He has the kind of voice that can rival that of any radio jockey. When he talks, he commands attention from all around, and even people seated at the other tables were looking out for the man. Umang Bedi, all of 32 years is the managing director of Intuit India, the financial management solutions leader. A very affable personality, Umang made his name at Symantec before switching over to Intuit India, where he is responsible for the strategic plans of the company?s global business division.
Success sits very easily on the man. He has this very engrossing style of speech which can keep you hooked for hours. No wonder, this DeCode took over 200 minutes. For him, everything happened early in life. Marriage in his early 20s and career success in early 30s, have meant a lot to Umang. ?I live my life passionately. So whether it?s my career or family life, I am known to exhibit a lot of honesty and passion. See, you got to be good with people, that?s how one can become a successful manager.?
Intuit?s web-based personal finance tool?Intuit Money Manager?is a big success, and that has Umang beaming. The tool enables customers to manage all personal information through a single window. But is he a good money manager himself? ?Most of my investments are in real estate,? he says with a smile. ?We have properties in Bangalore, Delhi and Goa. My wife too was very keen on real estate.?
Wherever he has worked, Umang seems to have left an imprint. He had high ratings in all his jobs, and was very close to Symnatec India managing director Vishal Dhupar. Vishal is a great golfer but Umang did not take to it. ?I am a very amateur golfer, though Vishal tried his best to improve my game. I remember once he even dragged me out for a round of golf at 5 am.?
While he was at Symantec, Umang received a string of awards including the ?CEO Victory Award? and the ?Chairman?s Circle Award? for outstanding contributions to the company. And his experience is not just confined to corporate boundary walls. Umang, who had stints across sales, consulting, professional services, pre-sales and software development, is a member of the working group on ?Network and Information Security Standards for e-governance in India? under the Government of India?s National e-Governance Programme (NeGP). ?It?s nice to be involved in various assignments. Keeps you on your toes.?
Before Symantec, Umang was with Sun Microsystems as the country solution engagement manager specialising in telecom. He was involved with the design and delivery of large telecom projects across data service delivery platforms, IPTV, OSS/BSS, portal, messaging and identity management. ?That was a great time. Sun was this amazingly innovative place to work and I learned a lot there.?
Umang says every little experience has taught him something or the other. ?One can learn something from every boss, every situation and every company,? says the man, who stood second in the ICSE board exams nationally.
?I lost out on the first position by a whisker. The topper was known to my wife incidentally.?
Umang and his wife go back a long way. In fact, quite a long way. ?We were classmates in?can you believe it?nursery class. I remember biting her hand as a child, an incident that put me into a spot of bother in school at that point. But since then we got on fine.
Today I love to travel to all parts of the globe with her. My wife has been a great source of support.?
Prior to Sun, Umang had worked with Wipro and Satyam Computer Services in the areas of enterprise software development and consulting in India and in the US. But did he have an inkling about what would happen to Satyam? ?No, we all thought it was a great company to work for. In fact, I was getting paid a huge amount of money. It was very lucrative those days to be sent to the US for work. I thoroughly enjoyed my Satyam days. It was a great company and it is sad to see what happened to them later,? says Umang, who is a graduate from the University of Pune with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics.
Umang believes Intuit happened at the right time. ?Here was the right company for me at the right time, though I had to spend many days convincing Vishal about leaving Symantec.?
Intuit Money Manager, its first financial software product developed specifically for consumers in India, consolidates personal financial information from multiple bank accounts and investments, tracks and categorises expenses, and prepares and calculates taxes. ?It?s a lovely product which even the small businessmen of the country are finding very useful. I have been amazed at the kind of people who use our product. And that includes even some petty shop owners. In fact, there is so much to learn from these small entrepreneurs.?
?We also did a research-based survey called ?Follow me home? with around 1,000 customers. We went to their homes, offices and observed them. We did not ask any questions and simply observed them, and this has helped us to see how they managed their finances. It threw up some interesting facets, which helped us to learn more about the market. It was interesting to see how the various age groups spent differently.?
So what does he want to do with all the money he has made in his career? ?I want to start a charity fund. The idea is very close to my heart. There are many needy people in India, and I want to do my bit. That will happen some 10 years from now,? adds Umang.