Question 1

I'm interested. What's the first step?

Accepted Answer

One call, 30 to 45 minutes, no cost and no obligation. We ask how your business runs today — what happens in a normal week, where things get stuck, who does the repetitive work. You don't need to prepare a requirements document. If we're a fit, you get a written proposal with scope, timeline and price within a few working days.

Question 2

Can I see a demo before committing to anything?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We'll walk you through systems we've already built and are running live — an ERP on a manufacturing floor, an HRMS running payroll, an order management system. Real software with real data patterns, not slides. Where a client has agreed to it, we can arrange for you to speak to them directly.

Question 3

Can we start small instead of committing to the whole thing?

Accepted Answer

We'd prefer it. Most of our long-running clients started with one module — one process that was clearly broken — and expanded once it worked. A first phase of four to six weeks that solves one real problem tells you more about whether we're the right partner than any amount of due diligence.

Question 4

How often will we meet, and will it eat my week?

Accepted Answer

A weekly call of about 30 minutes during active development, plus a demo at the end of each two-week sprint where you see working software and tell us what's wrong with it. Between those, we're on WhatsApp — most questions get answered there in minutes rather than waiting for a meeting.

Question 5

Will you come to our office?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We're based in Lower Parel, Mumbai, and for Mumbai and Pune clients we do discovery on-site — walking your floor or sitting with your accounts team tells us things no call will. For clients elsewhere in India we travel for kickoff and major milestones, and work remotely in between.

Question 6

Nobody on my team is technical. Is that a problem?

Accepted Answer

No — most of our clients' teams aren't. You're the expert on your business, we're the experts on software. Our job is to translate, which means we ask about your process, not your preferred database. If we ever explain something in a way you can't repeat to a colleague, tell us and we'll explain it again properly.

Question 7

Who owns our data?

Accepted Answer

You do. All of it, always. Your data is yours before, during and after the engagement. We never sell it, never share it, and never use it to build something for another client. If you leave, you take a complete export with you in a standard format — that's written into the contract, not left to goodwill.

Question 8

Who owns the software you build for us?

Accepted Answer

You do. On full payment, the source code and intellectual property transfer to you. You are not renting your own system. You can hand it to another vendor, hire your own developers to extend it, or keep it running untouched for a decade. We build systems you own, not systems you're locked into.

Question 9

Will you sign an NDA?

Accepted Answer

Yes, before any detailed discussion. Send us yours or use ours. We work with manufacturers, trading desks and financial research firms where confidentiality isn't a formality — it's the condition of doing business at all.

Question 10

Who at Ekalon can actually see our data?

Accepted Answer

Only the engineers assigned to your project, and only what they need to do their job. Access is granted per person and revoked when someone rolls off. Wherever we can work with anonymised or sample data instead of your live records, we do. For production systems holding sensitive data, we work through your access controls rather than holding standing credentials of our own.

Question 11

What if you work with our competitor?

Accepted Answer

We'll tell you before it happens, not after. Teams are kept separate and nothing built for one client is reused for another. If you want an exclusivity clause for your sector, ask — we'll either agree to it in writing or tell you honestly that we can't.

Question 12

You use AI. Is our data being fed into it?

Accepted Answer

Not to train anyone's public model. When we build AI features into your system, we use enterprise APIs configured so your data isn't retained or used for training, or we run models on infrastructure you control. Which of the two applies to you is stated in your proposal, in plain language, before you sign anything.

Question 13

Where will our system and data be hosted?

Accepted Answer

Wherever you want it. Indian data centres if you need data residency in India, your own cloud account if you have one, or your own servers if you'd rather nothing left the building. We'll recommend an option and explain the cost and trade-offs of each, but it's your decision — and you keep ownership of the hosting account.

Question 14

How do you actually keep the system secure?

Accepted Answer

Encrypted connections everywhere, encrypted data at rest, role-based access so people only see what their job requires, and full audit logs of who did what and when. Passwords are hashed, never stored readably. Access to production is restricted and logged. Dependencies are kept patched.

Question 15

What happens if the system goes down or data is lost?

Accepted Answer

Automated backups run daily, with retention agreed with you up front. Backups are tested by actually restoring them — an untested backup is a rumour, not a backup. For systems where downtime costs real money, we set up monitoring that alerts us before you notice, and agree a recovery time in your support contract.

Question 16

Can our own employees misuse or export the data?

Accepted Answer

That's the more common risk, and we design for it. Export rights are a permission like any other and can be restricted to named people. Bulk exports can be logged and flagged. Deleted records can be soft-deleted so a mistake or a disgruntled exit is recoverable rather than final.

Question 17

We have compliance obligations. Can you work within them?

Accepted Answer

Yes — it's a large part of what we already do. We've built payroll systems that hold statutory compliance for PF, ESI, PT and TDS, and infrastructure for financial research firms operating under NSE and SEBI requirements. Tell us which regulations apply to you and we'll design to them from the start rather than retrofitting later.

Question 18

Are you ISO or SOC 2 certified?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We are formally registered and certified for ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001, with GDPR and India's DPDP Act designed into how we build, and HIPAA Security Rule controls available when a healthcare engagement requires them. Ask us for the current certificates and statements of applicability for your procurement file.

Question 19

We have years of data in our current system. Do we lose it?

Accepted Answer

No. Migrating your history is part of the project, not an extra. We extract from your current system — Tally, Excel, Zoho, SAP, a custom tool, or all four at once — clean it, map it to the new structure, and load it. Then we reconcile: we compare totals and record counts against the old system and show you the comparison. We don't go live until those numbers match.

Question 20

Will our business stop while we switch over?

Accepted Answer

No. We run the new system in parallel with your old one until you trust it. For payroll that means running both for a cycle or two and comparing to the rupee. For an ERP it means module by module, with the old sheets left read-only until people stop opening them. The old system gets switched off when you decide, not when we finish.

Question 21

Our data is messy. Duplicates, missing fields, wrong entries.

Accepted Answer

Everyone's is. Nobody hands over a clean database. We profile what you have, show you exactly what's wrong with it, and agree the rules for fixing it — which duplicate wins, what to do with blanks, what to archive rather than migrate. Cleaning your data is often the single most valuable part of the project, because it forces decisions nobody has made in years.

Question 22

Do we have to replace everything at once?

Accepted Answer

No, and you probably shouldn't. If Tally works for your accounts, keep it and we'll integrate. Plenty of our clients run our system for operations and keep an existing tool where it earns its licence fee. The goal is fewer systems that don't talk to each other, not maximum replacement.

Question 23

Why build custom instead of just buying Zoho or SAP?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes you shouldn't build — if an off-the-shelf product fits your process, buy it and we'll tell you so. Build makes sense when you're paying per-user fees forever for software you still can't quite make fit, when your actual competitive process has to be bent to match someone else's assumptions, or when you're running four subscriptions that don't talk to each other. Owned software has a higher cost on day one and a lower cost by year three.

Question 24

How long does a migration take?

Accepted Answer

For a single system with reasonably clean data, two to four weeks alongside the build. For multiple systems with years of history and no consistent format, longer — and we'll tell you that during discovery rather than discovering it halfway through. Migration time is scoped separately and stated in your proposal.

Question 25

Will you train our employees?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it's included. On-site or online sessions run by role — the accounts team gets a different session from the shop floor. We record them so new joiners can watch later, and we leave behind short written guides in simple language, not a 200-page manual nobody opens.

Question 26

Our older staff resist new software. What then?

Accepted Answer

Expected, and mostly a design problem rather than a people problem. We keep screens close to the way the work already happens, use your terminology instead of software vocabulary, and cut fields nobody fills in. We also identify one or two people internally who like the system early — adoption spreads from a colleague far faster than from a vendor.

Question 27

Can the system be in Hindi or a regional language?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Interfaces can be built multilingual where it matters — shop floor and field-staff screens especially. Tell us which languages and which screens during discovery and it gets scoped in from the start.

Question 28

Will it work on phones?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For most Indian businesses the phone is the primary device for anyone not sitting at a desk. Field staff, supervisors and approvers get screens designed for a phone, not a desktop layout squeezed onto one.

Question 29

Who trains people who join after you're gone?

Accepted Answer

The recorded sessions and written guides stay with you, and we run a refresher whenever you ask. Several clients keep a small monthly support arrangement partly for exactly this. We're not gone, in any case — see the support section.

Question 30

What happens after the project is delivered?

Accepted Answer

A warranty period is included — anything that doesn't work as specified gets fixed at no cost. After that, most clients move to a monthly support arrangement covering monitoring, fixes, security updates and a bucket of hours for small changes. It's optional, priced up front, and cancellable.

Question 31

Something is broken and it's stopping work. How fast do you respond?

Accepted Answer

Critical issues — the system is down or people can't work — get acknowledged around the clock (24×7) and worked on immediately. Lower-severity issues are scheduled. Exact response times are written into your support agreement by severity level, so you're never guessing what you've paid for.

Question 32

Who do I actually contact? I don't want a ticket portal.

Accepted Answer

A WhatsApp group with the engineers who built your system, and an email address if you prefer a record. You will not be routed through a call centre or asked for a ticket number by someone who has never seen your project.

Question 33

What if we need changes later? Our business keeps evolving.

Accepted Answer

Expected — that's the point of owning your software. Small changes come out of your monthly support hours. Larger features are scoped and quoted separately. Because you own the code, you can also have someone else make the change, or hire in-house developers. We'd rather earn the next phase than lock you into it.

Question 34

What if Ekalon shuts down or we fall out?

Accepted Answer

A fair question and one you should ask every vendor. You hold the source code, the documentation and the hosting account, and your system runs on standard, widely-used technologies — not something exotic only we understand. Any competent development team can pick it up. We design for that deliberately, because a client who stays out of choice is worth more than one who stays because they can't leave.

Question 35

How much does this cost?

Accepted Answer

It depends on scope, and here's what it depends on: how many processes are involved, how many people use it, how much history has to be migrated, and how many existing systems it has to connect to. A focused single-module build is a materially different number from a multi-vertical ERP. We give a firm number in writing after discovery — and discovery costs you nothing.

Question 36

How do you charge — fixed price or hourly?

Accepted Answer

Three models, and we'll recommend one rather than making you choose blind. Fixed price when scope is clear, which most clients prefer. Time and materials when we're exploring. A dedicated team retainer when you need ongoing capacity month after month, which is how several of our longest engagements run.

Question 37

Are there hidden costs?

Accepted Answer

No. Your proposal states the build cost, hosting cost, any third-party licence or API costs, and the monthly support cost if you take it. Third-party costs are passed through at cost, not marked up. If something falls outside agreed scope, you get a quote before any work starts — never an invoice afterwards.

Question 38

Do we pay everything up front?

Accepted Answer

No. Payments are tied to milestones, so you're paying for work you've already seen. A typical split is an advance to start, then payments as each phase is delivered and accepted. Long-running engagements are billed monthly.

Question 39

A freelancer quoted us much less. Why the difference?

Accepted Answer

Often a freelancer is the right answer, and we'll say so — for a website or a single small tool, hiring one is sensible. The difference shows up on a system your business depends on: what happens when the person is ill, takes another job, or moves on in year two. You're buying continuity, documentation, a team rather than a person, and code you can hand to someone else. If none of that matters for your project, the cheaper quote is the better one.

Question 40

What does Ekalon Solutions actually do?

Accepted Answer

We build and run custom business software for Indian companies — ERP, CRM, HRMS and payroll, task and project management, process automation, and AI features built into all of the above. We're based in Lower Parel, Mumbai, and we work mostly with manufacturers, financial services firms and growing businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets and subscription software.

Question 41

Which industries do you know well?

Accepted Answer

Chemical, panel and substation manufacturing; trading, broking, venture capital and financial research; jewellery and e-commerce; sports and event management; media and production. Manufacturing and financial services are where we're deepest — we've built ERP, HRMS and compliance infrastructure that is running in production in both.

Question 42

How big are you, and can you handle our size?

Accepted Answer

We're a lean senior team, deliberately. Our systems carry over 5,000 employees on ERPs we've built, have driven more than 2.5 lakh CRM calls, and reach over 100,000 end users across 14+ live organisations. We're honest about the ceiling: if you're a 5,000-person enterprise wanting a global rollout, we're not your vendor. If you're a business between 20 and 1,000 people that wants senior people who actually answer the phone, we're a good fit.

Question 43

Who writes the code — seniors or trainees?

Accepted Answer

The people on your calls are the people building your system. We don't run a model where a senior wins the work and juniors deliver it. You'll know your engineers by name.

Question 44

Do you outsource our project to another company?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything is built in-house by our own team in Mumbai. If we ever needed specialist help from outside, you'd be told and asked first.

Who owns your data. What happens to your years of history. Whether the system will still work if we disappear. Straight answers, including the ones where the honest answer is "not yet".

Getting started

Your data and confidentiality

Security and cybersecurity

Switching and migration

Your team and training

Support after launch

Pricing and commercials

About Ekalon

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