The Story of Koenig Solutions

  • Koenig is today a successful IT training company serving a global clientele.
  • However, Koenig was not always so successful. In November 1993, Koenig was born as an unremarkable training center located in a congested part of Delhi – Patel Nagar.
  • The Indian IT training industry was very competitive and Koenig struggled to survive.
  • Koenig had its moments of glory but they were short lived and far in between.
  • “It was a challenge to pay the monthly salary bill and we could only survive because of financial support from my father’s company Essen Deinki “– Rohit Aggarwal (Founder & CEO)
  • In short, Koenig was a loss making enterprise.

Turning Point #1

  • The dotcom boom followed by the bust in 2000-2001 took down with it many an IT company.
  • Koenig would also have met the same fate but for rapid “downsizing” and an “idea”.
  • “When we were aggressively downsizing I could not ignore the fact that in almost every class we had 1-2 students from Europe. We thought that if we give a training package including hotel, it will be more convenient for the student coming from Europe. We did our calculations and it seemed a win-win for Koenig and European customers.” - Rohit Aggarwal.
  • Andy Sau, an IT professional from UK was Koenig’s first customer for the Microsoft MCSE package. Andy was happy with the training and agreed to be our referral.
  • This gave us encouragement. We started receiving students regularly and business grew exponentially.
  • Koenig kept on improving infrastructure and services. Based upon customer feedback, Koenig established centers in picturesque locations such as Shimla, Goa and Dubai.
  • Competitors took note of us and many establishments tried to emulate us not only in India but also in China, Thailand, Philippines and East Europe.
  • They met with varying degrees of success but Koenig maintained its # 1 position.
  • Initially we thought that if we can get 10 students every month it will be a great achievement. This target was achieved in 2004. Soon the true potential of Offshore Training dawned on us. We set a target of 100 students per month which we achieved in 2009.
  • Then we broadened our focus. Not just classroom training, we also started offering Live Online training and Fly-Me-A-Trainer options.

Turning Point #2

  • Business kept growing till 2015 and then we again experienced a crisis.
  • The oil crisis of 2015 hit us badly because of our dependence on oil exporting countries.
  • “My father was no more. I looked heaven-wards. I heard a voice to go back to the basics.” – Rohit Aggarwal
  • Over the boom years we had lost sight of the importance of cost control. This over-sight was a time bomb. We analyzed every cost minutely and relentlessly aligned them with business results. We were breathing again by end of 2016.

Turning Point #3

  • The Covid pandemic suspended class room training, which was our main business. In 2020 our revenue dropped to a nadir and we were again into losses with a bleak future. We pivoted towards live online. Thankfully customers also made the same switch.
  • We are proud to have completed three decade in the IT training industry and looking forward to many more.