Modern enterprises are getting transformed through digital technologies replacing the traditional processes with technically advanced processes like automation and robotic process automation. And these processes are turning out to be the best people-first enterprise solutions when it comes to performing complex to boring, tedious, repetitive and mundane tasks.
Hari Nair, the CEO of 1Rivet India recollects a successful incident where his team helped client automate their monthly billing process using UiPath, an automated solution their firm has developed.
The automated process includes the generation of prebill, bill correction based on the Attorney’s feedback, and generation of the final bill which is emailed to the clients or is sent to a printer for printing. This solution is completely built on the UiPath platform. The automated process includes,
Generation of prebill: This process manually used to take 3-4 days to complete and includes the generation of about 30,000+ prebill, consolidating the prebill for some of the attorneys based on their preference, generating a Microsoft word file and emailing it to the Attorney for validation or correction. After automation, this process which is triggered by an email runs at night and completes the process by morning (6-7 hours).
Bill correction: Once the Attorney receives the prebill, they either accept the prebill or send the corrections to the prebill. Once the robot receives the confirmation from Attorney via email, the Robot generates the final bill (if accepted) or regenerates the prebill with correction applied to their legal solution. If there is any issue in the correction process, Robot emails the details to the billing coordinator.
This is just an example of how the firm is bringing much-needed simplicity into the life of thousands of enterprise owners. 1Rivet is an IT consultancy firm specializing in digital transformation, technology modernization and automation.
The Strategic Advantage
Hari says, “We are a small firm but with established processes and standards of more mature and bigger firms. We are located in a small town, Valsad in Gujarat, and have a strategic reason for this.
Because of our location advantage, we are able to keep our operational expenses much lower compared to others. This, in turn, helps us to provide better rates to our clients. Our four pillars – Technology, People, Process and Culture make us stand out from others.”
1Rivet India has two founding partners – Hari Nair and Onish Mistry.
Hari did a short computer course in Unix during his high school vacation and got fascinated by the technology, though he was still not sure of the possibilities this could bring in. It was during his MBA in Systems that he decided that he would start an IT consulting firm. Onish, the co-founder shares Hari’s passion for solving problems and is a great technologist. They are friends for more than 20 years now.
Valsad at that time did not have any IT presence and they faced a lot of opposition. To people, it did not make sense to start an IT firm based out of Valsad, a place which people haven’t even heard of. This gave birth to their first company.
Technologically Unified People
Hari shares, “We are extremely passionate about the RPA services that we provide to our clients, and we truly love what we do.
We are at our best partnering with both business and technology, collaborating as one unified team. Your success is absolutely our top priority.”
Going back to the four pillars mentioned earlier, they had to solve for the second pillar in the early stages – People. Internal training programs and internship programs were created to solve this problem.
Onish is focused on Technology and Hari is focused on Delivery and Operations. This creates a fine balance across the organization.
It was during a casual discussion with Eric Middleton, the CEO of 1Rivet US, during the summer of 2015, that Eric floated the idea of 1Rivet – an IT consulting experience-based company. Soon 1Rivet brand was created and the growth has been tremendous. Focusing on the client has always been a priority. 1Rivet US has three leaders – Eric, Krishna Nair – CTO and Derek Swank – CDO.
Streamlining Enterprise Operations
Hari says, “As mentioned earlier, our core specializations are in digital transformation, technology modernization and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
Digital Transformation – We work with clients to redefine the way they run the business, usually a customer-driven, digital-first approach to all aspects of the business. This could involve different kinds of technologies like AI, RPA, Cloud, Data Analytics/Data Science etc. which all together help the business to make faster and smarter decisions.
Technology Modernization – Our customized approach allows you to evaluate and test your business and technology strategy with a newly modernized architecture prior to executing full-fledge execution. This provides a lower cost engagement initially and helps reduce technology risk(s) and delays while focusing on accelerated growth.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – We help clients to improve the efficiency and productivity of their processes using RPA, which keeps the operation cost low and improves ROI. RPA also reduces a lot of compliance risks.”
1Lab Innovation Center
Being an experienced leader, Hari tells how the adoption of modern technologies like AI and ML is impacting the industry space and how 1Rivet is adapting to the change. He says that 1Rivet has an innovation center called 1Lab, which focuses on leading-edge technologies like ML, AI and Blockchain.
1Lab is created to experiment and evaluate emerging technologies. “This helps us to iterate new ideas/technology into a working prototype, which in turn gives us confidence while designing a solution for new projects,” reveals Onish, who heads the 1Lab initiative. 1Lab also help the client to reduce cost and risks when attempting to modernizing their IT landscape.
Speaking about the challenges Hari says, their four Pillars are their four challenges. “Our journey could be categorized into four buckets – technology, people, process, and culture. Each of these were/are challenges we had to overcome.
As a service-based firm, the first major decision we had to make was to choose the technologies we want to work on. As a new company trying to establish its roots, it is really difficult to say no to projects which do not align with our direction.”
Future Integration of Technology
In the changing scenario, Hari’s take on envisioning 1Rivet’s operations and offerings in 2022 and beyond is simple. He says that they are happy at the pace they are growing. From a team of 18 people, they are now close to 300 and the journey has been amazing. Hari adds, “Based on our pipeline, we can safely say that the growth will continue. But we are equally committed to redefining the experience for everyone working with us.”
“When people come to work for us, they should see us as an extension of their family. We are spending a lot of time and energy understanding what it takes to create a high-functioning happy team,” concludes Hari.
