Starting a business is often a triumph of heart over head. With so many unknowns at play, it is ones instinct & a deep desire to do something different which motivates entrepreneurs to get out there any try something new. And then it is the drive to watch your ideas help benefit the ones using them which continues to motivate. As a tech enthusiast, constantly on the look-out of emerging trends, Hardik Parekh, CEO of Searce is passionate about identifying innovative ways to leverage technology for fundamentally transforming businesses & help them be ready for the future, or as he calls it ‘Helping Futurify Businesses’
It’s about being HAPPIER first. Really.
Entirely meticulous, spontaneous & observant – Hardik is the energy core that powers Searce. His leadership style drives towards the goal of making employees HAPPIER first. HAPPIER equals = Humble. Adaptable. Positive. Passionate. Innovative. Experimental. Responsible. Constantly working towards instilling a culture of experimentation with new ideas and technologies, Hardik draws inspiration from his father who is very positively living the 101st year of his life with loads of optimism which is very contagious and encouraging.
It was after completing his Masters from Texas A&M University in Industrial Engineering, Hardik started his professional journey as a management consultant providing Business Process Improvement consulting to several large enterprises including 10+ US State Departments of Transportation. As a firm believer in the opportunities which the growing Indian economy had to offer, Hardik championed the ‘Reverse Brain Drain’ cause while in US. Before finally settling back in India about 13 years ago and founding Searce -which he has successfully molded into one of the fastest growing cloud and analytics led business transformation company in India.
Searce: Identifying Better Way of Doing Things
The world is changing so fast, many businesses are not able to keep-up with the pace. Technology is rapidly evolving and cloud technologies are offering a completely new landscape to facilitate the growth of AI and machine learning. While conversations have gradually shifted from ‘Why Cloud?’ to ‘How can I move to cloud?’, the overall adoption is still very low. Businesses are not fully leveraging the power of Cloud just yet. Hardik believes this is because most businesses are not ‘adequately stressed’ yet. He adds, “Adopting any new technology requires the right kind of visionary leadership which has intrinsic motivation to change. At times we get comfortable within our shells. As a senior tech leader, if we are not asking ‘How is my business being changed by digital technology and How do I adapt?’, a non-competitor might soon be emerging around the corner with a tech-led disruption.”
At Searce, Cloud, Automation & Analytics led business transformation are the key drivers for helping futurify businesses. “It’s about helping our clients to not get blind-sided. We need to keep experimenting. Questioning the status quo. Reimagine the needs of tomorrow. And do it most optimally and cost effectively.” Hardik adds. He explains, ‘Say we are talking to a healthcare diagnostics company our role is to help them see that they could very easily get disrupted by a WC manufacturer – afterall all the Toilets WCs would collect vital body samples and wifi connected hardware will run analysis on them. We’d get our diagnostics reports, diet suggestions and even early alarms for any potential red flags – no need of separate medical diagnostic companies. With the on-demand business model working so seamlessly you as a healthcare diagnostics company have to change your business model today and meet the customers where they are. You need to come up with innovative ways of adapting to the future. This is what we help them achieve, by working closely with the C-level in defining the strategy and working even more closely with the IT and Engineering teams in helping them execute the philosophy”
The ‘Beyond Consulting’ Philosophy
‘Beyond consulting’ is Searce’s unique philosophy of delivering ‘real value’, which doesn’t end at an 80- page PDF document. It is more about working closer to the execution layer and truly placing their skin in the game to drive business process improvements. As one of the fastest growing ‘beyond cloud consulting’ firm with 500+ people and 1,500+ active clients, Searce delivers outcome driven solutions & systems integration services leveraging cloud, automation & analytics.
Searce specializes in helping businesses move to cloud, improve on cloud, build on the next generation cloud and truly adopt SaaS solutions driving change management. All this while actually working closely with the execution layer. Searce’s customer base across various sectors such as Logistics & Transportation, Retail-Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Technology start-ups has benefited from Searce’s ability to drive collaboration across IT and Operations, automate business processes leveraging Google Cloud Platform and Robotic Process Automation and build next generation technology solutions to solve real business problems leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Inspiring the Entrepreneurs
New age start-ups are already leveraging the power of the cloud to disrupt traditional business models and in the months and years to come, large enterprises will need to adapt in order to stay relevant. ‘Become adequately stressed within your shells so you are uncomfortably excited to try something new!’ Hardik advises. Times are exciting and Hardik positively encourages entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunities Industrial Revolution 4.0 has to offer for large and small businesses alike.