Sunil Dutt Jha is among the country’s youngest chief executive officers in India and, at 27 years, he is one of Bangalore’s most eligible bachelors.

Jha is the chief operating officer of iComponent Management Group, a computing firm that is producing a component application server that will enable computer languages like Java and C++ to “talk to each other.” The soon-to-be-launched Component Education Server intends to carry interactive data through DVD, cable TV, intranet, extranet and the Internet.

Jha has assembled a 10-member team drawn from the US, Germany, Sweden and Sri Lanka to create the software. “Most of the work that is currently going on is coding work which makes us passive technology users. What I intend to do is architect product ideas and implement it to become part of the technology promotion and its adoption,” he said.

An IIT graduate from Kharagpur, Jha set up the firm with Dr Thomas Mowbray of Corba Technologies. This was after 18 months of incubation support from the Bangalore-based Software Technology Parks of India. The technology park provided him with computers, connectivity and a place to work on his big idea.

Today, Jha employs 120 people and intends to sell $4 million worth component application servers by the end of next year. And what’s more, Mowbray calls Jha India’s number one Corba expert.

Jha spoke to Explocity about his life’s work.

What is your component server all about?

The server, called the K2 will be launched by May 2001. The technology will be the first of its kind in the world. The Corba component model that we are developing will save businesses a lot of money and time.

How?

There is a new computer language developed every five years. Windows is going to launch one soon. What we do is create a common platform that makes languages talk to each other, which is fundamental to growth. It enables businesses to re-use the existing infrastructure and at the same time create distributed computing that will be able to handle many more applications for the next 10 years. We are giving you robust, powerful scalable servers that sustain growth.

What is distributed computing?

Let’s say, Microsoft Word has 106 different features, but on an average, only about six features are being used. That means, you pay for 90% of the content that you don’t need. It’s like saying, if you want to buy a samosa, you have to buy the entire restaurant. I will buy the restaurant only when you convince me that the only way to eat the samosa is to buy the restaurant.

Who will benefit most from this?

System integrators, project consultants, e-commerce solutions and those who develop portals.

So what do you foresee in the near future?

In two years time, there will be no difference between web applications, production and programming. They will all be integrated on a middleware platform. Information Technology will be transaction-oriented and independent of a vendor-centric platform. Forester Research has said in a report that by 2003, 90% of all computer-based development will run on ‘pay-per-use’ system. Today, you use because you bought the entire Microsoft Word package. The consumer has no say in it. But very soon, the product will become a service where you can say, I want 100 spell check services and 100 print service instead of buying the entire word package. Today, the market is driven by assembled PCs. So there is a need for assembled technology in software. You need platforms to integrate various components. And we provide the infrastructure to make different applications work on a common platform.

How did you set up iCMG?

When I was doing my IIT at Kharagpur, I came to understand that good technologists were not good businessmen and vice versa. That’s when I realised that if anybody has a command over both, he will most definitely be successful. I took it as a challenge and did a project in my final year in computer science when my branch was aerospace engineering.

Interesting

Well, it is. Because initially, I had thought of working for NASA. But then, I realised that the evolution of computers was to solve differential equations to launch rockets. That’s when I realised that if you expand opportunities and distribute the power of computers to solve complicated problems elsewhere. That’s when I thought of moving to infrastructure and make this happen. Can I make a server that brings all the different computer languages together and harness them, was the question that crossed my mind. Then I met Thomas Mowbray of Corba and got started.

Please explain?

I met Mowbray, my guru in technology in June 1998. That time, I was working for NextStep in Bangalore, which was into object-oriented operating system. What is Linux today was available 10 years ago, but for a fee. During one discussion forum on the Net, I met Thomas Mowbray (Chairman, iCMG) and got introduced to Corba. I moved on to Elgi Software as a part of an operations group team that was into Corba development and Corba-based application. Then, through a common friend, I met Mr B V Naidu of the STPI who provided us with infrastructure like office, computers and internet connection.

How did you sustain yourself?

We conducted a lot of seminars, workshops and programmes for STPI and Corba in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Tokyo and UK. In Bangalore, I addressed about 150 CEOs at the CEOs conclave two years ago.

Any interesting experiences?

Lots. At the IT.Com exhibition in 1998, we were giving out free t-shirts with Corba on it and some girls were heard saying, ‘look at these guys, they have misspelt Cobra.’ In another incident, one of our employees was questioned by the airport police in Korea when they found some printed material on Corba. They thought he belonged to some terrorist outfit. The office had to call them and clarify the matter. At a quiz on computer programming for programmers at iCMG, the non-technical people scored the highest.