Another principle on which Mathivanan runs his business is to makesure service maturity never becomes part of his vocabulary. Thecompany is thus always on the lookout for new services that can addvalue to its customers' businesses. "[In devising new services], wetake the approach that [the new service] is what the customer needs,rather than what he wants. Sometimes, the customer may need somethingthat he is not aware technology can deliver."

Over the years, its services have expanded out of trade and logisticsinto healthcare, law and government. Just five years ago, 80 percentof its revenues were derived from TradeNet; today, only about 55percent are.

"The ASP business in this part of the world is very different fromthat in the U.S. There, transactions are high and ASPs can surviveproviding just one service. Here, transactions are low, and peopledon't want to pay a high price, so an ASP has to provide moreservices," he says.