B Ramaswamy is a chip of the old block in the Indian software firmament. An old, wise head who is not easily deterred by fluctuating fortunes. As president and managing director of mid-sized IT firm Sonata Software, Ramaswamy (popularly called BR) keeps chipping away, unmindful of what the analysts have to say.

There have been rumours about Sonata being up for sale, once the promoters divested some stake. Says BR, ?This has nothing to do with the management,? even as we warm up to the discussion.

The company, with revenues of Rs 1,326 crore, has cash reserves in excess of Rs 180 crore. ?We are doing well. So there is no question of getting bought over. Sonata is growing,? he says. It has also made its way into Nasscom’s top-20 IT exporter list.

The firm, with service offerings like IT consulting, product engineering services, application development, business intelligence and infrastructure management, have been a major force in the mid-size bracket. ?The tier-I firms are doing well only because of the turnaround in the BFSI segment. It’s only those companies with high exposure to that segment that are doing well.?

Bangalore-born BR had joined Sonata in 1986, when it was a start-up company as its marketing controller. ?Back then no one knew anything about IT. My first 18-24 months in the company was a special experience as everyone was just experimenting,? says BR, BR who is a post graduate from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and a management graduate from IIM Ahmedabad.

BR’s first corporate job was with the Voltas in Mumbai. ?That was a great place to start. I learned a lot about management there. I was young and managing teams that were much older. I had to tell these older management executives that I had no field experience and was looking to learn from them. That kind of disarmed them, and it was easy going after that.?

He had to relocate to Bangalore to take care of his ailing uncle. ?He was the one who took care of me during my childhood, and I had the responsibility to help him.?

He came down to Bangalore, and looked around for a job. ?When my friends knew that I had joined Sonata, they were wondering what I was doing in an IT firm.?

Over the years, BR became an integral part of Sonata, gaining considerable international experience in sales, corporate management and M&A. His philosophy of driving continuous business transformation by leveraging technologies, backed by a strong customer-centric perspective, has enabled Sonata to emerge as a strong IT consulting and software services player.

But the recent stake sale rumours have created some head ache for him. There was also this strong rumour that Oracle was planning to pick up some stake in the company. ?There have been many speculative stories. They are not true.? Sonata is looking to grow 50% every year. ?We have managed this consistently, except during the years of downturn.?

Sonata’s solution portfolio ranges from the most demanding of business and technology requirements of e-business to the demands of legacy systems. Its gamut of solutions include application development, application management, managed testing, business intelligence, packaged applications, infrastructure management and travel solutions.

Today, it is a fact that IT managers in most enterprises are under constant pressure to keep their IT systems agile and responsive, while trying to control spiraling costs. ?At Sonata, you get an IT services partner who understands the nuances of enterprise business, technical solution architecture, development and deployment needs.?BR says all that the company has to do is to keep performing. ?We have set a good pace for ourselves, and keep satisfying our customers. That’s all we need to do,? says the man, who is a major yoga exponent. He has a full-fledged gym at the basement of his home, to support his fitness needs.

?One has to work in peak condition for 12-15 hours everyday, and for that fitness is very important. My 90 minutes of fitness routine helps me to fight out the day in the best possible manner.?