WeAreDelphix: Meet Pavan Parikh

What do you do at Delphix and what inspired you to join the company?

As part of the North America sales team, I’m responsible for articulating the value and evangelizing Delphix to enterprise businesses in Canada. It was 3 years ago when I made the decision to join the company, and I have never looked back since then. It has been an absolutely amazing journey.

As I always say to my customers, “this product works exactly as advertised.” It’s something I have not yet seen any technology do in my 20+ years of enterprise software sales. The product’s capabilities make my job very simple because as a sales professional, there is no greater satisfaction than to exceed customer expectations. It is sales nirvana!

You can ask me anything about…?

Using data to make better business decisions. Over the last two decades, I have consistently advocated the use of data for deriving broad and deep insights about business. Decisions based on trusted data dramatically increases the accuracy and predictability factor, and this is even more so when data is readily available to end users at the time they make those decisions.

For instance, one of my banking customers combined historical data with demographic data to bring forth information detailing spending patterns, risk profile, and investment capacity to relationship managers in the branch offices in order to provide targeted advice to their walk-in customers. I firmly believe data will define an organization's destiny. Any organization that does not democratize data or for that matter, fully secure data, will do so at their own peril.

What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on at Delphix?

Building and solidifying our business in Canada has been a dream come true for me. Just three years ago, we had a very small yet focused customer footprint in the country. There were a lot of challenges that needed to be addressed very quickly and decisively, but we stuck to the basics and consistently executed on our plan.

Now, we have not only created much deeper and stronger customer relationships, but we’ve  significantly widened our customer base. We made inroads into new industries, and we have managed to do all this with a lean yet extremely effective team. Not to mention, we also created and nurtured a robust partner ecosystem.

Alithya (formerly Askida), Accuras, and Logimethods are just some of the partners I work closely with. We have created solid relationships with large system integrators which further assists our go-to-market. Together, we help customers derive maximum returns from their investment in Delphix.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

As a kid, I was always told “there are no shortcuts in life.” My parents’ intention was to instill the right work ethic, and this mindset has stuck with me throughout my personal life and career. Along with this, John Lennon’s famous quote has left a deep impression on me: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it is not the end.” These two combined are a source of positivity and inspiration for me, and they’ve helped me become fearless in the face of adversity, to be tenacious in times of uncertainty, and hopeful in the times of despair.

What’s your secret talent?

I do voice overs for community theatres and emcee local events—and I absolutely love doing this.

My wife Nirmee and I team up to write and produce plays for various community and regional events. I write the dialogues and do the voice overs and sound mixing while she directs. It is an absolute pleasure as it allows me to transcend into a fictional world and let my creative juices flow. Since we experiment with different genres (musicals, comedy, suspense), each play presents a new challenge, and thereby an opportunity to experiment and learn. On the side, emceeing gives a great way to exercise my vocal cords while continuing to polish my humor.

What song instantly puts you in a good mood?

“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. The lyrics, tune, and rhythm – altogether infuse tremendous energy in me.

What drives you everyday?

I like to set myself a small series of goals every day, and my passion to (over)achieve those goals keeps me fully charged. But the times I lose or underachieve, I know how to pick myself up and get back on my feet to get things done. Having said that, more importantly my wife Nirmee and my son Vihaan are the overarching, underlying and fully encompassing reasons why I do anything.