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A day in Hyderabad at the invitation of cricketer extraordinaire, Adam
Gilchrist turned out to be a smorgasbord of seemingly contradictory events; that
still made a pattern of what innovation in India is all about; and what the
future holds for our industry. Rushing from airport to the installation of a
library at the government municipal school in Golconda, that Zensar has adopted
as part of its CSR drive, it was heart warming to see the pleasure in the eyes
of two hundred or so children, for whom the little library had opened up a
window to a new world of discovery and learning. Eight year old Zeba showed me
around proudly, and explained the value of each section of the little oasis in
the dusty municipal school that literally rises from nowhere near the Golconda
fort. The thought that there were at least 300 mn young Zebas waiting to be
enlightened, brought a sense of humility.
In the afternoon, I had the privilege of moderating a panel discussion on the
opportunities in Asia for Indian IT and ITeS companies at the wonderful ISB
campus. A panel of seven of us had an enthralling interactive session on the
opportunities that the burgeoning Asian markets present. It is imperative to
have an Asia strategy not just to counter declines in traditional markets like
the US and UK; but also to develop a more inclusive global delivery footprint to
reduce costs of single location delivery, and mitigate real and perceived risks
for our customers.
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Ganesh Natarajan |
The argument for polycentric outsourcing is also supported by the fact that
Indian firms today have over four hundred centers located outside Indianearly
150 each in the US and Europeand the rest in Asia, Australia, and Latin
America. One can expect that rather than losing market share to companies from
other countries, Indian firms have demonstrated through business model
innovation that they can leverage talent and infrastructure in other countries,
and present a global solution to discerning customers. This is particularly
valuable in outsourced process management, where India has Philippines nipping
at its heels in voice and knowledge processes; and China offering a viable and
stable option for remote infrastructure management and offshore data centers. It
is no accident that over 2,00,000 employees of the Indian IT and BPO industry
are not of Indian origin, and the figure keeps rising.The evening presented a
completely new perspective of Indian multi-cultural orientation, as CP Gurnani,
Satyam, CEO and I joined Deccan Chargers captain, Adam Gilchrist to watch
finals of the twenty twenty champions trophy. Not only was it amazing to see a
crowd of over 20,000 turn out at the stadium to watch two foreign clubs slug it
out, the adulation that Gilly received from fans every time he stepped out on
the balcony was to be seen to be believed. These scenes were repeated in Pune,
where Gilly and a team from the University of Wollongong came to talk about the
innovation centre at the University; and of course about innovation in cricket.
Indian youth has learnt how to celebrate diversity. With pendulum swinging from
the homogenous US and UK to multi cultural Asia, in terms of opportunity for the
IT industry, this bodes well for our ability to manage cultural transitions; and
build new business streams from Asia and Africa.
It is not going to be easy however. The industry has many challenges in the
post recession worldhow to build a diversified model across geographies,
verticals, and service lines; how to make strategic investments in key markets
and outsourcing countries like Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and China in Asia;
and look at eastern Europe and Latin America with new eyes. And last but
certainly not the least, how does the industry reach out to young Zeba, and
millions of her ilk; and give them a chance to dream the IT dream; and join
their more privileged brethren in building the future of this industry!
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