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Big Services Daddies
It is not only the dedicated players that are eyeing this segment, so are
the big daddies like TCS and Infosys. TCS, after its acquisition of FNS has been
relatively active in the core-banking space. It has not really been worth too
much in terms of revenues for the company. As TCS is getting much money from
servicing clients, it does not seem to be too keen on the products game.
Infosys has been accelerating on the products domain. Its
banking solution, Finacle, enjoys quite a good installed base in the industry
and yet its contribution to the overall revenue is not something to sing about.
"Finacle contributes approximately 4% of Infosys' total revenues.
However, this data point does not reflect the fact that Infosys has packaged
software only in the banking solutions space while services focus continues to
be across verticals," says Sanat Rao, global head, Finacle Sales, Infosys
Technologies.
The issue is of mindset, it is quite hard for a TCS or Wipro or
Infosys to break the shackles and succeed in the new domain. As long as the
services industry is going great guns, the big daddies will continue to remain
marginal players.
Governmental Interference
Most of the industry players complain about how the government has done
nothing for the industry at large. By imposing excise duty on packaged software
in the last budget, the domestic market has been badly hit.
"It is the IT industry which created the culture of
quality, globalization, technical education, building world class infrastructure
and a brand to recon with in the international markets. I can bet that if the
government had consumed all the tax benefits instead, India could be a laggard
country as it is in all other sectors. Minus, the rise and shine of the Made in
India brand of the software and the BPO industry globally, India has no
international standing whatsoever," says Hanuman Tripathi, MD, Infrasoft
Technologies.
| Does it Tally? |
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Till a few years back, Tally
was the poster boy of Indian IT industry. A homegrown solution aimed at
the small domestic players, Tally really grew in real stature. Since Tally
package was customized for Indian needs and requirements, it had
completely dominated the SMB space.
Over the years, the big ones
like the SAPs and the Oracles of the world were focused on the big
companies in India. That was till a few years and now the very same
international have woken up to the immense opportunity in the SMB space.
Suddenly, Tally was under attack with international players products at
lower price. Its price plank was removed, the growth was stagnant and
suddenly the company seemed vulnerable.
To counter the situation,
Tally is trying to reinvent itself. After being funded by Reliance Mukesh
Ambani Group, that also picked up a stake in the company, Tally has been
trying to reach out to different markets like the Middle East. It has also
decided to take the game to the enemies' court, by venturing into the
ERP space. Tally also came out with a solution for the retail sector. Time
will tell if Tally will be able to tally all the different things that it
seems to be doing or will it, just not tally. |
Menon from Subex wants organizations like Nasscom to play a more
proactive role. "They really need to promote the industry like they have
done for BPO. Once the word is spread, more and more entrepreneurs will come
forward and the industry will flourish," he says.
Kohli's Gift
Coming back to the father of Indian IT. Kohli has not let age or anything
come between him and his vision. He was responsible for recently engineering a
CBFL (computer based functional learning) method that has provided literacy to
many thousands in rural India. He even talks about creating a product for the
numerous kirana stores dotting every town and city in India. "These stores
with a computer and a custom made solution could then compete with the Walmarts
and HomeDepots of the world," he mentions.
Vision is the key. If an octogenarian can still think about
creating products and solutions that can be used by millions, what really
encumbers millions of computer geniuses and management whiz kids from doing so?
It is perfect time to move into the product space, to do something truly path
breaking. The product industry is indeed at a point of inflection.
Shashwat Chaturvedi
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1 2 3
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