Major Technologies: The main concepts on which a CIO of a retail organization is focusing upon are supply chain management, inventory management, customer relationship management, stores management, RFID, portals, bar-coding, and security.

Utilities and Energy
The utilities and energy sector is complex and changing rapidly as companies pursue newer models of value creation. Some strategies fiercely reinforce the traditional integrated utility strength of owning production, distribution, and customers. Others seek competitive advantage (or have it thrust upon them by regulators) by concentrating on particular parts of the energy chain.

Opportunities: India is the fifth largest producer and consumer of electricity in the world equaling the capacities of the UK and France combined. Indias power system today, with its extensive regional grids maturing in to an integrated national grid, has more than 6.3 mn circuit km of transmission and distribution lines criss-crossing the diverse topography of the country.

Oil and gas companies have not had very large R&D budgets in comparison to other companies in India. Their research expenditure hovers around 1-2% of their total sales. Yet historically, technology research is paying off well and has provided the oil industry the necessary technologies to find and produce oil efficiently.

Challenges: In the changing market conditions, utility companies are also contending with changing regulatory requirements involving environmental, governance, and reporting issues. The competitive environment is also changing, with major national companies seeking greater participation in the global marketplace. Mergers and acquisitions are likely to increase as companies with large cash balances look for expansion into new markets.

The achievements of Indias power sector growth appear lackadaisical in the face of huge gaps in supply and demand on one side and an antediluvian generation and distribution system on the verge of collapse having plagued by inefficiencies and mismanagement, on the other. The need of the hour is to institutionalize the changes and bring about sustainable and pervasive improvements.

IT Prospects: Several large companies have tapped the technologies developed by computer hardware and software companies and geophysical contractors to improve development and production efficiencies. Information technology in reservoir management is leading to enhanced recovery. EOR technology is also contributing in enhancing ultimate recovery. 4D seismic is increasingly being used for reservoir monitoring and is finding application in large producing fields of India for optimizing exploration. System upgradation of production processes and hardware development in production related operations are the key focus areas for companies in this sector.

Major Technologies: The major markets in the vertical are going to be services, software, and networking equipments. The key concepts in the power sector are going to be online meter reading (increased use of PDAs), power scheduling, storage, and security requirements. The key concepts in the oil and gas sector are going to be ERP, supply chain management, customer relationship management, and increased usage of RFID.

Healthcare
The healthcare industry in India has come a long way from the days when those who could afford it had to travel abroad. Today patients from neighboring countries are flocking to India for specialized treatment. In India, healthcare is delivered through both the public and private sectors. The public healthcare system consists of healthcare facilities run by the central and state governments, which provide services free of cost or at subsidized rates to low-income groups in the rural and urban areas. The Indian healthcare sector, structured on three tiers (primary, secondary, and tertiary), is characterized by the presence of several disparate systems of healthcare delivery such as government, charity, missionary, and corporate hospitals and numerous clinics.

Opportunities: The prevailing mood of economic confidence is likely to be reflected in the Indian healthcare sector also.

Expansion: This seems to be the buzzword in the industry, mainly to grab opportunities arising from the high domestic growth and growth in medical tourism. Corporate organizations are embarking on either horizontal expansion or vertical expansion to become integrated healthcare providers.

Outreach: Extensive client outreach programs are also being undertaken, such as holding free medical camps, community outreach programs, and tie-ups with corporate accounts to provide healthcare services to their employees.

Medical Tourism: Healthcare providers, especially tertiary healthcare centers, are tying up with renowned hospitals overseas and international airlines to bring more medical tourism into the country. They are also trying to get accreditation from international hospital rating agencies to set up their credential in the international market.

Challenges: In India more than 50% of the total health expenditure comes from individuals as against a state level contribution of 30%. The government funds allocated to the healthcare sector have always been low in relation to the population of the country. Healthcare facilities run by charitable organizations also provide services free or at a low cost. More than half a million doctors are employed in less than 15,000 hospitals. Additionally, there are around 0.75 mn nurses, who look after more than 875,000 hospital beds.

IT Prospects: Healthcare, an information intensive sector, is one of the key areas that is benefiting from the use of information technology. IT plays a very significant role in synergizing stakeholders towards a common goal. Information technology is playing a larger role in addressing key issues that have been a concern for the healthcare industry for many decades, such as the simplification of administrative processes, strengthening population-based healthcare systems, and the delivery of healthcare services to the under-privileged sections of the society in a cost-effective manner.

Being late adopters of information technology, the healthcare providers investment is more towards setting up basic infrastructure, like putting administrative modules in place, followed by patient data informatics to provide timely and convenient services to patients. This trend throws immense opportunities for vendors in medical informatics segment like telemedicine, PACS, tele-consultancy, and e-prescribing. Healthcare providers still have to go a long way to achieve international standards of healthcare services.

Major Technologies: The key IT markets in the sector are software, services, and PCs. The major drivers for the expenditure are PDAs for nurses, picture archival systems, storage, integration, RFID, computer-based patient records, e-prescribing, and hospital management and information systems.

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