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News Vibha Rustagi

BSEE’87

More than 2,400 University of Pittsburgh alumni call Atlanta, Ga. home, which includes approximately 200 Pitt Engineers, and one of them recently earned some well-deserved recognition for her success as a high-tech entrepreneur. A summer 2004 issue of the Atlanta Business Chronicle included Vibha Rustagi among a select group of Atlanta’s “Top 40 Under 40” for her successful company, itaas, which supplies comprehensive digital interactive TV technology.

How itaas Got Started

For the 1987 electrical engineering alumna, the growth of her company and its leadership position in the industry are ample reward for leaving Scientific Atlanta, a manufacturer and supplier of integrated, interactive video, data, and voice media and hardware, where she started her career and remained for 11 years. “My business partners, Jatin Desai, Jaspal Bhasin, and I saw an increased demand for digital cable TV expertise. We recognized the void in this area and we knew that we could best fill that need as a comprehensive service provider.” Out of this vision, itaas was incorporated in 1999.

The Path to Success

Rustagi and her company now call the northeast Atlanta suburb of Duluth home, an area bursting with new enterprises like itaas. Standing out among the competition is a challenge for any entrepreneur, but she appears to have succeeded at the primary rule of small-business: finding a niche market for a product needed by someone else, or in this case, larger established companies. Rustagi co-founded itaas to serve the booming cable television industry with end-to-end digital television expertise, from set-top clients to head-end servers, and to help customers deploy innovative services on accelerated schedules.

During the last few years, her company has also developed a strong offering of software products, one of which is extensively deployed nationwide. “Major cable systems may have the resources to develop software on their own,” Rustagi says, “but our expertise in the multi-vendor digital systems, our experience in the iTV applications, and our reputation to deliver high quality software makes itaas the unique and obvious choice for their development needs.” She’s delivered on this vision already, signing deals with two of the largest systems in the country, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications. The company’s large client list of more than 70 customers includes Scientific-Atlanta, Liberate, Digeo, Bigband Networks, Gold Pocket Interactive, Bluestreak, and ESPN Enterprises, among others.

About Vibha Rustagi

Tracing the course of her life before and after Pitt requires more than just a map of the United States. Rustagi was born in New Delhi, India, but spent most of her childhood in Zambia because her father’s work as a diplomat with the Indian government positioned him there. “My parents moved back to India when I was a teenager to ensure that I was entrenched in the culture and for my high school education.” Sadly, Rustagi’s father died while she was in high school. She moved to the United States after high school graduation and joined her brother, who was working in Pittsburgh. “I was highly influenced by my family, most of whom are science-oriented. One of my brothers has a PhD in statistics; the other has an MS in electrical engineering. My father was an accountant. I was interested in the projects they discussed at home and was always encouraged to excel in the sciences.”

Expanding itaas

Rustagi is eager to expand itaas’ leadership position and presence in the digital broadband industry. Her company is making extensive investments in various technical industry initiatives, knowing that the distinction between providers of cable, telephone, and internet continues to get blurry. “We have to stay ahead of the curve to continue to be the premier provider for end-to-end digital broadband services and products. As a result, we continue to form partnerships and alliances with cutting-edge companies to give our team an in-depth understanding of the challenges the industry will face in the near future.”

In addition, Rustagi intends to expand itaas’ services and products portfolio, by adding software tools that maximize operational efficiency and provide revenue growth opportunities for its customers. “Our customers are a top priority for us, and so we will continue to do what we do best: listen to them and understand the challenges they are and will be facing.”

To learn more about Vibha Rustagi’s company, visit the itaas Web site.

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