FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/577
What role do food, family, and fun play in shaping an IT professional's life? Discover the captivating world of Saurabh Bharti, a seasoned Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations consultant hailing from the UK, as he takes us on a flavorful journey through his Indian heritage. From exploring London's diverse Indian food scene to unravelling the rich tapestry of Indian politics and culture, Saurabh's stories offer a mesmerizing blend of personal and professional experiences. Join us as we dream of future travels to India, sharing our own encounters with its vibrant culinary landscape and contemplating the idea of immersing ourselves in its unparalleled hospitality.
Our episode also charts Saurabh's fascinating career journey, from his roots in computer science engineering in Bangalore to his current role in the UK. Hear about the pivotal moments that shaped his path, including his introduction to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and the invaluable mentorship that deepened his understanding of finance consulting. Finally, we wrap up with an enlightening conversation with Sir AB, a renowned business applications expert, who shares his profound insights on various topics. With gratitude and anticipation, we look forward to more enriching discussions in future episodes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mark Smith (00:06):
Welcome to the MVP show.
My intention is that you listento the stories of these MVP
guests and are inspired tobecome an MVP and bring value to
the world through your skills.
If you have not checked it outalready, I do a YouTube series
called how to Become an MVP.
The link is in the show notes.
With that, let's get on withthe show.
(00:31):
Today's guest is from theUnited Kingdom.
He works at EY.
He was first awarded as MVP in2024.
He's a seasoned MicrosoftDynamics 365 Finance and
Operations consultant, bringsrich and diverse experience
spanning various industries.
He's passionate about knowledgesharing and actively
(00:54):
contributes to the MicrosoftDynamics community through
insightful blogs and a dynamicYouTube channel.
You can find links to his bio,social media, et cetera, in the
show notes for this episode.
Saurabh, welcome to the show.
Saurabh Bharti (01:08):
Thank you, Mark, for having me here.
It's a pleasure to be talkingto you today.
Mark Smith (01:14):
Yeah, it's great to have you on the show.
I have just returned fromLondon.
I missed you.
Unfortunately Didn't get to seeyou there.
Tell me about food, family andfun.
What do they mean to you?
Saurabh Bharti (01:27):
Oh, everything, okay.
So I come from India, right,and India, one of the thing
which is, I mean, everyone inIndia you will find that food
and family is everything.
I think that's the priority,right, and you get a lot of
variety of foods acrossdifferent regions.
(01:50):
Every 100 kilometers you willtravel.
Maybe I'm saying more, but youwill find a new type of food
which is available there.
So it's it's.
I'm a big time foodie, uh, inlondon also, I try to explore as
much as indian food wherever Ican get it, so I, I can travel
(02:14):
for an hour to go and find outsome good food places.
So, yeah, and about the fun,yeah, so I, I, I mean I love
cooking first, I love travelingsecond, and I'm not sure I mean
that you, you do follow or not,but I do follow the lot of
(02:35):
political uh news and thingsspecifically indian uh in indian
context.
So, so that that's a reallyinteresting thing.
Sometimes, every day at least,I will watch some 30 minutes
podcast or anything related tothe Indian politics.
Mark Smith (02:57):
Interesting.
You mentioned going aroundLondon for Indian.
What I found in my time livingthere is that Indian food is
very different in differentparts of London.
Like you get, I feel like whereI lived the Indian food was,
but I was taken across London Idon't even know specifically,
(03:19):
but it had a big Indiancommunity around this part of
London and the food was justamazing.
It was amazing.
So, yeah, it differs from placeto place, even in London, right
?
Saurabh Bharti (03:31):
Definitely, and I think it varies, I mean very
much depending on the taste youhave about the Indian food
basically.
So in India also.
You know, if you are in thenorthern part of India and if
you will taste the southern partof dishes there, it will be a
(03:52):
bit different.
They will put that flavor in,and when you will have the
northern part of Indian fooddishes in southern part you will
have a bit different flavorbecause they add their flavor
into that.
So same goes possibly in Londonalso.
Mark Smith (04:09):
Yeah, when I was 10 years old I was invited to my
first Indian meal.
Where I lived in New Zealandthere was a very active Indian
community around me.
It was in a market garden sothey did a lot of vegetable.
They owned a lot of thebusinesses around growing food
crops in New Zealand and, 10years old, very impressionable.
(04:31):
I was asked to go to thisIndian dinner and there was this
friend of the family kind of hewas called an uncle but not
biological, and he was like ohknow that your fat, your mouth,
will catch on fire, like it will.
It will burn you a little bit.
And so I chickened out going tothis dinner and of course I've
(04:52):
always regretted it because, aswhen I got older, I was invited
to other indian meals etc and ofcourse absolutely loved indian
cuisine.
But uh, I remember that from 10years old, that the fear of the
heat being put into me.
And now I grow Carolina Reaperchilies myself which are one of
the hottest chilies that you canget.
Saurabh Bharti (05:12):
Next time you are in London, I mean I'll
definitely come and meet you andI'll take you around here for
having some good Indian food.
Mark Smith (05:21):
I would like that.
You know what?
I've never been to India.
I have had so many.
You know.
People say I should go to India.
I almost went a couple ofmonths ago when I was working
for IBM.
They had me going to do a meetand greet with a large bank, a
London bank, that had gone toour outsource center there and
(05:42):
then at the last minute itdidn't happen and I was like
that was going to be my firsttime to really experience Indian
culture in India.
But it's yet to happen.
Yet I'm waiting for an event tobe put on that I get an invite
to and perhaps I can go then.
Or Microsoft sent me there, orsomething.
Saurabh Bharti (06:00):
Definitely you should visit India and for India
, for India, you need topossibly go couple of times
because you can't explore theplaces in one trip.
So you should go and you willdefinitely enjoy the food first
thing, but also more than that,you would enjoy the kind of
(06:22):
hospitality in India like we forfor the people.
So you would, you woulddefinitely enjoy that part and
also like different culturalheritages and things which you
have.
It right, you, I mean you canchoose your destiny depending on
what you like.
You like rivers, you can go toa place.
(06:43):
You like beaches, you can go toa place.
You like beaches, you can go toa place.
You like mountains, you go to aplace.
You like old heritage, you cango to a place.
So you choose what you wouldlike to visit and you love
visiting.
Mark Smith (06:57):
So what about this?
What if I go and live there forthree months and you know,
because my wife and I arediscussing this type of travel
where we go to a country forthree months and we'll take our
kids and everything and I canstill do my work, she can still
do her work from there.
If I was to do that for Indiaand therefore, over that three
months, use it as a chance toexplore on the weekends and
(07:18):
things like that, where do youthink I should base myself for
that three months?
Where should be the base be?
And then I'll use that to goout and travel across India, use
all your wonderful trainnetwork and whatnot.
Um, what?
Where should I base myself inyour opinion?
Saurabh Bharti (07:35):
Yeah, you know you should not base yourself at
one location for entire threemonths.
I would say go three places.
Mark Smith (07:45):
Nice, I like it.
One month in each location, onemonth.
Saurabh Bharti (07:49):
And you know, airbnb can help you out really
quick in that.
So no worries about that.
I would say, the one month youcan go to the northern part of
the India, right, and there area lot of good places there.
You have mountains and otherthings to explore there, and
then and the northern part isalso having like capital of
(08:12):
india, like delhi, okay so yourecommend delhi, as I go base
myself in delhi as the first oneyeah, delhi, or near to Delhi.
You have some hill stationsaround like six, seven hours of
possible drives.
You will find that and you canenjoy nature really good there.
(08:32):
And the good thing about Delhiand nearby that is that you can
explore a lot of differentheritages like Taj Mahal you
would have heard Redford and alot of places out there.
So every weekend you can goanywhere from Delhi and explore
this.
So Saturday, sunday is fixedfor you.
(08:53):
Monday to Friday work.
Friday evening take car travel,that's it.
Mark Smith (08:59):
Excellent.
Now, when I take a car, is itbest to hire a driver to take me
everywhere?
Saurabh Bharti (09:05):
It depends.
I mean, if you can drive and ifyou are allowed to drive,
depending on the driving licenseand other rules, you can drive
yourself.
It's not really difficult likeLondon or UK to drive in India,
so you can be easy there.
Mark Smith (09:23):
Nice, nice, so Delhi , that's the first one.
Saurabh Bharti (09:26):
That's Delhi, first one for a month.
Go around and look for theplaces.
The second is I would suggestyou go and base out yourself in
Bangalore, okay, and that's thesouthern part of India.
And first thing is, if you goto Bangalore, you will meet a
lot of community folks there.
It's an IT hub for India, right?
(09:49):
So a lot of IT companies.
I mean you will find manypeople there from Dynamics
community as well as from the ITindustry, right?
So if you would love to visitthem, it's a startup city for
India, a lot of startups inBangalore, right?
So that might look like a bitof work related, but the weather
(10:13):
in Bangalore is really reallypleasant, right?
So it remains around 20 degree,18 degree or something like
this during the year, except afew months, but it's really
pleasant.
So if you stay there inBangalore, first thing is within
Bangalore, you will be having alot of places nearby, like 100
(10:37):
kilometers or 150 to explore,nearby like 100 kilometers or
150 to explore.
But you have got a lot of othercities from the in the southern
part, like there is a city,there is a state, it's a state
like Kerala, so you can travelthere like in a night duration.
So Friday evening, leaveSaturday morning, you are there,
explore for two days, come backMondayay morning, right.
(11:00):
So made major cities ofsouthern part you can explore
from there, right so so that's,that's bangalore now.
Third one is bit.
I think I would I mean for meit is difficult to tell you, but
I think I have a doubt in twoplaces.
(11:20):
So one is the very famousdestination.
It's a Goa, so it's a beachlike place where you have a lot
of beaches and a lot of tourists.
Mark Smith (11:33):
I have a good friend from there.
My understanding was colonizedby Portuguese right.
Saurabh Bharti (11:38):
Exactly, exactly .
So that's one place where youcan be there, but the thing is
that if you are there then youcan, that you can do it from
Bangalore as well, like you cango, so that you can cover but
the other part, other third onewhich I would recommend is the
eastern part of India, right,which is kind of a very, very
(12:03):
nature driven right you, youfind a lot of mountains and
rivers and it's a very pleasantor peaceful I mean places you
will find, and it is like a lotof people do not explore that
because it's a bit far to travelfrom like center of the India.
Like, let's say, you will be inDelhi when you land there,
(12:26):
possibly, or Bangalore, but ifyou go eastern part right, it's
really beautiful place.
Mark Smith (12:32):
And so any particular place to base myself.
Saurabh Bharti (12:36):
I think Guwahati is the major city where you can
be placed there, because it's acity right so, which will be
easy for your internet and restof the things to put together,
but close to that, you will havea lot of places to visit and
explore.
So, yeah, this is good, this isgood.
Mark Smith (13:04):
So yeah, this is good, this is good.
Last last question about myfuture travels is um, what month
of the year should I arrive forthe?
For if I'm there for that threemonths and I'm going to those
three regions, what month shouldI arrive?
So you know what month one, twoand three, weather wise optimal
.
What do you think?
Saurabh Bharti (13:19):
you know, I think you should avoid uh
possibly april or april, may tojuly or august, uh, because
that's bit uh uh kind of uh uh ahot, uh kind of weather which
you might find in some places.
But rest of the uh the monthsare good to visit uh delhi avoid
(13:43):
in the december and january, uh, because it's bit uh like
winters are very extreme there,and when we say winters are
extreme it's a very foggy nature.
I mean uh that you find it so,so you might find a visibility
issue when you are driving andthings right, so possibly that
(14:03):
you can keep it for a Bangalore.
Then you come back in Februaryor March in Delhi, so that would
be good for you.
Mark Smith (14:14):
Superb.
Thank you very much.
I can see an expedition beingplanned.
That's going to be awesome.
Now back to you.
Tell, tell me, how did you getinto IT?
Saurabh Bharti (14:26):
oh, how did I get into IT?
So I'm, my education backgroundis I'm a computer science
engineer, so I have done myengineering.
When I finished my engineeringthough I was kind of having a
good interest in the programmingand things, but possibly I was
(14:46):
not that good in the programmingthat I can code really well or
something I did have a lot ofgood understanding, thought to
pursue something in the ITitself, but bit of a different
like which is different from thecoding, so which is kind of a
(15:07):
consulting or something which Ican explore now when I think
about that.
So I thought like what, what,what next I can do?
So I thought to pursue themaster's Now when I started
thinking about that.
So I started thinking about theMBA for my next journey.
But in MBA when we do right, sowe more think about in finance,
(15:32):
marketing and other areas,right.
But again, that was not mypossibly again the interest,
because my interest was in theIT itself, right, because of my
education background of computerscience engineer.
So then I pursued my MBA fromone of the universities central
university, governmentuniversity we have in India
(15:54):
which is focused on theinformation technology.
So I pursued my MBA ininformation technology,
information technology.
So I pursued my MBA ininformation technology and that
course was really interestingbecause it was a mix of how you
can use the technology on themanagement side of the work in
any organization, which alsobrings some flavor of consulting
(16:17):
right.
So that's where I think my Icontinued my IT journey and when
I finished my master's, I gotthe opportunity working with a
small company in Bangalore.
So I started my job there and Istarted as a consultant junior
(16:40):
consultant there, but I reallydidn't have any clue that what
I'm going to do.
On day one and I entered intothe office after my formalities,
I met the team and then someonecame to me and said that, hey,
we are working on an ERP.
So I said, okay, that's good,you're working on ERP and that's
(17:05):
really interesting.
And before that, I just heardabout the SAP or Oracle in ERP.
So I didn't have any clue aboutthat.
We have Dynamics as ERP productor something.
So they said like, oh, there isa product called Microsoft
Dynamics Acceptor 2012,.
And we are working on thisproduct and we are going to
(17:31):
implement this for one of ourcustomers in Middle East and you
should start exploring thisproduct and start learning about
this thing.
I said, okay, what?
Then asked like, like, what isdynamix?
Is it really a?
But then then then they explainabout that it's a microsoft
product, so which brings a bitof confidence that yeah, if
(17:52):
microsoft has some products of Imean, obviously there must be
something which they have builtright.
Good, so that.
So that's where I landed into.
I mean, continued my journey asa computer science engineer to
the master's in IT and thenlanded into this job and got
introduced to the MicrosoftDynamics Acceptor 2012 R2.
(18:14):
And that's where I started.
Yeah, Wow.
Mark Smith (18:19):
How did you end up then in the UK?
Saurabh Bharti (18:22):
Oh, that's again a kind of a tenuous journey now
.
So I mean, before I starttalking about how I landed into
UK, right?
So it was year 2013 when Istarted my career in Microsoft
Dynamics as a consultant and itwas a small company, as I told
(18:44):
you, right?
So there it was not.
I mean, at that point of time,normally we did not have a lot
of learning resources like howwe have today.
We have a lot of blogs, a lotof Microsoft Learn content is
available I mean more than theblogs and the other YouTube
channels and a lot of things arethere.
And I remember that time we hadone partner source portal and
(19:08):
that is where you used to getall the information about every
module and everything.
So, but it was very, verycomplex thing, right, like you
have to read everything, followeverything.
So I started using that.
But the good part about thesmall organization is that they
put you in front of the customerright.
They give you that exposurethat you go and talk to the
(19:31):
customer right, and I was verylucky at that point of time
there was one of the seniorperson who joined that
organization in our team as thelead or team lead for the
finance area and the backgroundof his was that he was the
(19:54):
finance controller in hisprevious job.
So he was coming from a pureaccounting background, a pure
accountant right, who understandthe accounting I mean in and
out and he was based outsomewhere in Europe and then he
had to come back to India forsome reason.
So he joined this organizationand I was put with him because I
(20:20):
was put into the finance andfirst thing is I'm coming from
the IT background computerscience engineer, it masters.
No clue about debit or credit.
I still understand the debitand credit as a plus and minus,
as a mathematics terms.
So I was put in there and thenI started working with him.
(20:41):
So my job was to learn theproduct, the technicality of the
product, and his job was togive me the problems from the
accounting terms.
And so he used to give me inExcel that these are the five
accounting entries.
After you post these entries inthe system, I want to see the
trial balance and this is howyour trial balance should look
(21:02):
like.
So that was my exercise givenby him, not any hands-on
exercise by Microsoft Learn oranything.
And then I used to post thoseaccounting entries and then we
used to put a lot of effort inthat because it's a new thing
for I mean it might look veryeasy now but back that time it
(21:22):
was a very new thing for me andfor him also.
It was a learning because hewas learning a product.
So he was a domain expert and Iwas kind of exposing myself to
the product.
And that's where I startedlearning.
And as a finance consultant Istarted my journey.
So he was my I can say, morethan a team lead.
(21:44):
He was my mentor, the firstmentor who helped me in
understanding in and out aboutthe accounting, finance and
everything.
And that's where I started.
So that was my first company.
After that I left that companyand I joined PWC India and PWC I
(22:08):
mean my experience was at adifferent level because on a day
one they put me in front of thecustomer.
They said, like this is thecustomer, go to them and talk to
them about this project andwhat we are running.
So it was like you just thrownout for the swimming in a sea,
right, like without askinganything, without asking
(22:32):
anything.
So I joined PwC, had a lot ofexposure to the customer.
Facing roles was always most ofthe 90% time was always at the
customer side, talking tocustomers, working with them
very closely, and the good partabout the PwC was that I got
introduced to Microsoft as well.
(22:53):
At that point of time in mycareer stage and it was due to
it was 2017 when I got exposureto Microsoft.
Directly working with Microsoftwas because in India, the new
tax regime was coming, so theGST was getting introduced.
So before that, they were usingthe VAT and other sales tax, so
the GST was getting introduced.
(23:13):
So before that, they were usingthe VAT and other sales tax, so
the GST was coming in.
And the coincidence is that itwas like before that, the
startup for which I was workingthey were working a lot of
projects in Middle East, sowhich means I was the finance
consultant, but I didn't haveany exposure to the tax and the
localization Because in MiddleEast there was no techs at that
(23:36):
point of time.
So when I landed into PwC, theydidn't have any person, because
most of the resources who wereworking they were finance
consultant and they were workingon a normal project where the
techs requirements were there.
I was the only misfit personwho didn't have any tech
background, so they had to putme into this role where we were
(23:57):
doing the rollout for GST acrossIndia for all the customers
which PwC had.
So that's where I learned aboutthe taxation and the GST.
Worked with Microsoft becauseGST framework was not there.
So they built up the GSTframework in Dynamics.
(24:18):
We know that a lot of issueswhenever Microsoft launches
anything.
I mean we had to help them ingetting resolved things and work
with them.
So, yeah, that's where thejourney started with PwC worked
with them.
So, yeah, that's where thejourney started with PWC worked
with them.
So, yeah, that was PWC.
(24:38):
After PWC, again for a year time, I joined my first organization
back and that was just becauseI had a very good relationship
with my first organization and Iwas always very, very grateful
to them because I got thementors and they helped me
(24:59):
building my career path.
So they asked me to join backthem because they had one
customer in USA and they werebuilding a data analytics
platform using the Azure andData Lake and Dynamics CRM.
There were a lot of systemswere there, so I joined them for
only specific for that project.
(25:20):
So I started working with them,left BWC from that point of
time, joined them, and once Ijoined them, I was in US that
one time, after joining them fora couple of months and worked
with them, I was in us that thatone time, after joining them,
uh, for a couple of months, anduh, worked with them, helped
them in the product, thatproject.
(25:41):
And that's where my bloggingjourney started, because I was
in usa and in usa there was atime difference between india US
, so it was like a opposite.
There is a night, then day.
So after my work I was evening,I was at my apartment and then
I was thinking like what to do?
(26:02):
I don't have anyone else totalk to because everyone is
sleeping back in India, right?
So that that's where I thoughtlike, okay, I'm facing some
issues and I learned somethingnew, right?
And that's where I remember, Ithink before that this new
feature management, theworkspace was released for FNO.
(26:22):
So I thought like I think let'sstart talking about the new
features which Microsoft islaunching, right, Adding to the
product Microsoft is launching,right, adding to the product.
So that's where I startedwriting the LinkedIn articles
and start talking about my.
So what I started doing everyweek I used to learn something
(26:45):
new.
I made that as a routine and Iused to just type it in a Word
file, put a screenshot and thenjust post it on LinkedIn.
So no fancy language, nothingthere.
It's just like we make notes onpaper.
So I started doing that andstarted putting things there.
(27:09):
And then COVID happened duringthat it's starting 2020.
And then April May, so theCOVID started getting hit and
then I came back to India at theright time and then this
project finished and then duringthat time only, I joined
Microsoft in India.
(27:30):
Oh yeah, so I was in theMicrosoft for their consulting
practice.
So I joined them during that2020 and then worked with them
and I was really enjoying theirworking with the Microsoft
because there were a lot ofbrilliant people around me and
(27:50):
we were doing the large scaleprojects which Microsoft was
handling across the differentpart of the world.
So everything was going goodand things were nice.
I was kind of enjoying my work.
But again, I mean, as you said,like so things like didn't stop
you thinking about the nextlevel.
(28:10):
So then one fine day, I got thecall from my linkedin
connection, right, uh, who usedto follow my blogs and saw my
work around, like what I used topost it and things.
So uh reached out to me andasked like are you interested
working with EY.
And I said okay, for whichlocation?
(28:33):
So they said, like London, doyou want to come here and work
with us?
So I said okay, so, okay, soI'm happy to refer you in EY.
So I said okay.
So I sent my resume, it wasreferred to the EY and then had
a couple of round of interviewsand then I landed into a job
(28:54):
with London.
So that's how my journey.
Mark Smith (29:00):
That's so cool.
What I like about that is andI'm going to talk about it a lot
in the various posts and stuffI do is that your blogging
opened a door for you into a newjob market, a new opportunity,
and I think that's so important.
You know, you obviously becamean MVP off the back of that, but
(29:21):
your writing has enabled you toget opportunities and I think
that is amazing.
Saurabh Bharti (29:29):
Blogging.
I mean blogging has helped me.
I mean like anything it's.
It's not only about I mean Ialways say that it's not about
how much I help the community,uh, using my knowledge and
things but I think it has helpedme a lot in in enhancing my
(29:49):
skill set as consultant andgiving me a different
perspective.
Because what happens, like whenyou are on a job in the project
, you just think about thatproject, those problems, right.
But when I do the blogging, Ihave to learn a new topic.
So I have to prepare for thatand do things, so I'm learning
something new.
(30:10):
And the second thing is when youreach out, go to the community
forum, you see a lot of peopleare putting the questions and
the issues and the problem whichthey are facing.
So if they are facing theproblem, it is 90% likely that
you will also face the problemwhen you are in that situation.
Right, because they are not ithappens very less that they are
(30:34):
they are very new people but allof them are very experienced,
professional, right.
So if they are facing theproblem in those type of
situations, it's very likelythat next time you get into that
project and you will also facethat problem.
So if you solve that problemthere or if you look at the
answers which other people aregiving.
You saved yourself, you builtyour knowledge and the
(30:57):
experience and next time you getthat issue you say hey, I know
this, I can solve I love it Ilove it.
Mark Smith (31:04):
Saurabh, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Uh, we're out of time.
I could go on because there's,there's.
You're a wealth of knowledge,but thank you so much for
joining me.
No worries, Mark, thank you forhaving me here.
Hey, thanks for listening.
I'm your host businessapplication MVP Mark Smith,
(31:25):
otherwise known as the NZ365 guy.
If you like the show and wantto be a supporter, check out
buymeacoffeecom forward slashNZ365guide.
Thanks again and see you nexttime.
Thank you.
Welcome to the MVP show.
My intention is that you listento the stories of these MVP
guests and are inspired tobecome an MVP and bring value to
the world through your skills.
If you have not checked it outalready, I do a YouTube series
called how to Become an MVP.
The link is in the show notes.
With that, let's get on withthe show.
(00:31):
Today's guest is from theUnited Kingdom.
He works at EY.
He was first awarded as MVP in2024.
He's a seasoned MicrosoftDynamics 365 Finance and
Operations consultant, bringsrich and diverse experience
spanning various industries.
He's passionate about knowledgesharing and actively
(00:54):
contributes to the MicrosoftDynamics community through
insightful blogs and a dynamicYouTube channel.
You can find links to his bio,social media, et cetera, in the
show notes for this episode.
Saurabh, welcome to the show.
Saurabh Bharti (01:08):
Thank you, Mark, for having me here.
It's a pleasure to be talkingto you today.
Mark Smith (01:14):
Yeah, it's great to have you on the show.
I have just returned fromLondon.
I missed you.
Unfortunately Didn't get to seeyou there.
Tell me about food, family andfun.
What do they mean to you?
Saurabh Bharti (01:27):
Oh, everything, okay.
So I come from India, right,and India, one of the thing
which is, I mean, everyone inIndia you will find that food
and family is everything.
I think that's the priority,right, and you get a lot of
variety of foods acrossdifferent regions.
(01:50):
Every 100 kilometers you willtravel.
Maybe I'm saying more, but youwill find a new type of food
which is available there.
So it's it's.
I'm a big time foodie, uh, inlondon also, I try to explore as
much as indian food wherever Ican get it, so I, I can travel
(02:14):
for an hour to go and find outsome good food places.
So, yeah, and about the fun,yeah, so I, I, I mean I love
cooking first, I love travelingsecond, and I'm not sure I mean
that you, you do follow or not,but I do follow the lot of
(02:35):
political uh news and thingsspecifically indian uh in indian
context.
So, so that that's a reallyinteresting thing.
Sometimes, every day at least,I will watch some 30 minutes
podcast or anything related tothe Indian politics.
Mark Smith (02:57):
Interesting.
You mentioned going aroundLondon for Indian.
What I found in my time livingthere is that Indian food is
very different in differentparts of London.
Like you get, I feel like whereI lived the Indian food was,
but I was taken across London Idon't even know specifically,
(03:19):
but it had a big Indiancommunity around this part of
London and the food was justamazing.
It was amazing.
So, yeah, it differs from placeto place, even in London, right
?
Saurabh Bharti (03:31):
Definitely, and I think it varies, I mean very
much depending on the taste youhave about the Indian food
basically.
So in India also.
You know, if you are in thenorthern part of India and if
you will taste the southern partof dishes there, it will be a
(03:52):
bit different.
They will put that flavor in,and when you will have the
northern part of Indian fooddishes in southern part you will
have a bit different flavorbecause they add their flavor
into that.
So same goes possibly in Londonalso.
Mark Smith (04:09):
Yeah, when I was 10 years old I was invited to my
first Indian meal.
Where I lived in New Zealandthere was a very active Indian
community around me.
It was in a market garden sothey did a lot of vegetable.
They owned a lot of thebusinesses around growing food
crops in New Zealand and, 10years old, very impressionable.
(04:31):
I was asked to go to thisIndian dinner and there was this
friend of the family kind of hewas called an uncle but not
biological, and he was like ohknow that your fat, your mouth,
will catch on fire, like it will.
It will burn you a little bit.
And so I chickened out going tothis dinner and of course I've
(04:52):
always regretted it because, aswhen I got older, I was invited
to other indian meals etc and ofcourse absolutely loved indian
cuisine.
But uh, I remember that from 10years old, that the fear of the
heat being put into me.
And now I grow Carolina Reaperchilies myself which are one of
the hottest chilies that you canget.
Saurabh Bharti (05:12):
Next time you are in London, I mean I'll
definitely come and meet you andI'll take you around here for
having some good Indian food.
Mark Smith (05:21):
I would like that.
You know what?
I've never been to India.
I have had so many.
You know.
People say I should go to India.
I almost went a couple ofmonths ago when I was working
for IBM.
They had me going to do a meetand greet with a large bank, a
London bank, that had gone toour outsource center there and
(05:42):
then at the last minute itdidn't happen and I was like
that was going to be my firsttime to really experience Indian
culture in India.
But it's yet to happen.
Yet I'm waiting for an event tobe put on that I get an invite
to and perhaps I can go then.
Or Microsoft sent me there, orsomething.
Saurabh Bharti (06:00):
Definitely you should visit India and for India
, for India, you need topossibly go couple of times
because you can't explore theplaces in one trip.
So you should go and you willdefinitely enjoy the food first
thing, but also more than that,you would enjoy the kind of
(06:22):
hospitality in India like we forfor the people.
So you would, you woulddefinitely enjoy that part and
also like different culturalheritages and things which you
have.
It right, you, I mean you canchoose your destiny depending on
what you like.
You like rivers, you can go toa place.
(06:43):
You like beaches, you can go toa place.
You like beaches, you can go toa place.
You like mountains, you go to aplace.
You like old heritage, you cango to a place.
So you choose what you wouldlike to visit and you love
visiting.
Mark Smith (06:57):
So what about this?
What if I go and live there forthree months and you know,
because my wife and I arediscussing this type of travel
where we go to a country forthree months and we'll take our
kids and everything and I canstill do my work, she can still
do her work from there.
If I was to do that for Indiaand therefore, over that three
months, use it as a chance toexplore on the weekends and
(07:18):
things like that, where do youthink I should base myself for
that three months?
Where should be the base be?
And then I'll use that to goout and travel across India, use
all your wonderful trainnetwork and whatnot.
Um, what?
Where should I base myself inyour opinion?
Saurabh Bharti (07:35):
Yeah, you know you should not base yourself at
one location for entire threemonths.
I would say go three places.
Mark Smith (07:45):
Nice, I like it.
One month in each location, onemonth.
Saurabh Bharti (07:49):
And you know, airbnb can help you out really
quick in that.
So no worries about that.
I would say, the one month youcan go to the northern part of
the India, right, and there area lot of good places there.
You have mountains and otherthings to explore there, and
then and the northern part isalso having like capital of
(08:12):
india, like delhi, okay so yourecommend delhi, as I go base
myself in delhi as the first oneyeah, delhi, or near to Delhi.
You have some hill stationsaround like six, seven hours of
possible drives.
You will find that and you canenjoy nature really good there.
(08:32):
And the good thing about Delhiand nearby that is that you can
explore a lot of differentheritages like Taj Mahal you
would have heard Redford and alot of places out there.
So every weekend you can goanywhere from Delhi and explore
this.
So Saturday, sunday is fixedfor you.
(08:53):
Monday to Friday work.
Friday evening take car travel,that's it.
Mark Smith (08:59):
Excellent.
Now, when I take a car, is itbest to hire a driver to take me
everywhere?
Saurabh Bharti (09:05):
It depends.
I mean, if you can drive and ifyou are allowed to drive,
depending on the driving licenseand other rules, you can drive
yourself.
It's not really difficult likeLondon or UK to drive in India,
so you can be easy there.
Mark Smith (09:23):
Nice, nice, so Delhi , that's the first one.
Saurabh Bharti (09:26):
That's Delhi, first one for a month.
Go around and look for theplaces.
The second is I would suggestyou go and base out yourself in
Bangalore, okay, and that's thesouthern part of India.
And first thing is, if you goto Bangalore, you will meet a
lot of community folks there.
It's an IT hub for India, right?
(09:49):
So a lot of IT companies.
I mean you will find manypeople there from Dynamics
community as well as from the ITindustry, right?
So if you would love to visitthem, it's a startup city for
India, a lot of startups inBangalore, right?
So that might look like a bitof work related, but the weather
(10:13):
in Bangalore is really reallypleasant, right?
So it remains around 20 degree,18 degree or something like
this during the year, except afew months, but it's really
pleasant.
So if you stay there inBangalore, first thing is within
Bangalore, you will be having alot of places nearby, like 100
(10:37):
kilometers or 150 to explore,nearby like 100 kilometers or
150 to explore.
But you have got a lot of othercities from the in the southern
part, like there is a city,there is a state, it's a state
like Kerala, so you can travelthere like in a night duration.
So Friday evening, leaveSaturday morning, you are there,
explore for two days, come backMondayay morning, right.
(11:00):
So made major cities ofsouthern part you can explore
from there, right so so that's,that's bangalore now.
Third one is bit.
I think I would I mean for meit is difficult to tell you, but
I think I have a doubt in twoplaces.
(11:20):
So one is the very famousdestination.
It's a Goa, so it's a beachlike place where you have a lot
of beaches and a lot of tourists.
Mark Smith (11:33):
I have a good friend from there.
My understanding was colonizedby Portuguese right.
Saurabh Bharti (11:38):
Exactly, exactly .
So that's one place where youcan be there, but the thing is
that if you are there then youcan, that you can do it from
Bangalore as well, like you cango, so that you can cover but
the other part, other third onewhich I would recommend is the
eastern part of India, right,which is kind of a very, very
(12:03):
nature driven right you, youfind a lot of mountains and
rivers and it's a very pleasantor peaceful I mean places you
will find, and it is like a lotof people do not explore that
because it's a bit far to travelfrom like center of the India.
Like, let's say, you will be inDelhi when you land there,
(12:26):
possibly, or Bangalore, but ifyou go eastern part right, it's
really beautiful place.
Mark Smith (12:32):
And so any particular place to base myself.
Saurabh Bharti (12:36):
I think Guwahati is the major city where you can
be placed there, because it's acity right so, which will be
easy for your internet and restof the things to put together,
but close to that, you will havea lot of places to visit and
explore.
So, yeah, this is good, this isgood.
Mark Smith (13:04):
So yeah, this is good, this is good.
Last last question about myfuture travels is um, what month
of the year should I arrive forthe?
For if I'm there for that threemonths and I'm going to those
three regions, what month shouldI arrive?
So you know what month one, twoand three, weather wise optimal
.
What do you think?
Saurabh Bharti (13:19):
you know, I think you should avoid uh
possibly april or april, may tojuly or august, uh, because
that's bit uh uh kind of uh uh ahot, uh kind of weather which
you might find in some places.
But rest of the uh the monthsare good to visit uh delhi avoid
(13:43):
in the december and january, uh, because it's bit uh like
winters are very extreme there,and when we say winters are
extreme it's a very foggy nature.
I mean uh that you find it so,so you might find a visibility
issue when you are driving andthings right, so possibly that
(14:03):
you can keep it for a Bangalore.
Then you come back in Februaryor March in Delhi, so that would
be good for you.
Mark Smith (14:14):
Superb.
Thank you very much.
I can see an expedition beingplanned.
That's going to be awesome.
Now back to you.
Tell, tell me, how did you getinto IT?
Saurabh Bharti (14:26):
oh, how did I get into IT?
So I'm, my education backgroundis I'm a computer science
engineer, so I have done myengineering.
When I finished my engineeringthough I was kind of having a
good interest in the programmingand things, but possibly I was
(14:46):
not that good in the programmingthat I can code really well or
something I did have a lot ofgood understanding, thought to
pursue something in the ITitself, but bit of a different
like which is different from thecoding, so which is kind of a
(15:07):
consulting or something which Ican explore now when I think
about that.
So I thought like what, what,what next I can do?
So I thought to pursue themaster's Now when I started
thinking about that.
So I started thinking about theMBA for my next journey.
But in MBA when we do right, sowe more think about in finance,
(15:32):
marketing and other areas,right.
But again, that was not mypossibly again the interest,
because my interest was in theIT itself, right, because of my
education background of computerscience engineer.
So then I pursued my MBA fromone of the universities central
university, governmentuniversity we have in India
(15:54):
which is focused on theinformation technology.
So I pursued my MBA ininformation technology,
information technology.
So I pursued my MBA ininformation technology and that
course was really interestingbecause it was a mix of how you
can use the technology on themanagement side of the work in
any organization, which alsobrings some flavor of consulting
(16:17):
right.
So that's where I think my Icontinued my IT journey and when
I finished my master's, I gotthe opportunity working with a
small company in Bangalore.
So I started my job there and Istarted as a consultant junior
(16:40):
consultant there, but I reallydidn't have any clue that what
I'm going to do.
On day one and I entered intothe office after my formalities,
I met the team and then someonecame to me and said that, hey,
we are working on an ERP.
So I said, okay, that's good,you're working on ERP and that's
(17:05):
really interesting.
And before that, I just heardabout the SAP or Oracle in ERP.
So I didn't have any clue aboutthat.
We have Dynamics as ERP productor something.
So they said like, oh, there isa product called Microsoft
Dynamics Acceptor 2012,.
And we are working on thisproduct and we are going to
(17:31):
implement this for one of ourcustomers in Middle East and you
should start exploring thisproduct and start learning about
this thing.
I said, okay, what?
Then asked like, like, what isdynamix?
Is it really a?
But then then then they explainabout that it's a microsoft
product, so which brings a bitof confidence that yeah, if
(17:52):
microsoft has some products of Imean, obviously there must be
something which they have builtright.
Good, so that.
So that's where I landed into.
I mean, continued my journey asa computer science engineer to
the master's in IT and thenlanded into this job and got
introduced to the MicrosoftDynamics Acceptor 2012 R2.
(18:14):
And that's where I started.
Yeah, Wow.
Mark Smith (18:19):
How did you end up then in the UK?
Saurabh Bharti (18:22):
Oh, that's again a kind of a tenuous journey now
.
So I mean, before I starttalking about how I landed into
UK, right?
So it was year 2013 when Istarted my career in Microsoft
Dynamics as a consultant and itwas a small company, as I told
(18:44):
you, right?
So there it was not.
I mean, at that point of time,normally we did not have a lot
of learning resources like howwe have today.
We have a lot of blogs, a lotof Microsoft Learn content is
available I mean more than theblogs and the other YouTube
channels and a lot of things arethere.
And I remember that time we hadone partner source portal and
(19:08):
that is where you used to getall the information about every
module and everything.
So, but it was very, verycomplex thing, right, like you
have to read everything, followeverything.
So I started using that.
But the good part about thesmall organization is that they
put you in front of the customerright.
They give you that exposurethat you go and talk to the
(19:31):
customer right, and I was verylucky at that point of time
there was one of the seniorperson who joined that
organization in our team as thelead or team lead for the
finance area and the backgroundof his was that he was the
(19:54):
finance controller in hisprevious job.
So he was coming from a pureaccounting background, a pure
accountant right, who understandthe accounting I mean in and
out and he was based outsomewhere in Europe and then he
had to come back to India forsome reason.
So he joined this organizationand I was put with him because I
(20:20):
was put into the finance andfirst thing is I'm coming from
the IT background computerscience engineer, it masters.
No clue about debit or credit.
I still understand the debitand credit as a plus and minus,
as a mathematics terms.
So I was put in there and thenI started working with him.
(20:41):
So my job was to learn theproduct, the technicality of the
product, and his job was togive me the problems from the
accounting terms.
And so he used to give me inExcel that these are the five
accounting entries.
After you post these entries inthe system, I want to see the
trial balance and this is howyour trial balance should look
(21:02):
like.
So that was my exercise givenby him, not any hands-on
exercise by Microsoft Learn oranything.
And then I used to post thoseaccounting entries and then we
used to put a lot of effort inthat because it's a new thing
for I mean it might look veryeasy now but back that time it
(21:22):
was a very new thing for me andfor him also.
It was a learning because hewas learning a product.
So he was a domain expert and Iwas kind of exposing myself to
the product.
And that's where I startedlearning.
And as a finance consultant Istarted my journey.
So he was my I can say, morethan a team lead.
(21:44):
He was my mentor, the firstmentor who helped me in
understanding in and out aboutthe accounting, finance and
everything.
And that's where I started.
So that was my first company.
After that I left that companyand I joined PWC India and PWC I
(22:08):
mean my experience was at adifferent level because on a day
one they put me in front of thecustomer.
They said, like this is thecustomer, go to them and talk to
them about this project andwhat we are running.
So it was like you just thrownout for the swimming in a sea,
right, like without askinganything, without asking
(22:32):
anything.
So I joined PwC, had a lot ofexposure to the customer.
Facing roles was always most ofthe 90% time was always at the
customer side, talking tocustomers, working with them
very closely, and the good partabout the PwC was that I got
introduced to Microsoft as well.
(22:53):
At that point of time in mycareer stage and it was due to
it was 2017 when I got exposureto Microsoft.
Directly working with Microsoftwas because in India, the new
tax regime was coming, so theGST was getting introduced.
So before that, they were usingthe VAT and other sales tax, so
the GST was getting introduced.
(23:13):
So before that, they were usingthe VAT and other sales tax, so
the GST was coming in.
And the coincidence is that itwas like before that, the
startup for which I was workingthey were working a lot of
projects in Middle East, sowhich means I was the finance
consultant, but I didn't haveany exposure to the tax and the
localization Because in MiddleEast there was no techs at that
(23:36):
point of time.
So when I landed into PwC, theydidn't have any person, because
most of the resources who wereworking they were finance
consultant and they were workingon a normal project where the
techs requirements were there.
I was the only misfit personwho didn't have any tech
background, so they had to putme into this role where we were
(23:57):
doing the rollout for GST acrossIndia for all the customers
which PwC had.
So that's where I learned aboutthe taxation and the GST.
Worked with Microsoft becauseGST framework was not there.
So they built up the GSTframework in Dynamics.
(24:18):
We know that a lot of issueswhenever Microsoft launches
anything.
I mean we had to help them ingetting resolved things and work
with them.
So, yeah, that's where thejourney started with PwC worked
with them.
So, yeah, that's where thejourney started with PWC worked
with them.
So, yeah, that was PWC.
(24:38):
After PWC, again for a year time, I joined my first organization
back and that was just becauseI had a very good relationship
with my first organization and Iwas always very, very grateful
to them because I got thementors and they helped me
(24:59):
building my career path.
So they asked me to join backthem because they had one
customer in USA and they werebuilding a data analytics
platform using the Azure andData Lake and Dynamics CRM.
There were a lot of systemswere there, so I joined them for
only specific for that project.
(25:20):
So I started working with them,left BWC from that point of
time, joined them, and once Ijoined them, I was in US that
one time, after joining them fora couple of months and worked
with them, I was in us that thatone time, after joining them,
uh, for a couple of months, anduh, worked with them, helped
them in the product, thatproject.
(25:41):
And that's where my bloggingjourney started, because I was
in usa and in usa there was atime difference between india US
, so it was like a opposite.
There is a night, then day.
So after my work I was evening,I was at my apartment and then
I was thinking like what to do?
(26:02):
I don't have anyone else totalk to because everyone is
sleeping back in India, right?
So that that's where I thoughtlike, okay, I'm facing some
issues and I learned somethingnew, right?
And that's where I remember, Ithink before that this new
feature management, theworkspace was released for FNO.
(26:22):
So I thought like I think let'sstart talking about the new
features which Microsoft islaunching, right, Adding to the
product Microsoft is launching,right, adding to the product.
So that's where I startedwriting the LinkedIn articles
and start talking about my.
So what I started doing everyweek I used to learn something
(26:45):
new.
I made that as a routine and Iused to just type it in a Word
file, put a screenshot and thenjust post it on LinkedIn.
So no fancy language, nothingthere.
It's just like we make notes onpaper.
So I started doing that andstarted putting things there.
(27:09):
And then COVID happened duringthat it's starting 2020.
And then April May, so theCOVID started getting hit and
then I came back to India at theright time and then this
project finished and then duringthat time only, I joined
Microsoft in India.
(27:30):
Oh yeah, so I was in theMicrosoft for their consulting
practice.
So I joined them during that2020 and then worked with them
and I was really enjoying theirworking with the Microsoft
because there were a lot ofbrilliant people around me and
(27:50):
we were doing the large scaleprojects which Microsoft was
handling across the differentpart of the world.
So everything was going goodand things were nice.
I was kind of enjoying my work.
But again, I mean, as you said,like so things like didn't stop
you thinking about the nextlevel.
(28:10):
So then one fine day, I got thecall from my linkedin
connection, right, uh, who usedto follow my blogs and saw my
work around, like what I used topost it and things.
So uh reached out to me andasked like are you interested
working with EY.
And I said okay, for whichlocation?
(28:33):
So they said, like London, doyou want to come here and work
with us?
So I said okay, so, okay, soI'm happy to refer you in EY.
So I said okay.
So I sent my resume, it wasreferred to the EY and then had
a couple of round of interviewsand then I landed into a job
(28:54):
with London.
So that's how my journey.
Mark Smith (29:00):
That's so cool.
What I like about that is andI'm going to talk about it a lot
in the various posts and stuffI do is that your blogging
opened a door for you into a newjob market, a new opportunity,
and I think that's so important.
You know, you obviously becamean MVP off the back of that, but
(29:21):
your writing has enabled you toget opportunities and I think
that is amazing.
Saurabh Bharti (29:29):
Blogging.
I mean blogging has helped me.
I mean like anything it's.
It's not only about I mean Ialways say that it's not about
how much I help the community,uh, using my knowledge and
things but I think it has helpedme a lot in in enhancing my
(29:49):
skill set as consultant andgiving me a different
perspective.
Because what happens, like whenyou are on a job in the project
, you just think about thatproject, those problems, right.
But when I do the blogging, Ihave to learn a new topic.
So I have to prepare for thatand do things, so I'm learning
something new.
(30:10):
And the second thing is when youreach out, go to the community
forum, you see a lot of peopleare putting the questions and
the issues and the problem whichthey are facing.
So if they are facing theproblem, it is 90% likely that
you will also face the problemwhen you are in that situation.
Right, because they are not ithappens very less that they are
(30:34):
they are very new people but allof them are very experienced,
professional, right.
So if they are facing theproblem in those type of
situations, it's very likelythat next time you get into that
project and you will also facethat problem.
So if you solve that problemthere or if you look at the
answers which other people aregiving.
You saved yourself, you builtyour knowledge and the
(30:57):
experience and next time you getthat issue you say hey, I know
this, I can solve I love it Ilove it.
Mark Smith (31:04):
Saurabh, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Uh, we're out of time.
I could go on because there's,there's.
You're a wealth of knowledge,but thank you so much for
joining me.
No worries, Mark, thank you forhaving me here.
Hey, thanks for listening.
I'm your host businessapplication MVP Mark Smith,
(31:25):
otherwise known as the NZ365 guy.
If you like the show and wantto be a supporter, check out
buymeacoffeecom forward slashNZ365guide.
Thanks again and see you nexttime.
Thank you.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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