Ram

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – When Vasu Ram and Vidya Vasu started SolveIT Inc. they were looking for a way to cut through the clutter of the IT consulting business and the glut of “one-stop-shop” and “one-size-fits-all” firms looking to haul in as many customers as possible with only an eye on the bottom line. The goal of really delving into customers’ business to truly understand their needs began an evolution of the company from a consulting firm to a software developer, and has led to the recent release of a product to help small businesses in this struggling economy.

The Westborough-based SolveIT’s CustomView Small Business Program is designed to improve the stagnant e-commerce sales of small businesses. According to Ram, the company’s chief executive officer, the idea is to provide tools for small businesses to help them wade through the current economic storm. As part of the Small Business Program, customers use SolveIT’s software product CustomView and rely on the company’s experience helping small businesses perfect their e-commerce business.

CustomView allows businesses to build a virtual storefront from scratch and personalize it to their needs. The software helps businesses build virtual product samples, with personalized colors, logos, images and text, as well as two- and three-dimensional views. The e-commerce software is designed to integrate with a company’s existing back-end applications. Functions include processing billing and shipping details and connection with existing shopping cart applications. It also allows businesses to sign-up additional distributors and connect with distribution networks. Above all the software captures business leads and helps companies process and track those user requests.

“It enables small businesses or a corporation do business online and ensure there are few walk-aways from the site,” Ram said.

Founded in 2003, by the husband and wife team of Ram and Vasu, who serves as chief technology officer, SolveIT first jumped into the software product business in 2007. Until then the company had focused on IT consulting. Toward the end of 2008, SolveIT scored a deal for its CustomView product with Aprons, Etc., a South Carolina-based manufacturing of aprons and uniforms. Aprons uses CustomView to capture customer inquiries and coordinate with distributors. The company was looking for a way to determine customer trends and preferences to help it better serve customers, according to SolveIT.

Vasu

This was followed, early this year, by a deal with the State of Maine to work on the Maine Arts Commission’s interactive Web site. The art commission is calling on SolveIT to incorporate several dynamic features its Web application, including providing rotational features on the home page, a highly specialized search option and the ability to have RSS feeds. In addition, SolveIT is creating a “my favorites area” for the Web sites’ frequent browsers that can store personalized information.

At the time of the deal, the Main Arts Commission said it was banking on SolveIT to improve its online services. “The new features we are adding will make the Web site even more user-friendly while increasing the visibility of Maine's artists and art,” Darrell Bulmer, communication associate for the Maine Arts Commission, said in a statement.

Ram has high hopes for the deal with Maine, because he believes it can translate into other government business. “The goal is to build it in such a way that it can be replicated with other arts commissions,” he said.

According to him, SolveIT has always found success when delving into one industry with one customer and then scaring up some additional customers. The company has worked in industries such as manufacturing, promotional products, legal, life sciences and printing.

“We launched a couple of products in those industries and we have a proven track record,” said Ram. “We dug deeper into them and found there is tremendous potential.”

Though SolveIT ventured into the product development business in 2007, and will continue to do so, Ram said the company will stay true to its IT-consulting roots. “We still understand the services industry,” he said. “We don’t want to lose that but, at the same time, we want to push for solutions.”

SolveIT’s goal now is to develop partnerships with organizations that can help promote product interest, as well as sign up resellers for its software and build up the sales team. “We have a pretty good advantage on our end, so we are focusing on the solutions space and moving that business along,” said Ram.

Ram believes the evolution from service provider to product developer makes perfect sense. “Technology is great, but technology should work,” he said. “You have to first understand how to solve the business problem and the technology comes later.”

In 2004, SolveIT opened a research and development center in Chennai, India. The center currently employs 40 people and the company does 60-70 percent of its work there, according to Ram. SolveIT has 15 employees in Westborough for a current headcount of 55. Ram said there are no issues with most of the work being done in India. “It is pretty seamless because all the  people are basically here and the client is on track with us here,” he added.

Ram has over 15 years of experience in the IT field. He graduated from Leeds University in England with a master’s degree in information systems and worked as an e-commerce specialist for the British Council. In the early 1990s he worked on a startup in India, FifthWave Multimedia, that was sold after a year. In 1998, he came to the United States and worked for the Boston Group as director of software development. Just prior to co-founding SolveIT in 2003 he worked for SkillSoft.

 “My passion has always been to build my own company. I was just waiting for the right time,” Ram said.

“We decided this is the way to go and this is where my heart is,” Ram said added. “I thought: It is a dream; why not go for it?’”

Vasu, who has a master’s degree in communications from the University of Madras, worked as a television anchor in India and also has experience in the human resources industry in the United States. Ram credits his SolveIT co-founder for her tireless efforts as chief operations officer to keep the company running smoothly.