As head of business solutions sales, India region at Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), Manish Dhawan is responsible for developing and growing the company’s business in India. This entails a strong focus on cutting-edge business solutions in the areas of customer experience management and OSS/ BSS, which NSN hopes will help operators reap benefits.
To achieve this, he adopts a team-centric management style. “I believe that teamwork with a focused approach yields the desired results. While the leader can have an overall vision, the core execution depends on the collective drive of the team,” he says.
Dhawan has worked in several different capacities in NSN. Prior to his current role, he headed the sales function of the vendor’s business solutions in North America, and before that, he spearheaded the sales of NSN’s core converged products in the US. He was earlier with Nokia Networks, which became NSN in 2007.
Despite having worked on several challenging assignments, he says his current role at NSN is the most memorable. “I have been fortunate to have worked on challenging projects throughout my career, both in India and abroad. My present assignment with NSN is humbling, as I am part of a team of 74,000 dedicated professionals operating in more than 150 countries,” he says. “As a team, we are committed to helping communication service providers transform their networks, operations and ultimately, the business, to deliver a better customer experience.”
Going forward, NSN’s focus will be on helping operators take advantage of future market trends and turn them into revenue sources. “Several new challenges exist today, not only on the network side but also at the customer’s end,” he points out. “With the boom in demand for smartphones, for example, network congestion is an issue, and complexity is increasing. Concerns about privacy and security are also growing. Also, customers are demanding a better experience and individualised services. To meet these challenges and avoid churn, which is the ultimate consequence of dissatisfaction, deep and detailed insight into what the customer requires and transforming network capabilities play a crucial role.”
In this dynamic and fast changing environment, NSN is helping operators to transform the customer experience by making use of its insights and available resources.
In all this, does he get time to relax? “Yes,” he says, “I divide my spare time between my interests, my family and spending time by myself. I enjoy reading, staying abreast of the latest technology trends and gadgets, listening to music, especially ghazals, and playing golf.”