Replicon - Lifetime Achievement – Business

Company: Replicon, Red Wood City, CA
Company Description: Replicon, the Time Intelligence company, has over 25 years of industry leadership and is a fast growing company in the space of time tracking and PSA solutions. We serve a large global customer base from enterprises to mid-market organizations across 70 countries, with over 500 employees around the globe including the United States, Canada, India, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Lifetime Achievement – Business

Nomination Title: Lakshmi Raj

Lakshmi Raj is the co-founder of Replicon, a bootstrapped1 software company pioneering a new approach to time management and professional services automation. 25 years ago, Replicon was started as a bold venture when both Lakshmi and her husband, Raj Narayanaswamy, quit their stable jobs to start their own company. Her entrepreneurial spirit and growth mindset has built Replicon into a multi-million dollar global firm with award-winning products and an impressive roster of large, global clients including SAP, PwC, E&Y, Expedia, NTT, NSC and SAS Institute. Today, Replicon has more than 7,800 customers and 1.5 million users in 70 countries.

Lakshmi promotes strong executive management – collaborating, taking risks, and accepting success and failure with equal measure. Among several accolades, she has received Top 40 under 40 recognition, InfoTech Hero Award of Entrepreneurship, and has been finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for three consecutive years. As a model businesswoman, Lakshmi sends a powerful message to women that they can have a family, yet still be successful in the corporate world.

Much of the company's success is derived from Lakshmi's direct involvement in all areas of the business. During the pandemic, Lakshmi supported a smooth transition to working remotely while emphasizing on leveraging technology to improve employee security, connection, wellness, and satisfaction.

Lakshmi took the learnings from adapting to the remote work to build Polaris, world’s first professional services automation (PSA) software with self-driving capabilities: real-time visibility, live recommendations, and a comprehensive view into the entire business. Gartner’s Software Advice recently named Polaris PSA as a FrontRunner5 in the category.

Lakshmi’s strategic initiatives have helped Replicon establish and strengthen partnerships with top vendors2 like SAP, ADP and others to service Fortune 500 and win more customers and revenue to our existing business. During the pandemic, she spearheaded go-to-market strategies for launching innovative products such as Zero Touch Tracking, Self-Driving Project and Resource Management solutions, agile timesheets, Touchless CloudClock3 , and other innovative features that enable global enterprises to increase employee productivity, make better decisions, and uncover hidden revenue opportunities and efficiencies.

Lakshmi has played a pivotal role in creating the new business category of Time Intelligence with Replicon platform, and expanding a global team. In the past years, Replicon has received several awards and recognitions globally including Leader for Time Tracking, PSA, and Time and Attendance categories by G2Crowd, Top Vendor In Project Time Tracking & Workforce Management6 by Constellation ShortList™, and consecutive double Silver Stevie Awards7 for Customer Service Department of the Year and Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year.

Lakshmi has shown incredible leadership skills to grow a business amidst the adversities of the pandemic. With a growth mindset, Lakshmi helped Replicon’s global team successfully transition to remote work without losing the vigor of business operations. As a key player devising strategies to drive customer demand and generate growth, Lakshmi helped Replicon acquire two large enterprise clients looking for global time tracking solutions.

Living by her motto of creating success for Replicon and for her team, Lakshmi has fueled the growth of Replicon even during the pandemic. When several organizations were downsizing and furloughing employees, Replicon actively recruited 20% more resources to support the rapid growth of the company. She has built a strong culture and employee support system which has fuelled high employee retention and increased employee tenure with a global average of more than 4 years.

Even in the remote work environment, Lakshmi has fostered collaboration and transparency across the entire organization and encouraged an environment where people can openly discuss ideas, questions, and concerns without fear of repercussions. She has played a vital role in seamlessly transitioning Replicon’s entire workforce to virtual and hybrid mode.

Lakshmi also encourages employees to go beyond work and their families, acting as ambassadors to the community at large. Lakshmi directly supports these efforts through employee recognition, donations, and fellowships for chosen causes including organizations such as Canadian Blood Services, Healing Fields Foundation, Sambhav Foundation, Daya Rehabilitation Trust, The Yacht Club of Hyderabad - Project Naavika.
Reference any attachments of supporting materials

To succeed post-COVID, CFOs need an attitude adjustment https://www.cfodive.com/news/coronavirus-recovery-Lakshmi-Raj-replicon/585914
One Image, Two Very Different Interpretations: What Does it Mean in Business? https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/342215
The Risky Business of Enabling a "Fake it Till You Make it" Culture https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/340961
Bootstrapping To 20 Million: Replicon Co-Founders Raj And Lakshmi Narayanaswamy https://www.replicon.com/blog/bootstrapping-to-20-million-replicon-co-founders-raj-and-lakshmi-narayanaswamy/
Time Tracking for Service Organizations from Replicon Now an SAP® Endorsed App and Part of SAP's Industry Cloud https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/time-tracking-for-service-organizations-from-replicon-now-an-sap-endorsed-app-and-part-of-saps-industry-cloud-301278699.html
Touchless Time Clocks: The New Normal https://www.replicon.com/blog/touchless-time-clocks-the-new-normal/
Polaris Creates a New Category of Professional Services Automation https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/polaris-creates-a-new-category-of-professional-services-automation-301161522.html
Gartner's Software Advice names Polaris PSA as a FrontRunner https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gartners-software-advice-names-polaris-psa-as-a-frontrunner-301293490.html
Replicon Once Again Recognized as Top Workforce Management Vendor https://www.replicon.com/blog/replicon-once-again-recognized-as-top-workforce-management-vendor/
Replicon Wins Double Silver in 2021 Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service https://www.replicon.com/blog/replicon-wins-double-silver-in-2021-stevie-awards-for-sales-and-customer-service/