As a boy from an ordinary agricultural family in Nakodar, Punjab, he set out to fulfil his mother’s wishes to become a doctor. Unsuccessful in getting into a medical college, he migrated to US in 1993, did odd blue collar jobs and, as fate would have it, ended up completing a four-year engineering degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Today he lords over a successful IT business, spread across New Jersey, Chandigarh and Noida, poised for a big leap forward.
Recently in Chandigarh to announce a major expansion of his IT workforce from the present 500 to 2,000 in the next three years, Sukhwinder Singh Kaila, popular as Sunny Kaila, CEO of IT By Design, told LifeInChandigarh.com that he has also brought along CEOs of 25 US-based small and medium IT companies, all working with his company, to give them insights into opportunities for possible direct foreign investments in various IT fields like hardware, networking and software in the Chandigarh region.
Photos By : Life In Chandigarh
As part of the expansion plans, IT By Design inaugurated its 500-person office expansion in Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park last weekend. With the over 36,000 square feet office, the company’s new footprint in Chandigarh is three times larger than its previous space. The honours were done by local Member of Parliament Kirron Kher. Chandigarh BJP President and former Mayor Arun Sood and Senior Deputy Mayor Ravi Kant Sharma accompanied her.
Sharing his thoughts over the expansion, Kaila, while apparently unwilling to share company’s turnover figures, said IT By Design, a family held business (his wife Kamaljit ‘Kam’ Kaur Kaila heads the marketing division) which began operations in US in the year 2003 and from India in 2008, has been growing @ 50% year-on-year for the last four years, which is the main motivation for the expansion plan.
He said the company is into providing a variety of solutions, including dedicated staffing, 24x7x365 network operations centre (NOC) services, helpdesk solutions and professional services, to small and medium IT companies, primarily in the US. There is a growing demand of such solutions in the US, hence the need to expand the company’s infrastructure and staff, he added.
“I’ve always had a dream, right from the time I first came to the US, that once I succeed in life, I would give back to the region and people where my story began. It’s all about remembering your roots and the people who helped you on your life journey”, he shared.
Kaila did live his dream when he began his India operations in a small way from Chandigarh, and gradually scaled up. “I firmly believe that the main cause of the distress among youth in Punjab, because of which there is a mad rush to run away abroad, is rampant unemployment. If we can provide them opportunities for quality jobs here in India, all these tendencies to take drugs and indulge in violence will dissipate,” he emphasised.
Arguing why first Bangalore, and later Hyderabad, have been an IT success story, he maintained that the political leadership in Karnataka and then undivided Andhra Pradesh did some impactful work and created a conducive atmosphere for IT industry to flourish. Likewise, Chandigarh has also had an edge because of its liveability factor.
Kaila, however, does not believe in getting into a blame game, like accusing the successive political leaderships in Punjab of letting the people down. “We must be positive in our approach and concentrate on what we as individuals can do within our capacities to improve things, at least do our bit. My philosophy in life is that through my efforts if I can inspire other people of Punjab origin to contribute their bit, I think I would have done my duty.”
Commenting on the continuing brain drain from the country, the IT By Design CEO felt that it is unfortunate that the smart brains after getting the best of education in the country are contributing to the economies of already advanced countries.
He felt that things have changed drastically in the country. There are more opportunities of quality employment and doing business. The startup ecosystem has also started looking up. “In such a scenario there is an urgent need for young, educated and enterprising people to at least explore the idea of doing something in India while targeting the global markets,” he remarked.
Kaila is now keen on sharing his experiences with, and inspiring young brains, especially in educational institutions, to go for entrepreneurship.
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