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.

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.

I ended up buying a restaurant. Already we had invested in a gas station and a metal products plant.

Whether I'm doing music or I'm walking down the street or I'm in a record store buying a record or I walk into a comic store and I'm buying comics or having a drink with my friends, it's the same me.

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.

A book worth reading is worth buying.

A surprising number of government committees will make important decisions on fundamental matters with less attention than each individual would give to buying a suit.

I think the big force is going to be consumer buying power.

Programmers and marketing people know how to get into your subconscious - they spend millions of dollars researching colors, shapes, designs, symbols, that affect your preferences, and they can make you feel warm, trusting, like buying. They can manipulate you.

Anyway, in the mid 80's I was spending a fortune buying old Golden Age books from the late 30's and 40's and I was making personal appearances at a lot of sci fi and comic book conventions all around the country here so that I could find books for my collection.

We're constantly buying airplane tickets; we travel on the Concorde.

Why are people unemployed? Because there is no work. Why is there no work? Because people are not buying products and services. Why are people not buying products and services? Because they have no money. Why do people have no money? Because they are unemployed.

Here is my general approach to the energy companies. You have already charged the utilities a 50 percent credit penalty for the power they were buying from you. You're charging us a penalty. You're not going to get two bites of the apple here.

Recently I've been collecting Star Wars figures again. When I was a kid I couldn't afford them. Now I can so I've been buying them and keeping them in their box for a later date when they'll be worth a lot of money.

I've tried everything. I've done therapy, I've done colonics. I went to a psychic who had me running around town buying pieces of ribbon to fill the colors in my aura. Did the Prozac thing.

People weren't buying as many records. My record company did not want me. I went through three record companies, went on tour at the wrong time. It destroyed me.

Country fans need to support country music by buying albums and concert tickets for traditional artists or the music will just fade away. And that would be really sad.