That's a very critical phase in customer service because you can start to really understand what part of customer service has value to customers and what part is bothering customers.

But the real focus should be on people who are buying today because the base is so big it will take a long time for any change materialize on an overall basis.

I'm very comfortable in having a strong team. I'm very comfortable in sharing the limelight with the team.

It didn't make a lot of sense for us to be doing Lotus Notes implementations.

Clearly, every company needs a leader. That's an important part of being the CEO of the company.

I have a high degree of confidence about India's growth potential in IT.

We have believed at CA that consolidation of this industry is something that was required ten years ago.

Today we're focused on small acquisitions to add technology where necessary. I think it's fair to say we're not out looking for a large one, but I think it's also very fair to say that as a public company you can never say never.

There are companies that are cutting their costs by over 50% by offshoring.

As I said before, a big part of my strategy says - and the management team I think is in agreement with this - we don't have to be out there with a lot of noise all the time. What we need to do is paint a vision for customers, promise them deliverables, and go hit at it.

Few service industries are designed to be 24x7 in India, and thus there was no 24x7 mentality.

Failure is unfortunately as common as success.

So in 2000, when we changed the business model and started really focusing on that triangle and putting the customer in the center, we decided we should hold off - we've done enough consolidation; we've got enough critical mass.

That's a very critical phase in customer service because you can start to really understand what part of customer service has value to customers and what part is bothering customers.

And I'm comfortable being who I am, so I think a lot of people who take over from a founder worry about how they compare to the founder; I worry about doing the best I can.

To me, it's really important to drive change through a team because one person, while the buck has to stop with somebody, the company is just too big for one person.

So if you're a customer today, the same person who came in to demonstrate the technology for you and helped you architect the solution before you bought it is likely going to be leading the team to help you do the implementation.

Finance is critical. If sufficient investment is made in infrastructure and venture capital is made available, there will be a big improvement in the situation.

One, we committed to put about 650 people in the field to focus totally on customer satisfaction.

India has the unique advantages of having the biggest domestic market and this should support IT companies.

So far, Indian companies have focused more on customer application. This needs to shift to packaged software for sectors such as banking and financial services.

Well, the security business has been growing. I think security is one of those areas where it's to some degree not linear but maybe exponential growth.

Finally, I have to say that the most surprising aspect has been the speed at which the folks in India adapt to Western practices. They learn fast, really, really fast.

Well, if you look back, in almost two and a half years, the biggest change probably was in late 2000 when we decided to totally change the CA business model.

So let's say you're using XYZ product and you want to do something very sophisticated. You subscribe to this thing, you hit a button, and a CA expert pops up in video.

Some story appears in some newspaper that says that somebody said X, Y, and Z, and a customer says, I don't understand what they're talking about - we're running that product, we've been using it for five years, what are they talking about?

Clients do not expect the infrastructure to be any less reliable just because the service is being delivered from an offshore location; thus, the uptime requirements justify the expense.

There is nothing in the company that is either above or below me, as far as I'm concerned.

I think that a lot of companies are still amazingly price sensitive.

We will announce a new offering, where you can get a CA expert on your PC live, via video, on a range of topics about a product.

So it's really for us about new products, because we have released a lot of new products.

I'm equally comfortable in getting out there and taking a stand when I have to take a stand.

Companies are starting to measure how effective their customer service is and trying to understand what they can do to improve the customer service process.

Finance is critical. If sufficient investment is made in infrastructure and venture capital is made available there will be a big improvement in the situation.

Be dramatically willing to focus on the customer at all costs, even at the cost of obsoleting your own stuff.

I never trust an executive who tends to pass the buck. Nor would I want to deal with him as a customer or a supplier.

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

As regards this country, in which protection has always to some extent existed, it is the best customer that England ever had, and our demands upon her grow most steadily and regularly under protection.

You must never actually cheat the customer, even if you can. You must make her happy and satisfied, so she will come back.

The purpose of a business is to create a customer.

If you can't turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn't be in the ad writing business at all.

Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.

And our size: The company this year is going to be close to $50 billion, so if that's the case and you can continue to grow that fast, I would rather put my energies to solving customer problems and growing our business than worrying about integrating and laying people off.

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.

You have got to have discipline and focus - on the customer and how you run the business.

We will ensure that associates continue to possess unsurpassed product knowledge and maintain their dedication to customer service and respect for their colleagues and for the communities in which they work and live.

Pager companies are very much looking to provide new services to help them regain some of their customer base.

Firms need to ensure that their ability to provide effective customer service keeps pace with their growth. If you're marketing your firm to new customers, you better be able to provide them service when they do business with you.

Even if someone is already in your market space, ask yourself whether you can approach it from a different angle and thereby secure your own customer base.