARA ENTERPRISES SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Registered Office :	Oxford Towers, Suite 801, 7^th Floor, Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bangalore – 560008, Karnataka
Country :	India
Financials (as on) :	31.03.2010
Date of Incorporation :	24.02.1992
Com. Reg. No.:	08 - 12863
CIN No.: [Company Identification No.]	U32104KA1992PTC012863
TAN No.: [Tax Deduction & Collection Account No.]	BLRA05089A
PAN No.: [Permanent Account No.]	AABCA1857F
Legal Form :	Private Limited Liability Company.
Line of Business :	Providing IT Infrastructure solutions.

RATING & COMMENTS

MIRA’s Rating :

B (28)

RATING		STATUS	PROPOSED CREDIT LINE
26-40	B	Capability to overcome financial difficulties seems comparatively below average.	Small

Status :	Moderate
Payment Behaviour :	Slow
Litigation :	Clear
Comments :	Subject is an established company having moderate track records. There appears some accumulated losses recorded by the company. However, trade relations are reported as fair. Business is active. Payments are reported to be slow. The company can be considered for business dealings with some caution.

NOTES :

Any query related to this report can be made on e-mail : infodept@mirainform.com while quoting report number, name and date.

ECGC Country Risk Classification List – April 1, 2010

Country Name	Previous Rating (31.12.2009)	Current Rating (01.04.2010)
India	A1	A1

Risk Category	ECGC Classification
Insignificant	A1
Low	A2
Moderate	B1
High	B2
Very High	C1
Restricted	C2
Off-credit	D

LOCATIONS

Registered Office :	Oxford Towers, Suite 801, 7^th Floor, Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bangalore – 560 008, Karnataka, India
Tel. No.:	91-80-39892727/40292726
Fax No.:	91-80-39891383
E-Mail :	nmj@apara.com info@apara.com devanathan@apara.com prasadrao@apara.com vidya@apara.com tr_jairam@vsnl.com
Website :	http://www.apara.com
Area :	5400 Sq. ft
Location :	Owned
Branches :	Mumbai 6th Floor, B Wing, Laxmi Towers, Behind ICICI Bank, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400 051, India Tel No.: 91-22-39892727 Fax: 91-22-39891383 Delhi 28, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase-III, New Delhi 110 020, India Tel No.: 91-11-39892727 Fax: 91-11-39891383 Pune 402, 4th Floor, City Point, Dhole Patil Road, Pune 411 001, India Tel No.: 91-20-39892727 TeleFax: 91-20-39891383 Chennai 2nd Floor, 4 Salzburg Square, 107 Harrington Road, Chennai 600 031 India Tel No.: 91-44-39892727 Fax No: 91-44- 39891383 Hyderabad 302, Olbee Centre, Raj Bhavan Road, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500 082, India Tel No.: 91-40-39892727 Fax No: 91-40-39891383 Kolkata M A Business Centre, 113 Park Street, Ground Floor, Rear Block, Poddar Point, Kolkata 700 016, India Tel No. : 91-33-22171595 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 22178920 Fax: 91-33-22178922 Kolkata Rowdon Street, Suite – 701, Shuvam Building, 7^th Floor, Kolkata – 700017, India Tel No: 91-33-39892727 Fax No: 91-33-30282625

DIRECTORS

As on 30.09.2010

Name :	Mr. M. S. Sidhu
Designation :	Managing Director
Address :	17, Grace Villa, 5^thMain Santrupthi Nagar, Kothnur Main Road, J P Nagar, 7^th Phase, Bangalore – 560078, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	27.08.1965
Date of Appointment :	24.02.1992
Name :	Ms. Vidya Lakshmi Sidhu
Designation :	Director
Address :	17, Grace Villa, 5^th Main Santrupthi Nagar, Kothnur Main Road, J P Nagar, 7^th Phase, Bangalore – 560078, Karnataka, India
Mobile No :	91-9845027275
Date of Birth/Age :	12.05.1962
Date of Appointment :	22.08.1993
Other Directorship :	Orchesys IT Services Private Limited U72200KA2006PTC038107 Amsal Infotech Private Limited U72200KA2000PTC027646
Name :	Mr. V. Balaji Bhatt
Designation :	Director
Address :	64, Vijaya Nivas, Dena Bank Colony, Ganenahalli, Bangalore – 560032, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	19.06.1964
Date of Appointment :	10.01.2001
Name :	Mr. Malavalli Kumar
Designation :	Director
Address :	24289, Hill View Road, Los Altos Hills, California - 94024, USA
Date of Birth/Age :	09.02.1943
Date of Appointment :	11.03.2003
Name :	Mr. Christensen Brenda
Designation :	Director
Address :	223, Purisima Road, Woodside, California – 91062, USA
Date of Birth/Age :	01.07.1950
Date of Appointment :	11.03.2003
Date of Ceasing :	14.12.2004
Name :	Mr. G S Ravi
Designation :	Director
Address :	1629, 31^st Cross, 16^th Main, Banashankari, 2^nd Stage, Bangalore – 560070, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	12.04.1955
Date of Appointment :	11.03.2003
Name :	Mr. Ramesh A. Savoor
Designation :	Director
Address :	201, Pine View, 9, Edward Road, Bangalore – 560052, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	24.04.1944
Date of Appointment :	02.12.2003
Name :	Mr. Seshagiri Rao Velliyur Nott
Designation :	Director
Address :	No 53, Abhiramapuram, Third Street, Chennai – 600018, India
Date of Birth/Age :	14.03.1952
Date of Appointment :	28.06.2010
Name :	Mr. Chandrasekaran Kalyansundaram
Designation :	Director
Address :	No. 25, Vaidyaram Street, T. Nagar, Chennai – 600017, India
Date of Birth/Age :	18.02.1962
Date of Appointment :	28.06.2010
Name :	Mr. Gopal Rao Venugoba Rao
Designation :	Director
Address :	54, Second Avenue, Indira Nagar, adyar, Chennai – 600020, India
Date of Birth/Age :	11.04.1941
Date of Appointment :	28.06.2010

KEY EXECUTIVES

Name :	Mr. Yatish Kumar
Designation :	Secretary
Address :	228, Vishwesh, 2^nd Floor, Ckalyt, BSK, 3^rd Stage, Bangalore – 560085, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	12.11.1970
Date of Appointment :	14.11.2003
Date of Ceasing :	15.01.2005
Name :	Mr. P. Phaneendra
Designation :	Secretary
Address :	1345, 6^th Cross, 10^th Main, Srinivasa Nagar, Bangalore – 560050, Karnataka, India
Date of Birth/Age :	17.12.1959
Date of Appointment :	16.01.2005

MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS / SHAREHOLDING PATTERN

As on 30.09.2010

Names of Shareholders	No. of Shares
Mr. M. S. Sidhu	1287945
Ms. Vidya Lakshmi	297000
Malavalli Revocable Trust, USA	773094
Tushita Technologies Private Limited, Kolkata	136555
Mr. Kumari Apoorva	236500
Dr. Rao (ESOP)	40000
Total	2771094

As on 30.09.2010

Category	Percentage
Bodies corporate	4.93
Directors or relatives of Directors	65.73
Other top fifty shareholders	29.34
Total	100.00

BUSINESS DETAILS

Line of Business :	Providing IT Infrastructure solutions.
Terms :
Selling :	Cash, Credit
Purchasing :	Cash, Credit

GENERAL INFORMATION

Suppliers :

• Veritas Software Solution, Mumbai

Customers :

· Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai

· Yahoo

· Citi Bank

No. of Employees :

150 (Approximately)

Bankers :

• IDBI Bank Limited, Bangalore Branch, IDBI House No. 58, Mission Road, Bangalore – 560027, Karnataka, India

• Axis Bank Limited, Esquire Center, No.9, M G Road, Bangalore – 560001, Karnataka, India

• State Bank of India, Industrial Finance Branch, Residency Plaza, Residency Road, Bangalore – 560025, Karnataka, India

• UCO Bank, 9^th Main, 3^rd Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore – 560001, Karnataka, India

Facilities :

Secured Loan	Rs. In Millions 31.03.2010	Rs. In Millions 31.03.2009
From Banks	234.174	181.805
Total	234.174	181.805
Unsecured Loan	Rs. In Millions 31.03.2010	Rs. In Millions 31.03.2009
From Directors	0.301	0.000
Total	0.301	0.000

Banking Relations :	Satisfactory
Auditors :
Name :	Anil Nair and Associates Chartered Accountant
Address :	Casablanca, 6^th Casa Major Road, Egmore, Chennai – 600008, India
Tel. No.:	91-44-28193532/1227
Fax No.:	91-44-28194651
E-Mail :	ana@anaindia.com

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

As on 30.09.2010

Authorised Capital :

No. of Shares	Type	Value	Amount
3000000	Equity shares	Rs. 10/- each	Rs. 30.000 millions
600000	Preference shares	Rs. 100/- each	Rs. 60.000 millions
	Total		Rs. 90.000 millions

Issued, Subscribed & Paid-up Capital :

No. of Shares	Type	Value	Amount
2716094	Equity shares [of the above 1730000 Equity shares were alloted as fully paid bonus shares]	Rs. 10/- each	Rs.27.160 millions
55000	Equity shares [partly paid – up]	Rs. 5/- each	Rs. 0.275 millions
	Total		Rs. 27.435 millions

FINANCIAL DATA

[all figures are in Rupees Millions]

ABRIDGED BALANCE SHEET

SOURCES OF FUNDS		31.03.2010	31.03.2009	31.03.2008
SHAREHOLDERS FUNDS
1] Share Capital		27.435	27.435	27.435
2] Share Application Money		5.505	7.105	11.505
3] Reserves & Surplus		149.680	151.050	148.523
4] (Accumulated Losses)		(223.769)	(169.748)	(66.738)
NETWORTH		(41.149)	15.842	120.725
LOAN FUNDS
1] Secured Loans		234.174	181.805	110.630
2] Unsecured Loans		0.301	0.000	5.291
TOTAL BORROWING		234.475	181.805	115.921
DEFERRED TAX LIABILITIES		0.000	0.000	0.000
TOTAL		193.326	197.647	236.646
APPLICATION OF FUNDS
FIXED ASSETS [Net Block]		67.882	68.283	74.124
Capital work-in-progress		0.000	0.000	0.000
INVESTMENT		13.727	15.098	12.571
DEFERREX TAX ASSETS		8.946	8.946	12.635
CURRENT ASSETS, LOANS & ADVANCES
	Inventories	30.459	35.206	49.671
	Sundry Debtors	323.181	202.666	259.384
	Cash & Bank Balances	12.644	24.031	43.925
	Other Current Assets	54.375	52.652	33.096
	Loans & Advances	35.333	39.508	36.397
Total Current Assets		455.992	354.063	422.473
Less : CURRENT LIABILITIES & PROVISIONS
	Sundry Creditors	298.692	180.707	190.014
	Current Liabilities	54.529	68.036	95.143
	Provisions	0.000	0.000	0.000
Total Current Liabilities		353.221	248.743	285.157
Net Current Assets		102.771	105.320	137.316
MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES		0.000	0.000	0.000
TOTAL		193.326	197.647	236.646

PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT

PARTICULARS	31.03.2010	31.03.2009	31.03.2008
Total Revenue	643.667	746.012	1078.801
PROFIT BEFORE TAX, DEPRECIATION AND AMORTISATION	6.073	(43.704)	78.402
Depreciation	5.432	48.543	7.232
Finance Charges	53.450	48.543	5.821
Provision for Taxation	NA	4.798	(15.679)
Profit /loss after Tax	(54.020)	(103.011)	28.637

KEY RATIOS

PARTICULARS		31.03.2010	31.03.2009	31.03.2008
PAT / Total Income	(%)	(8.39)	(13.80)	2.65
Debt Equity Ratio (Total Liability/Networth)		8.58	15.70	(6.92)
Current Ratio (Current Asset/Current Liability)		1.29	1.42	1.48

LOCAL AGENCY FURTHER INFORMATION

Sundry Creditor:

PARTICULARS	31.03.2010	31.03.2009	31.03.2008
Sundry Creditors	298.692	180.707	190.014
Other than small scale Industries
-for capital goods	0.038	0.000	0.118
-for supplies	240.798	143.280	141.583
-for expenditure	14.434	8.715	15.559
Advance received for which value is still to be given	43.422	28.712	32.754
Total	298.692	180.707	190.014

Outlook:

The Company, as a strategy, is focusing on the services revenue in both domestic and overseas markets to improve the margins.

The Company provides IT Infrastructure solutions to customers in the BFSI, ITES, EDA, Service Provider, Federal and Enterprise segments, partnering closely with multiple best–of breed technology provider in networking, security and storage domains.

Their Business Strategy is:

1. To focus more on the services stream yielding higher margins.

2. To leverage on Apara’s long standing IT infrastructure business relations with global principals and customers.

3. To enable Apara to capture the growth in India in IT Storage, Security, Intelligent networking and managed services business segments.

4. To deliver higher than the industrial average profitable growth in the Global operations in SI and professional services.

5. To capitalize on new opportunities created due to current Global recession to deliver cost optimized IT solutions leveraging on Apara’s experienced pool of engineering resources in India.

6. To optimize operating cost structure to deliver higher productivity using process efficiency, quality, human resources and superior Qos.

Form 8

Name of the company	APARA ENTERPRISES SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Presented By	Axis Bank Limited M G Road Branch, Bangalore – 560 001, Karnataka, India
1) Date and description of instrument creating the change	01.02.2006 Composite hypothecation deed
2) Amount secured by the charge/amount owing on the securities of charge	Rs. 40.000 millions – Bill Discounting
3) Short particular of the property charged. If the property acquired is subject to charge, date of the acquired of the property should be given	Hypothecation by way of Subservient charge in favour of thew Bank. a. All the goods, stocks, raw materials, plant , machinery, fixtures, Implements, Fittings, other Installations, computers and all other articles and things both present and future whether installed and or fastened to earth or not, whether lying loose or in cases, at site or in transit or which may at any time hereafter during the continuance of this security be installed or lying loose or in cases of being in or upon or about the borrower’s factory premises, warehouses and godowns or wherever else the same may be or be held by any party any where to the order and disposition of the borrower or in the course of transit to the borrower ( including those goods, plant, machinery, implements etc purchased out of the term loan sanctioned by the bank covered under this agreement) described in general terms in the schedule hereto (all of which are hereinafter referred to as “Hypothecated Property” and more particularly described in the schedule 1A and B) . b. All the borrower’s present and future book debts, outstanding monies, receivables, claims, bills, contracts, securities, investments, rights and assets (hereinafter referred to as the book debts and more particularly described in schedule 1 C) as security for the due repayment to the bank at any time on demand the total balance outstanding in the various accounts and in installments as agreed in respect of the term loan account along with the interest at the rate hereinafter provided and all costs.
4) Gist of the terms and conditions and extent and operation of the charge.	Rate of Interest: BPLR – 100.25% front ended. Repayment: Bills Discounting – On Demand.
5) Name and Address and description of the person entitled to the charge.	UTI Bank Limited, M G Road Branch, Bangalore – 560 001, Karnataka, India

Form 8

This form is for	Creation of charge
Corporation identity number (CIN) or foreign company registrations number of the company	U32104KA1992PTC012863
Name of the company	APARA ENTERPRISES SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Address	Suite No. 139, 7^th Floor, Oxford Towers, Kodhihalli, Bangalore – 560017, Karnataka, India
Type of Charges	v Book debts v Movable property (not being pledge)
Particular of the charge holder	Name : Axis Bank Limited Address : “Esquire Centre”, No. 9, M G Road City : Bangalore State: Karnataka ISO country code : IN Pin code : 560001 E mail ID : tr_jairam@vsnl.net
Nature or description of the instrument creating or modifying the charge	Composite Hypothecation Deed
Date of the instrument creating charge	13.03.2007
Amount Secure by the charge	Rs. 40.000 millions
Brief particulars of the principal terms and conditions and extent and operation of the charge	Rate of Interest: Commission on LC 1% flat Terms of repayment Usance Period Maximum up to 180 days Margin 10% to be created upfront Extent and operation of the charge The charge shall operate to the extent of Rs. 40.000 millions plus interest, commission, costs, expenses and other charges.
Short particulars of the Property charged	Exclusive charge on receivables from customers for orders, against which LCs were opened, Extension of pari passu first charge on entire current assets viz. movable goods and assets both present and future comprising all stocks of raw material, work in progress, semi finished goods and finished goods stored at oxford Towers, Suite No. 801, 7^th Floor, Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bangalore 8 or at any other place and present and future book debts, outstanding monies, receivables, claims, bills etc.
Whether any of the property or interest therein under reference is not registered in the name of the company	No

Corporate identity number of the company	U32104KA1992PTC012863
Name of the company	APARA ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Address of the registered office or of the principal place of business in India of the company	OXFORD TOWERSSUITE 801 7TH FLOOR AIRPORT ROAD KODIHALLI, BANGALORE - 560008 Karnataka, INDIA nishith@apara.com
This form is for	Modification of charge
Type of charge	Book Debts Movable Property Floating Charge
Particular of charge holder	STATE BANK OF INDIA, INDUSTRIAL FINANCE BRANCH, RESIDENCY PLAZA, RESIDENCY ROAD, BANGALORE – 560025, Karnataka, India
Nature of instrument creating charge	SANCTION LETTER FROM STATE BANK OF INDIA, INDUSTRIAL FINANCE BRANCH, BANGALORE
Date of instrument Creating the charge	01.06.2010
Amount secured by the charge	140.400 Millions
Brief of the principal terms an conditions and extent and operation of the charge	Rate of Interest: 1). WCL - AT 2.50% ABOVE SBAR, EFFECTIVE RATE 14.25% P.A. WITH MONTHLY RESTS. 2). OTHER LIMITS AS PER EXISTING TERMS OF SANCTION. PENAL INT : MAX 2% P.A. OVER THE NORMAL RATE. Terms of Repayment: WCL - ON DEMAND. ADVANCE IS FOR A PERIOD OF 12 MONTHS. OTHER LIMITS AS PER EXISTING TERMS OF SANCTION. Margin : RM/SIP/RECEIVABLES : 25%, STORES & SPARES : 50% LC/BG : 20% Extent and Operation of the charge : Pari passu First charge with Axis Bank Limited by way of hypothecation on entire stocks and receivables and other current assets present and future. Pari passu First charge over the fixed assets of the company. Others : CASH CREDIT Rs. 70.000 Millions, LC Rs. 40.000 Millions, BG Rs. 6.000 Millions, WCTL Rs. 24.400 Millions TOTAL RS 140.400 Millions
Short particulars of the property charged	1) Hypo. of company's present and future movable fixed assets and current assets like stocks, raw materials, semi finished and finished goods, book debts, receivables, outstanding monies, bills, rights, 2) stores, components, furniture and fittings; other movables, plant and machinery, vehicles and assets to be purchased out of bank finance 3) Exclusive charge by way of EM over freehold building (office premises) at No. 10/150, Oxford Towers, Airport Road, Bangalore - 73, consisting of 4 units (801 to 804), built up area 5300 sq.ft. 4) (Already registered with ROC).
Particulars of the property charged	The amount secured by the charge stands reduced to Rs. 140.400 Millions The securities described and detailed in col no 15 herein above continue for the same limit. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

As Per Website Details

Company

Organizations that are dependent on IT to enable & enhance their business, often come across challenges in building responsive IT infrastructure that can adopt to the ever-changing business needs and support business. Apara focus on their pain areas & helps organizations in overcoming these challenges.

Apara provide best in class solutions and consulting services in Enterprise Storage, Intelligent Networking, Enterprise Security, Secure Messaging and Application Solutions. The success has centered on its capability to think beyond boundaries. Its ability to resolve customers' business problems by providing simple and cost effective solutions together with an in-depth delivery approach is helping over 400 transnational and Indian enterprises achieve their objectives effortlessly, across various industry segments like Banking & Finance, Telecom, Service Providers, ITES / BPO, Software, Energy and Manufacturing.

History

Founded 1n 1992, Apara Enterprise Solutions (AES) has grown to be a successful Information Technologies (IT) Systems integrator specializing in integrated network, security and storage solutions.  In FY2007.  A key factor contributing to AES’s year on year profitability since 2003 has been the delivery of multi-vendor, technology agnostic solutions that support enterprise business objectives.  Partnering closely with multiple best-of-breed technology providers in networking, security and storage domains, AES  has been able to consistently deliver cost-effective solutions.

Responsive information infrastructure

Information is the lifeline of today's businesses & enterprises. Especially when it can drive transactions, facilitate idea exchanges & create unique competitive advantages for organizations worldwide. But if businesses do not protect, secure & manage their information smoothly & effectively it can cripple them with disastrous results.

Enter Apara They will help you manage the ever-growing information needs with an array of Solutions & Services that will provide the IT Infrastructure with a responsiveness you have never experienced before. A responsiveness that will help you adept to changing situations speedily & enables you focus on the core competencies. And a responsiveness that will help you reduce risk immensely. By second. By minute. By day.

Exploiting value in the IT infrastructure

For businesses that rely on technology for critical operations, Apara offers a plethora of alternatives that is helping them improve efficiencies and leverage new market opportunities. And this comes very easily to us. Because they understand the technology and process of managing, protecting, moving and securing data across enterprise networks, better than any one else. Probably why they are the leaders in the intelligent information infrastructure domain. A leadership born out of enterprising solutions and services that is empowering over 300 top Indian enterprises with sustainable competitive advantage. In turn enabling them exploit untapped value in their IT infrastructure. Solutions that are not only customized but also built around the strong technical expertise and the capacity to innovate.

Qualities that allow businesses pursuing service expansions, preparing for major application implementations, considering new e-business initiatives or wanting to improve their overall IT performance to:

v Achieve strategic business objectives

v Optimize the cost effectiveness and performance of critical IT resources

v Adopt IT resources that respond quickly to changing conditions and requirements

v Minimize IT risks

v Establish a responsive and effective IT Infrastructure management structure

Information that empowers performance

Information is the key to an enterprise's successful performance. Especially in today's networked world. By helping you consolidate and protect the information, share it seamlessly across networks and secure the same information effectively, APARA is empowering organizations and enterprises in more ways than one. But how is APARA making this happen? By optimizing and streamlining critical business processes. Speeding up access for accurate information about operations, customers and competitors. Integrating systems with partners, customers and suppliers. Extending IT based value propositions to customers. And improving an enterprise's overall IT performance and cost-effectiveness.

In Apara’s success, lies the hand of numerous customers. People who have been instrumental in the growth as much as they have accentuated theirs. In industries and verticals as diverse as Banking, Finance, Telecom, ITES, BPO, IDC's, ISP's Portals, Software, EDA and Healthcare. Some of them include; ABN AMRO Bank, Accenture, Bharti Group, Citibank, Daimler Chrysler, Ericsson, GE Captial, HFCL, ICICI Bank, Idea Cellular, Intel, Kotak Mahindra, Motorola, Rediff.com, Reliance Infocomm, Robert Bosch, Synopsys and Yahoo India.

They are helping organizations focus on their core business of harnessing business value out of the information quagmire. Thereby helping them deliver value-based and innovative solutions to their customers. Inturn enabling them achieve and sustain measurable results in more ways than one. They don't see them selves just as solution providers, but as partners in the business objectives.

Board of Directors

Kumar Malavalli, Chairman

Kumar Malavalli is widely considered to be the visionary behind Fibre Channel storage fabrics, an evolutionary technology that enabled the development of production-class storage area networks (SANs) and a multi-billion dollar market segment. Kumar is co-founder and currently chairman and CEO of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based InMage Systems Inc. He also is the co-founder of Brocade Communications Systems Inc., one of the world's largest providers of infrastructure solutions for storage area networks. He is also one of the principal architects of Fibre Channel technology, a high-speed data transfer technology used in storage networks. He served as chair of the ANSI T11 Technical Committee, which established universal standards for Fibre Channel. Among his most significant industry contributions are serving in technical capacities for Amdahl, Canstar, and Hewlett-Packard.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the Storage Networking Industry Association and the Fibre Channel Industry Association. In February 2003, Kumar was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council Hall of Fame for his contributions to technology. He also received the Gene Milligan Award for Effective Committee Management from the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) for chairing an INCITS committee that developed 17 standards in the area of Storage Area Networks.

Kumar currently invests in and mentors numerous storage networking startups in both Silicon Valley and in India. He also contributes substantially toward his own global vision, which encompasses telemedicine and education. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Indus Entrepreneurs Silicon Valley Chapter, and is a trustee of the American India Foundation. For many years Kumar chaired the ANSI Fibre Channel Technical Committee and was a member of the boards of the Fiber Channel Industry Association and the Storage Networking Industry Association, Storage Networking Summit.

He is one of the board members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a global nonprofit organization created for the advancement of entrepreneurship among Indians and non-Indians in Silicon Valley and around the world. Kumar has promoted number of storage networking companies like, Aarohi Communications, Intransa, LightSand Communications, Cloverleaf Communications, TeleVital, Tidal Data. He is also Founder of Edurite Technologies. He is a partner and co-chairman in Pulsar Ventures, based in Half Moon Bay.

Kumar is a member of the board of trustees of The America India Foundation, founded in January of 2001 by leading Indian-American business and community leaders under the patronage of former President Bill Clinton.

M S Sidhu, CEO & Founder

Sidhu, with his pioneering vision founded APARA in 1992. He has over 18 years rich experience in Business management, sales &marketing of IT solutions and services to enterprise customers .He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Before he founded Apara, Sidhu worked for India's largest IT companies- HCL and Wipro in key sales positions. Right from inception, with his dynamism and passion for excellence, he has nurtured Apara into leadership position in IT infrastructure Solutions and Services market.

Vidya Lakshmi, Director

Vidya Lakshmi co-founded APARA with Sidhu. She has over 15 years experience in managing operations, customer service and HR. She has had considerable experience in managing Service Operations at Xerox. At APARA, Vidya was instrumental in building a strong foundation of customer service, operational excellence, quality processes and employee friendly HR policies.

Vidya holds a degree in Commerce

Shivaram M N, Director

Prof. Shivaram M.N. has over 25 years of Industrial and Research experience, mentoring technocrat entrepreneurs and supporting them during their establishment, sustenance and growth.

He was instrumental in establishing the first Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park (STEP) in the country and a Technology Business Incubator as Director, catalyzing the establishment of ICT enterprises with R&D, HRD, and business facilitation. This STEP was adjudged the best STEP in the Country and awarded the BEST STEP award by Department of Science and Technology Govt.of India. He was also the Member Secretary National Advisory Committee, Chairman Organizing Committee for the All India Workshop on ICT for Masses, Chairman of The Institution of Engineers India and President of the Mysore IT Forum.

He is the recipient of a Special Honour Award with a citation and medal by WASME (World Association of Small & Medium Enterprises) in China, for his contribution to the establishment & growth of SME's in the region. He is the Charter member of TiE Bangalore.He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of eHealth Technology Business Incubator sponsored by Department of Science and Technology Govt.of India.

He received his Master's in Industrial Design from IIT Bombay and a PGD in Computer Programming from University of Mysore.

Balaji Bhat, Director

Balaji is a Chartered Accountant and practicing Management Consultant. He has been associated with the APARA since its inception as an Advisor. He is also associated with various medium and large companies in India as a Board Member & Financial Consultant. He brings more than 17 years of experience in financial services to the company.

News

Apara: the new face in professional services

Apara Enterprise Solutions, a high-end infrastructure solution provider is transforming itself into a professional services company. Abhinav Singh says that high-growth segments and overseas business will fuel Apara’s topline growth.

Five entrepreneurs came together in 1993 to offer system integration services. Eleven years later what started off as an Rs. 2.000 millions operation is now generating revenues at the rate of Rs. 930.000 millions a year. With 130 people and 400 enterprise level customers that include some big names such as GE Capital Services, BSNL and Citibank, Apara Enterprise Solutions has a come a long way. The company is now looking at overseas markets for joint ventures (JVs) and acquisitions. It has already entered into a MoU in the Middle and the Far East and is set to venture into the European, Australian and US markets.

Apara has moved away from being a product-centric solution provider to a customised solutions provider with a strong focus on Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) catering to BPO units, call centres, banks and telcos. In intelligent networking, it is offering SSL security, bandwidth management, load balancing and failover and its customers include the likes of Rediff, Indiatimes, Netmagic, Reliance and VSNL. In the recent past, the company has won some of the biggest security deals in the country including those from Reliance, Bharti, and AT and T. Apara has also won the data centre deployments for GE Capital Services, Citibank and VSNL. Apara deployed a SAN for ABN Amro.

In partners they trust

Entering into collaborations to satisfy diverse customer needs in a more focused manner is one of the basic tenets of Apara’s ‘go-to-market’ strategy. It already has technical alliances with around 40 vendors such as Network Appliance, Hitachi Data Systems, Veritas, NetScaler and Trend Micro among others. M S Sidhu, managing director Apara Enterprise Solutions says, “They make value additions to the technical alliance partners’ products and provide a complete solution to the customers.” Apara is planning to have more partnerships with companies in the IT consulting space. It has also collaborated successfully with Vincity Networks to provide remote management services to some customers and is building strong relationships with its channel partners. Sidhu says, “The channel partners understand the business and this helps them win customer accounts across India, especially in smaller towns. They regularly train them so that they are up to date on technology.”

The Malavalli factor

With Kumara Malavalli (co-founder of Brocade) becoming the chairman of Apara, the company has benefited from his experience in the field of storage. Malavalli’s guidance is expected to give Apara a foothold in the global market. Says Sidhu, “Malavalli’s vision and mentoring have helped us grow rapidly. He has also helped us with relationship building in the storage segment.” Last year Malavalli invested Rs. 100.000 millions in Apara. The investment will help expand Apara’s footprint in India and abroad.

Acquire, collaborate and grow

Acquisitions, joint ventures (JVs) and partnerships will be the key to gain overseas customers. Apara’s approach will depend on market conditions prevailing in different geographies. Acquisitions will be a major thrust area, especially in non-English speaking countries such as France and Germany. Sidhu says, “Local customers feel more comfortable dealing with local rather than foreign companies. Hence the acquisition of local companies is essential to win customers in non-English speaking countries.” Having established its presence in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka, Apara is now eyeing the European and US markets. It has signed MoUs with companies in Korea and is looking forward to tying up with companies in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Apara is also considering the prospects of establishing its own subsidiary in different markets. It plans to build a presence in eight countries in the coming year.

New found opportunity

Apara is planning to tie up with large Enterprise Application Software (EAS) vendors to sort out issues related to discrete storage systems and to fine tune ERP systems in the telecom, oil & gas and the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) verticals. It would do this in partnership with EAS vendors. The company is also contemplating alliances with system integrators such as CMC, TCS and HCL among others on a project-to-project basis where they can leverage Apara’s skill sets. K N Prasad, head, Marketing and Alliances, Apara Enterprise Solutions says, “They are supporting new applications like multimedia messaging through the intelligent storage infrastructure. They are building relationships with companies in the telecom and middleware segments. The focus will continue to be on providing end-to end storage solutions, security within storage and intelligent networking i.e. optimising application performance and consulting.”

For Apara, the bulk of its 34 percent projected growth that will help it achieve a revenue target of Rs. 1250.000 millions in 2005 is expected to come from storage and storage services (50 percent) while the balance is split between professional services, security and intelligent networking. The company is also looking to recruit the right people with specialised skill sets for pre-sales and deployment. It is planning to add 80-100 people by the end of 2004.

Storage will continue to be a major focus area for Apara and the company has some interesting projects involving Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and SAN security for banks.

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Currency	Unit	Indian Rupees
US Dollar	1	Rs. 45.58
UK Pound	1	Rs. 72.73
Euro	1	Rs. 61.45

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SCORE FACTORS	RANGE	POINTS
HISTORY	1~10	5
PAID-UP CAPITAL	1~10	3
OPERATING SCALE	1~10	3
FINANCIAL CONDITION
--BUSINESS SCALE	1~10	3
--PROFITABILIRY	1~10	2
--LIQUIDITY	1~10	3
--LEVERAGE	1~10	3
--RESERVES	1~10	3
--CREDIT LINES	1~10	3
--MARGINS	-5~5	--
DEMERIT POINTS
--BANK CHARGES	YES/NO	YES
--LITIGATION	YES/NO	NO
--OTHER ADVERSE INFORMATION	YES/NO	NO
MERIT POINTS
--SOLE DISTRIBUTORSHIP	YES/NO	NO
--EXPORT ACTIVITIES	YES/NO	NO
--AFFILIATION	YES/NO	YES
--LISTED	YES/NO	NO
--OTHER MERIT FACTORS	YES/NO	YES
TOTAL		28

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