Panel Discussion: "The Gloom Here Defies Logic" [Pg.2]

[Contn.]
"The Gloom Here Defies Logic"


"If India is going to run applications for North American companies, it will have to address issues like security and privacy" Chris J. Morris Gr. V-P (Res. Gr. Dir.), Gartner Asia-Pac	"India coming back from the US strengthen the talent pool, and they are, not as expensive as they were in the US " Craig F. Baity Group V-P, Gartner Asia-Pac

Chohan: To specifically answer BT's query, the share of revenues coming from low-end conversion jobs has reduced substantially.

Iyengar: A lot of Indian it services companies are starting to talk about hedging their bets by looking at China as another offshore development centre.

Bruce McCabe: The thing about China is that most of the software development services you see are focussed on China. It's such a large domestic market...

Johnson: Consider digital networks. Five years ago there was less than a 35 per cent penetration of digital switching in all plumbing. Today, it is 95 per cent; Chinese switches, built to Chinese standards. Mobile phones? Five million phones installed every month this year. They have come up with their own standard which the ITU has now accepted for mobile phones, TDSCMA...

McCabe: And if you want to tap that market, the only way you can do that is to form a joint venture in China.

Baity: But when it comes to outsourcing, China doesn't necessarily have the people to do it. That's the issue. And that's an opportunity for India. The second area that India has potential in is Applications Software Packaging. You are great at developing software but there isn't one (Indian software) brand in the world.

Last time I was here, I met with some cement companies. It turned out they had what they believed to be one of the world's only applications for managing the supply chain for that industry. Why couldn't they work on packaging and branding it and selling it to companies that can't afford Oracle and Informix and sap, which is most of Asia by the way?


"What has shaken the Indian market the most is the laying off the people" P. Iyengar Country Mgr, Gartner India (Sales)	"What happened in the US with dotcoms happened in India with IT services" Sujay Chohan Managing Director, AMC

John P. Roberts: I will just give you a framework of why you have got this gloom. Gloom follows a boom. Gartner has a hype cycle where we have a peak of inflated expectations, and we predict that following that is a trough of disillusionment. Now it seems to me that a lot of Indian commentators, at this moment are saying, yes, we are in this trough of disillusionment. What we're saying is that all this is just the early stages. The real issue is to transform business so as to take advantage of what's happening. Streamlining the supply chain, collaborating with other companies-all of that is just about to start. And that fits perfectly with India's capability to deliver that kind of services.

I just wonder whether we are being a bit too positive about all the things that are working here in India. One threat could be a loss of vision among leaders.

Hayward: There is the fear that another party will come to power tomorrow and try to roll back reforms.

Chris Morris: Another inhibitor could be the current legislation on security and privacy. Some countries have very strong laws regarding these. If India is going to run applications for North American companies, it is going to have to address these issues.

Roberts: The other inhibitor involves the issue of moving to business process outsourcing. Can India, for example, deliver financial services, or do the major accounting type activities?

Iyengar: To conclude, what do each of you see as the opportunity for India?

McCabe: Just looking at what's going on in the region in the b2b space, there is a wealth of opportunity in integrating internal and external systems, and in content.

Johnson: India is just going to leapfrog all intermediate technologies, straight to broadband. It will move rapidly to cable modems and DSL. But this will take time.

Morris: Make sure that you have the right skills. Beyond that there is also a bigger requirement in terms of project managers and people who manage contracts.

Hayward: Don't worry about the US slowdown, don't worry about China. There is no more exciting place to be than here.

Baity: India should use its it infrastructure to create some really solid industry-related outsourcing capabilities. And also develop some Indian packages based on software you have running your industries, and try to sell them. Brand them, that's the game.

Roberts: There was a boom; now there is gloom; but there is five years of solid business transformation work ahead.

Chohan: I feel very strongly about the opportunities before India. I feel that over next five years we should do something to capitalise on these.

BT: Thanks again gentlemen.

For the complete unedited version of the panel discussion, log on to www.business-today.com

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