Dataquest : Top Stories : IT's Still A Mirage

IT's Still A Mirage

Continued from page: 3

Rajneesh De

Thursday, March 23, 2006

IT procurement seems to be posing the most serious challenge for these growing enterprises. In fact, there is almost a consensus that MNC vendors do not understand the specific requirements of Indian SMBs. The fact that most of these vendors are pitching IT as utilities now-a-days, is also acting as a deterrent against increasing penetration in this sector. The BFSI sector seems to bear particular grudges against IT vendors-vendors with tall claims and expensive products often lead to post-purchase dissatisfaction; there is a general lack of after sales support; not enough technical inputs are available from the suppliers; and most seriously, different quotations from different vendors for addressing similar problem of an emerging enterprise, often creates confusion in the decision maker's mind, while even external consultants give biased solutions in their own interests.

Notwithstanding the pain points and the low rate of IT adoption, the DQ-IDC survey also found that automation is gradually finding an increasing band of takers amongst growing enterprises. The two biggest drivers seem to be the belated realization that IT could help even these organizations to improve their employee productivity and serve customers better. IT could also help in more mundane business chores such as reducing inventory and building better relations with partners/vendors thereby improving even company bottomlines. Some of the growing enterprises have even started looking at IT as a branding tool-it improves the company image, enables it to move with the current trend and foresee future trends.

Methodology

The DQ-IDC Survey on Growing Enterprises was conducted on a total base of 413 organizations spread across six verticals- Manufacturing, Services, Education, IT Software/Services, BPO and BFSI. The manufacturing vertical, with a base of 168, included companies representing pharma, chemicals & fertilizer, FMCG, food & agri business, beverages, non-FMCG, machinery, auto ancillary, white goods/electronic equipments, textiles & apparels, and sports goods. Services with a base of 97 was represented by hospitals, hotels, travel agents & fleet operators, cargo, courier & transport, logistics companies, printing & publishing, studio/production houses, consultancies/ad agencies/PR firms and automobiles. The IT Services/Software sample of 43 included IT & communication companies and software developers/ISVs, while 42 BFSI companies included co-operative and regional banks as well as NBFCs & stocks brokers, insurance, mutual funds and equity research firms. The survey also included 33 BPO and 30 Education companies.

The survey was conducted in eight top cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. The 413 companies surveyed spanned a wide spectrum in terms of size and nature-their turnovers ranged from less than Rs 10 crore upto Rs 750 crore, while the average total number of employees was pegged at 425. On an average, these organizations had 10 branches across the country, with an average of 169 people employed in the head office.

Out of the 413 companies surveyed, 61% had turnovers under Rs 100 crore, 26% had revenues between Rs 100 crore and Rs 250 crore, while the rest belonged to the Rs 250 crore-Rs 750 crore range. The average turnover of the 413 companies surveyed is Rs 140 crore.

Rajneesh De
rajneeshd@cybermedia.co.in
Graphix: Paras Jain

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