Written in Partnership with James HillEkata R. Mishra, a Solution Architect working with a top of the line IT company, maintains over ten years of experience in the Information Technology industry primarily in the Lead to Cash space. Her experience spans across multiple industries viz. healthcare, mobility, hi-tech, security being a few of the many on the solutions landscape, bringing clients new ways to revamp and streamline their sales processes.
While working for Accenture, a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security, Ekata has been working diligently to showcase her decade worth of skills and knowledge, and has led multiple large implementations involving complex integrations with CPQ, CRM, ERP, eCommerce, etc.
Ekata is highly skilled in solutioning and designing multichannel Quote to Cash Systems. As demand for product customization is trending sharply and customers become the focal point of any business, designing lean sales processes becomes critical. With businesses opening up several modes of selling like digital website, phone sales, in-person/field sales in both B2B and B2C world, architecting a solution with the right data model has become very important. According to Ekata, “Although companies are very keen in adopting new applications, there is always an attachment (or need) to retain or at least keep legacy applications alive for a period of time. Therefore, it is very important to factor in legacy applications as well as their retirement while designing scalable lead-to cash systems. Minimizing swivel chairing has been one of my top goals while helping clients think through their future state.”
Industries selling complex products and recurring services like medical devices, wheelchairs, or storages, often fall prey to the data inconsistencies across applications that leads to inaccurate quotes and longer time to push an order downstream for fulfillment. Ekata says, “Creating a seamless experience for customers is the most interesting part of my work. A customer may have started an order on the website and pause to call in the customer service for questions. The ability for the agent on call to resume from the same point where the customer stopped without asking a ton of questions is the key. Nobody likes to answer the ten questions again if they have done it already, especially if I am running to grab a coffee before my next meeting.”
As a Solution Architect, Ekata has also been a very active contributor in the enterprise architecture designs and her inclination towards understanding the end-to end process enables her to envision the future more clearly,thereby playing key and impactful roles both on the technical and functional side. In addition to being a thought leader in the Lead To Cash domain, Ekata has a strong hold on the academic front as well. She has an MBA from Gies Business School (University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign) specializing in Business Analytics and Strategic Management & Leadership as well as a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering. Her sharp technical and business acumen supported with her diverse work experience along with a strong education background makes her stand out in her field.
With Accenture and its latest partnerships, Ekata has been integral to the movements within her company. She works to resolve problems that may arise in these collaborative partnerships, as well as with client/company relationships. With her employer working to build a network of partnerships and deliver high quality IT services to its clients, Ekata is aiming to improve customer satisfaction across diverse businesses, and drive overall end-to-end implementations. Bringing her knowledge to Accenture has given the newest developments a streamlined beginning and she hopes to see more collaborations in the future.
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