Nart Liuchareon began his life in the IT business in 1985 when he became an executive at Control Data, overseeing sales and marketing.

It was just a year after he graduated from the University of Southern California with a master's of science degree in business administration, adding to his MBA and a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Chulalongkorn University.

The company, which was originally a branch office of the US-based Control Data Corp, had been transformed some years earlier into a wholly Thai-owned operation by Nart's father, Yingyong Liucharoen.

It was to be a sink or swim experience for the young executive for, soon after starting, his father died suddenly and Nart had to step into his shoes as chief executive of Control Data.

Simply to help the business survive he worked seven days a week, earning enduring loyalty from his staff, which in those days, numbered 60 people. Slowly, the business grew to earn annual revenues of Bt80 million.

"When I took the new role at the company it was very hard for me to replace my father and take care of the business. I was learning by doing business," Nart says.

He is still chief executive, but the small company has become the CDG Group, with six companies under its umbrella: Control Data (Thailand), CDG Systems, Computer Peripheral and Supplies, ESRI (Thailand), GIS Data and the G-ABLE Group. The CDG Group also has three business units: G-Integration, G-Business and G-Sourcing.

It generates more than Bt8 billion a year in revenue, and has a growth rate of more than 20 per cent per year.

Keeping pace with the hectic development of the IT business is one of Nart's current challenges. The business must expand to claim more markets.

"Before we set up a new company we study hard and set up a business unit under the company. When it clearly has potential, we will spin the business off and set up a new company to reduce risks and create market segmentation," Nart says.

The firm now has skills, intellectual property, human resource know-how, an organisational culture and carrier paths to take care of a staff of more than 1,000. It has 21 CDG Service Centres around the country to cover government and private sector markets.

"We regard business as an academic school for our staff," Nart says. "Each staff member has a career path which takes care of our business, so they will be able to provide their full capacity. They have an important role to play in running the business and caring for the company's intellectual property," Nart says.

Over the past 30 years, the CDG Group has provided services to more than one thousand projects in both public and state enterprises and has developed long-term relationships with customers. Its record of achievements has brought widespread recognition in the IT industry.

The Group's operations are focused on providing a wide spectrum of computer, peripheral, networking and other systems, as well as application-specific software. Others business areas are systems integration, ranging from basic infrastructure to advanced, sophisticated and complex turnkey solutions. It also provides a broad range of professional services such as preventive maintenance, consulting and IT outsourcing.

Despite his busy working life, Nart likes to separate his business and family lives at weekends and on holidays. He has two sons.

"I leave business aside on weekends and holidays," he says. "I stay with my family or follow my hobbies, golf and jogging. Sometimes, on a long weekend, my family and I drive upcountry. I am a man who enjoys giving close attention to everything I do."

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation