Profile of the Month | Pankaj Dhume

Houston’s Lifestyle Society Magazine Lights Camera Action caught up with Houston based BMC Software Global Corporate Services VP, Pankaj Dhume for a tête-à-tête for all our IT geeks and Houstonians who always enjoy a good Profile of the Month. Pankaj is a father and husband who is popularly known in the Indian American community as a philanthropist and a successful community leader.

You are currently serving as Vice President, Global Corporate Services, BMC Software, Inc. In this position Mr. Dhume, what are your responsibilities globally?

I am responsible for BMC’s global real estate strategy and portfolio which consists of approximately 1.5 million square feet of office space across the globe. BMC’s 6,000 employees work out of 110 office locations in 44 countries. Our real estate strategy is to ensure that we innovate and attract and retain the best talent. Our focus is on the end user experience of the employee and the visitor. We aim to make our employees proud of their workplace and be highly productive. While doing so, we need to balance between creating a highly effective workplace and the cost for building it. As part of this strategy, I am leading the effort to develop & transform BMC’s workspace into the “Office Of The Future”.

Let’s talk about the big question of US-India business relationship and job opportunities. Can you throw some light on that?

US-India business relationship is healthy and thriving. In 2011, US exported $21 billion worth of goods and services to India and imported $36 billion worth from India. India is an emerging country and is thriving on its organic growth. Many Indian companies are creating jobs in the US – the IT services companies have created 100’s of thousands of jobs in the US over the past few years. Many US citizens of Indian origin who originally moved to the US for better prospects in the 1980’s and 90’s are now returning to India for career opportunities. However, through this ebb and flow I see an increasing cross migration of workers between the two countries. Both, in IT & Oil & Gas industries, there are many people who are moving back and forth between the two countries for professional and personal reasons.

What would you advice the young generation of IT consultants in India and US?

IT has become a critical component of every successful business. IT allows businesses to be global. Hardware has been commoditized. The differentiator is software and services. Technical change is rapid. Every technology from mainframe to cloud computing is not just surviving, but thriving. Therefore complexity in IT is high. Simplifying this complexity is the challenge for every business. My advice to consultants is to focus on the business problems of the customer that can be solved through better implementation of IT. Businesses are willing to pay money when they know that your solutions can grow their business – not just solve pure IT problems.

You and your family is very much involved with several charities in Houston. What inspires you?

Both Asha, my wife and I believe in giving back to the community in which we live and contribute to many social causes both in the US and India. We first moved to Houston in 1998 and I was invited to join the Board of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, where I continue to serve today. This was a useful experience for me as I learnt about business challenges and opportunities of doing business between US and India.

I have shared many professional experiences in public and private events. When we relocated back to the US in 2010, I was invited to join the Board of the charitable organization Pratham in Houston. Pratham is the world’s largest non-profit that focuses on education for the under-privileged. Pratham’s model attracted me because they invest in teachers in the slums and rural areas where children feel comfortable studying in their own environment.