<b>BS People:</b> Srivalsan Ponnachath

Stroke of genius

For Srivalsan Ponnachath, recently appointed director of Cisco Services India, hockey was a passion. Valsan, as he is popularly known within the industry, was a state-level hockey player. Today, however, he has turned to the somewhat more sedate game of golf. But his energy is still reflected in the way he has groomed successful businesses over his 21-year professional career.

A BE in computer science from Bangalore University and an MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the US, Valsan returned to his homeland in 2003 to head finance industry sales at Sun Microsystems India. However, his deep understanding of the business model as well as technology helped him climb swiftly up the ladder within the company. Before joining Cisco very recently, he was director of Sun’s India services business, which is estimated to have an annual turnover of $50 million.

At Cisco, Valsan steps into the shoes of GB Kumar, who has now been elevated as the managing director of the Asia-Pacific vertical enterprise practice of Cisco Services. Cisco’s services business is a growing practice within in the company, and contributes over 20 per cent to Cisco’s global annual turnover of about $40 billion.

“Valsan’s knowledge of the business model and technology is very deep, which will be helpful in terms of understanding our customers’ pain points and making Cisco more successful in this marketplace,” says Kumar. Valsan will report to both Kumar as well as Cisco Services Vice-President for APAC Steven Weeks.