Meet the champ

ICE PEOPLE

Country Champion. That's what Shrikant Bapat is "� the Country Champion, Uptime Solution, of Emerson Network Power India (formerly Tata Liebert), a company that champions the cause of uptime solutions.

The term uptime solution means that computers, telecom or electric systems operate without a breakdown for a single moment. Studies have estimated that Indian industry loses about Rs 20,000 crore annually because of such failures.

"The designation shows that the company understands the importance of uptime solutions and is going all out to ensure that these systems work to the required levels without breakdowns," says Bapat.

Bapat, 38, is an electrical engineer who earned a a masters in management at the Somaiya Institute in Mumbai. Like a number of B-school graduates, he did not have to look out for a job "� he was placed on campus and joined Godrej & Boyce as a management trainee.

Initially, he was involved with software sales in Chennai and later in the entire south zone. Four years later, in 1994 he joined Tata-Liebert.

Bapat takes pride in having helped his company win an international award for management strategy at Amsterdam. Bapat puts in a 12-hour day on an average. And when he's not working, he reads, what else, Jack Welch.