I arrived in Hyderabad on August 15, 1999 – incidentally the independence day of India. I joined Baan Institute the next day. I was curious on what software development actually was. My visualization had taken me so far to only imagine that software development was writing bunch of complex algorithms, but to do exactly what? I was nervous about the work.
The next 6 months was a dream run. These 6 months of work in Baan, had changed me – No, but not exactly changed, it actually showed me the real world of computing. The view of an ERP that was given to me for 6 months still mesmerizes me with enough knowledge, kindles my curiosity and enthusiasm in addressing mission critical applications every day. Baan Institute could be one of the best premier educational institutes of that time. While it helped to churn skilled professionals, it was a hot bed of research and intellectual debate. At one end we saw professors, leaders from defense sector, academicians, great programmers and the other end there were young minds from college working under some of the best industry leaders of our time.
Many times I was left puzzling because I struggled to see a bigger picture of an ERP with its depth and breadth for the first time. Like Mr. Baan says, every cloud has a silver lining, the very notion of a ‘Solve All’ ERP concept put one in an extreme state of thinking to connect the dots between every known touch point.
It is incredible that Mr. Jan Baan had seen the evolution in various business domains, predicted enterprise problems, started writing solutions for the problems of the millennium by connecting dots of these sitting in his desk in year 1975 and I am amazed by this vision and leadership. The world of enterprise computing is indebted to his contribution as a key thinker and mover of 20th century enterprise computing.
One may think that Mr. Baan had a vision of about 30 years ahead while he started to build the world's Top #2 ERP. How wrong can we be! I realized this in early 2000 when I had the opportunity to join the core team led by Master Architect Theodoor. I remember vividly the discussions on developing something using browser, running everything in a browser, doing everything in a web browser, what we call as the ‘cloud’, today.
It is just an overwhelming feeling that the vision of Mr. Jan Baan has been far ahead, and what he sees in the horizon of future could very well be several waves of evolution ahead which would happen over a century.
Joined just then, grappling with this huge ERP stuff, having No knowledge of internet domain, why the heck I was selected to work with the legendary team of creators to develop Cordys ? Call it luck, blessed or whatever.
Cordys was an incredible journey. In a hi-tech sector, predicting the evolution and staying ahead - is a dream. Mr. Baan did that for next 10 years and gave opportunity to every one of us to be part of it.
One could see what Ray Kurzweil means when he says ‘As any technology becomes an information technology, it starts advancing exponentially’. The customer cases such as Embraer, Ertan Smart Metering, Interpay, Valeo, Google, Cisco, ING are evident proofs and it is a delight how IT can enable a technology to grow multifold.
In Mr. Baan, I realize that technology by itself is not a foundation. Mr. Baan lived trust, respecting people, encouraging and motivating, supporting to overcome many mistakes and lived as human sponge absorbing so many things. This humaneness is the base I see behind Mr. Baan’s vision and he is one who understands the problems at micro and macro level.
I am deeply humbled by his gestures in meeting my family members, in giving an opportunity to stand together with him to talk to a great audience. As a leader he went beyond professional boundary, and I saw my father was inspired by Mr. Baan and he was so happy to exchange ideas- A true leader beyond textbook definitions.
Every colleague of Baan or Cordys talks about its great culture, passion, innovation and many many things. True, it is a collective reflection of the persona of Mr. Baan.
It is a co-incidence that I arrived in Hyderabad on India Independence day to start my journey with Baan company, and when I look back, that day could very well be defined in my life for freedom of thoughts, innovation, experience and to live curiously.
Thank you Mr. Baan.
The next 6 months was a dream run. These 6 months of work in Baan, had changed me – No, but not exactly changed, it actually showed me the real world of computing. The view of an ERP that was given to me for 6 months still mesmerizes me with enough knowledge, kindles my curiosity and enthusiasm in addressing mission critical applications every day. Baan Institute could be one of the best premier educational institutes of that time. While it helped to churn skilled professionals, it was a hot bed of research and intellectual debate. At one end we saw professors, leaders from defense sector, academicians, great programmers and the other end there were young minds from college working under some of the best industry leaders of our time.
Many times I was left puzzling because I struggled to see a bigger picture of an ERP with its depth and breadth for the first time. Like Mr. Baan says, every cloud has a silver lining, the very notion of a ‘Solve All’ ERP concept put one in an extreme state of thinking to connect the dots between every known touch point.
It is incredible that Mr. Jan Baan had seen the evolution in various business domains, predicted enterprise problems, started writing solutions for the problems of the millennium by connecting dots of these sitting in his desk in year 1975 and I am amazed by this vision and leadership. The world of enterprise computing is indebted to his contribution as a key thinker and mover of 20th century enterprise computing.
One may think that Mr. Baan had a vision of about 30 years ahead while he started to build the world's Top #2 ERP. How wrong can we be! I realized this in early 2000 when I had the opportunity to join the core team led by Master Architect Theodoor. I remember vividly the discussions on developing something using browser, running everything in a browser, doing everything in a web browser, what we call as the ‘cloud’, today.
It is just an overwhelming feeling that the vision of Mr. Jan Baan has been far ahead, and what he sees in the horizon of future could very well be several waves of evolution ahead which would happen over a century.
Joined just then, grappling with this huge ERP stuff, having No knowledge of internet domain, why the heck I was selected to work with the legendary team of creators to develop Cordys ? Call it luck, blessed or whatever.
Cordys was an incredible journey. In a hi-tech sector, predicting the evolution and staying ahead - is a dream. Mr. Baan did that for next 10 years and gave opportunity to every one of us to be part of it.
One could see what Ray Kurzweil means when he says ‘As any technology becomes an information technology, it starts advancing exponentially’. The customer cases such as Embraer, Ertan Smart Metering, Interpay, Valeo, Google, Cisco, ING are evident proofs and it is a delight how IT can enable a technology to grow multifold.
In Mr. Baan, I realize that technology by itself is not a foundation. Mr. Baan lived trust, respecting people, encouraging and motivating, supporting to overcome many mistakes and lived as human sponge absorbing so many things. This humaneness is the base I see behind Mr. Baan’s vision and he is one who understands the problems at micro and macro level.
I am deeply humbled by his gestures in meeting my family members, in giving an opportunity to stand together with him to talk to a great audience. As a leader he went beyond professional boundary, and I saw my father was inspired by Mr. Baan and he was so happy to exchange ideas- A true leader beyond textbook definitions.
Every colleague of Baan or Cordys talks about its great culture, passion, innovation and many many things. True, it is a collective reflection of the persona of Mr. Baan.
It is a co-incidence that I arrived in Hyderabad on India Independence day to start my journey with Baan company, and when I look back, that day could very well be defined in my life for freedom of thoughts, innovation, experience and to live curiously.
Thank you Mr. Baan.
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