The previous edition of India’s largest IT fair Bangalore IT.com had a tagline that read: “There’s more to the future.” Some of that optimism was in fact visible at the conferences held at IT.com 2003. There was talk about more venture capital flowing in; software products continued to excite as the industry’s ultimate dream; and BPO was the hot topic of discussion across various forums. In fact, the pitch of the whole event seems to have undergone some change—from a tech mela showcasing the success of the Indian IT industry to an event selling Bangalore as the world’s leading BPO destination. How much of the new message actually got across may be open to debate but the central theme was very evident in the event’s new tagline—The Power of Bangalore. Make it yours.

The big parade: Karnataka’s CM SM Krishna, along with industry and government leaders, including Infosys’ CEO Nandan Nilekani; Karnataka’s IT minister DB Inamdar; and i-flex Solutions’ CEO for international operations, Ravishankar

Bangalore’s the Best 
Flagging off the event, Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna made a hard sell for the city as the BPO capital of the world: “The current growth rate of 275% per annum will enable Bangalore to emerge as India’s No. 1 BPO player by 2006. We understand that globalization is the key driver of business process outsourcing,” he said. “Today many software services companies are tapping their existing client base by offering BPO services. The opportunity lies in convincing existing call centers to expand in the city instead of opening new centers in other places,” he added. He also outlined the state’s initiatives to achieve this goal—the Millennium BPO Policy of 2002, and BPO Skills Assessment Test. 

The state IT minister, DB Inamdar also made a strong case for BPO companies to set up shop in Bangalore: “Currently there are around 40 BPO companies in Bangalore, with some of the leading MNCs such as Ernst & Young, Dell, and HSBC setting up shops here. Together, all the BPO companies operating here generate revenue of about Rs 988 crore and employ around 55,000 people,” said Inamdar. He claimed that at least three new IT companies, along with one bio-tech company, were setting up shops in Bangalore every fortnight. 

Product Focus
Another area that drew a lot of interest was the software products and embedded space. Speakers at the Products and Embedded Software conference emphasized the importance of product development. Making a strong case for focusing on software product development, i-Flex Solutions’ CEO for international business, R Ravishankar said, “In selling the services provided by us, we have sold ourselves short. Our country has bought growth at the cost of margins. We are probably the only country that sells the best of quality at the lowest of prices.” He also spoke about the issues faced by the services economy, including a dependence business model that worked on ‘the mercy of visa restrictions’ from other countries.

Let the show begin: Rajiv Ratan Shah, secretary (industrial policy and promotion), Govt of India, lighting the lamp for the event that saw about 15,000 business delegates including 500 foreign visitors, and about 285 IT firms from 14 countries, apart from over 1 lakh general visitors

There was also talk about the challenges that Indian product companies faced, including a shortage of talent in the embedded space and the lack of intellectual property rights (IPR) awareness and enforcement.

“Unlike in services and sometimes in packaged products space, development talent is not easily available in the embedded space,” said G Venkatesh , CTO of Sasken Technologies. “IPR evangelism and protection is weak in India but is picking up.

People are beginning to realize the importance of patents and though Indian companies still do not file the numbers that MNCs do, it is still a beginning.”

On the IT/BPO Trail: West Bengal, like many other states, made its presence felt at Bangalore IT.com. Promoting itself as the Silicon Valley of the East, WB aims at a top 3 slot in ITS/BPO by 2010

Another positive that emerged out of the conferences was the upbeat mood of VCs, who were bullish about investing in the IT industry. “Contrary to the general perception, VC investments have not dried up. In fact, 2002 was the most significant year in VC funding history, if one ignored the crazy dot-com years of 1999-00,” said Samir Kumar, head of Acer Technology Ventures, India. He also pointed out that, according to the Indian Venture Capital Association, more than 26 new VC funding deals had been closed in the first two quarters alone of this financial year. 

Ground Zero
Even though the sixth edition witnessed a drop in the number of general visitors, the number of foreign delegates increased from the previous year’s 300 to 700 including delegations from 14 nations. According to the organizers, nearly 52,000 students participated in the IT Quiz, while 13000 students had their feel of the world wide web at the Student Internet World. 

TV Mahalingam in Bangalore