Name: Project Turnaround Case Study – Indus Towers
Uploaded: 2026-06-12
Duration: 7 min 53 s
Description: FROM CRISIS TO RENEWAL. A Strategic Turnaround Case Study.

FROM CRISIS TO RENEWAL. A Strategic Turnaround Case Study. 

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India’s Largest Telecom Tower Company  |  Engagement: Managed IT Services (FMS)

3 Years Contract Value: INR 27 Cr  |  INR 20.6 Cr Renewal (2 Years)  |  Total INR ~48 Cr (5 Years)

THE SITUATION – TAKING OVER AT THE STORM'S PEAK. Month 18 of a 36-Month Contract | Managed IT Services (FMS) Engagement. 

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THE SITUATION – TAKING OVER AT THE STORM'S PEAK

Month 18 of a 36-Month Contract | Managed IT Services (FMS) Engagement

SLA penalties escalating beyond 6% of MIV per month. VPEF penalties added separately. Gross Margin severely eroded.

Client sentiment score had plunged to -6. Contract termination was being formally discussed. Client was actively evaluating alternative partners.

Critical L3 skill gaps in Network, Unix & SOC. S1/S2 ticket breaches. Key roles unfilled for months. OEM over-dependency flagged by client.

No Change Requests ever raised. No new business scoped. The engagement had stagnated — purely reactive, with no innovation or growth story.

THE TURNAROUND BLUEPRINT – 6-MONTH INTENSIVE RECOVERY. 

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THE TURNAROUND BLUEPRINT – 6-MONTH INTENSIVE RECOVERY

Rapid talent upgrade – replaced underperforming L3s in Network, Unix & SOC Domain-wise training: OEM, soft skills, SOP awareness Optimized team size from 109 → 107 with improved quality Introduced proactive escalation protocol for S1/S2 tickets

Established weekly SLA governance cadence with client SPOCs Introduced VPEF tracking & exclusion pushback for client-side delays Implemented structured WSR (Weekly Status Reports) calendar Created risk register with mitigation plans presented to client

Deployed ZIF automation: ticket co-relation, auto-closure, prediction Introduced Nexthink & HealIT for end-user automation MS Teams Chatbot + Self-Heal solutions to reduce inbound tickets Meraki + OpManager for proactive network monitoring

RECOVERY TIMELINE – 18 MONTHS OF TRANSFORMATION. Inherited distressed engagement. Penalty exceeding 6% MIV, NPS -6, termination risk.. 

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RECOVERY TIMELINE – 18 MONTHS OF TRANSFORMATION

Inherited distressed engagement. Penalty exceeding 6% MIV, NPS -6, termination risk.

Talent refresh completed. Governance rhythm established. Client escalations reduced.

Annual Penalty below 1% (from >6%). S1/S2 breach rate improved. VPEF saved for first time.

First ever CRs raised — ~₹2 Cr additional revenue @ 80% GM. NPS moved to positive territory.

Contract completed. 2-yr renewal secured via nomination — avoiding competitive RFP.

MEASURABLE IMPACT – RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. 

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MEASURABLE IMPACT – RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

SLA penalties reduced from over 6% to below 1% of MIV — significant bottom-line recovery

14-point swing from negative to strongly positive NPS score over 18 months

First-ever CRs raised in programme history — ~₹2 Cr revenue at exceptional 80% Gross Margin

Project GM improved by 6%+ driven by ~₹2 Cr CR revenue (80% GM) and ₹50L+ new additional business

2-year extension secured on nomination basis — no competitive RFP required

New revenue stream opened within existing programme — ₹50L+ new additional business secured, boosting overall project GM by 6%+

PROGRAMME FIRSTS – MILESTONES NEVER ACHIEVED BEFORE. 

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PROGRAMME FIRSTS – MILESTONES NEVER ACHIEVED BEFORE

CRs were never raised in this programme before. Successfully identified, scoped, and closed ~₹2 Cr in change requests — achieving an exceptional 80% Gross Margin on CR revenue.

Vendor Performance Evaluation Form (VPEF) penalties were historically paid. Implemented exclusion tracking and client dependency documentation to avoid penalty for the first time.

Opened an entirely new revenue stream within the existing engagement — including pipeline for Cyber Security Managed Services and Asset Management Tool opportunities.

Contract renewed without competitive RFP — through direct nomination by the client, based on trust and relationship capital built over the turnaround period. ₹20.6 Cr, 2-year contract.

THE CROWN JEWEL – NOMINATION-BASED RENEWAL. THE CHALLENGE. 

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THE CROWN JEWEL – NOMINATION-BASED RENEWAL

When I took over at Month 18, the client was in active discussions to replace the incumbent vendor. Penalty escalation, sentiment collapse, and operational failures had put the entire ₹9 Cr+ contract at risk.

The standard industry path for re-contracting is a competitive RFP — inviting multiple vendors to bid. For an account in this much distress, even making it to the shortlist would have been a win.

Client awarded 2-year extension directly via NOMINATION No RFP issued — no competitor evaluation required Contract value: INR 20.6 Crore Decision-makers: Client CEO & CDIO (India’s largest telecom tower company) Turnaround relationship directly influenced the outcome Secured while competitors were on standby

WHAT WE MANAGED – SCALE & COMPLEXITY OF DELIVERY. 

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WHAT WE MANAGED – SCALE & COMPLEXITY OF DELIVERY

LEADERSHIP LESSONS – WHAT DROVE THE TURNAROUND. Diagnose Before You Act. 

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS – WHAT DROVE THE TURNAROUND

Spent the first weeks mapping the real root causes — skill gaps, governance failures, client trust deficit — rather than reacting to surface symptoms.

Rebuilt direct communication channels with client leadership (CEO, CDIO). Transparent escalation and honest status reporting restored credibility faster than any SLA metric.

Systematically attacked penalty levers — exclusion of client-caused delays, VPEF documentation, S1/S2 response protocols. Turned reactive penalty payment into proactive penalty avoidance.

Once delivery stabilised, pivoted the conversation from 'fixing problems' to 'delivering innovation' — automation, CRs, new business scope. Changed the engagement's strategic narrative.

Renewal discussions were initiated long before contract end. Built the case through data, relationships, and demonstrated value — eliminating the need for a competitive tender.

The nomination renewal was secured through personal influence with decision-makers — a result of sustained relationship investment, not just contractual obligation fulfilment.

DOMAIN-WISE PERFORMANCE SCORECARD – IMPROVEMENT ACROSS ALL DOMAINS. 

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DOMAIN-WISE PERFORMANCE SCORECARD – IMPROVEMENT ACROSS ALL DOMAINS

Performance scorecard view: operational risk areas converted into secured, optimised and measurable outcomes.

All critical domains moved from issue-led tracking to improvement-led governance.

Daily/weekly/monthly governance, risk reviews, SLA and escalation discipline.

NW redesign, NAC, IPv6, NetScope/EDR/DLP/SIEM and Zero Trust tuning.

KVM, Ansible and Satellite used for patching and VM build optimisation.

DB consolidation, performance optimisation, licence consolidation and proactive monitoring.

AD/DHCP consolidation, Hyper-V to KVM and SCCM to Intune migration.

Storage consolidation, new storage, live migration and IBM Spectrum Control monitoring.

Nexthink and HealIT for prediction, auto-resolution, RCA and reporting.

ZIF/GAVS for DC automation, RCA, prediction and scheduled report automation.

DOMAIN-WISE IMPROVEMENTS – ENDPOINT, STORAGE & AUTOMATION. 

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DOMAIN-WISE IMPROVEMENTS – ENDPOINT, STORAGE & AUTOMATION

Detailed improvement outcomes covering Windows, Storage, ZIF automation and end-user experience management.

• AD and DHCP consolidated to improve manageability and performance. • Hyper-V VMs migrated to KVM to optimise Microsoft licensing. • SCCM to Intune migration lifted end-user patching from 80% to 98%.

• Storage consolidated and new storage implemented for better performance. • Major live-environment migration completed without business impact. • IBM Spectrum Control implemented for monitoring and capacity visibility.

• ZIF used for cost optimisation, prediction, RCA and reporting. • Manual reports automated to improve schedule discipline and effort control. • Correlation and automated workflows improved MTTR from 50% to 90%.

END-USER AUTOMATION – NEXTHINK & HEALIT

• Prediction, auto-resolution, RCA and reporting for end-user operations. • Shifted support from reactive handling to proactive experience management. • MTTR improved from 40% to 90% through faster issue resolution.

Major improvements: patching 80% → 98%  •  core MTTR 50% → 90%  •  user MTTR 40% → 90%  •  zero-impact live migrations

Managed IT Services (FMS)  |  India’s Largest Telecom Tower Company  |  May 2023 – May 2025

SUMMARY – A DISTRESSED ACCOUNT TRANSFORMED. Inherited at the point of near-termination, this engagement was turned around into one of the organization's most successful account stories — delivering measurable improvement across every dimension in under 18 months.. 

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SUMMARY – A DISTRESSED ACCOUNT TRANSFORMED

Inherited at the point of near-termination, this engagement was turned around into one of the organization's most successful account stories — delivering measurable improvement across every dimension in under 18 months.

Dimension At Takeover At Completion SLA Penalty Rate >6% of MIV monthly <1% of MIV monthly Client Sentiment (NPS) -6 (Hostile) +8 (Positive) VPEF Penalty Paid each period Saved – First Ever Change Requests ₹0 (None historically) ~₹2 Cr @ 80% GM (First Ever) New Business None ₹50L+ new business; 6%+ project GM uplift Contract Status Termination risk Renewed – 2 Yrs, ₹20.6 Cr Renewal Method Competitive RFP (expected) Nomination – No RFP

Project Turnaround Case Study – Indus Towers

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