One area practically untouched by technology & it’s benefits are our local SME’s .These are increasingly becoming important in our expanding economy. There is tremendous scope for all kinds of packages like ERP, SCM to increase their productivity and make them globally competitive. But these companies would typically have smaller outlays and their leadership is generally less equipped about leveraging technology for their benefits.
Some software company which builds a low cost solution and sells the productivity benefit to this segment should benefit immensely.
Posted by Sumit Garg

Cloud computing at a developmental stage may be high end, but its applications are pretty much to the broad user universe. The upside is that it gives you fractional utility of high cost ERP at an affordable price, so much so that you can run with little or no capex since you never have to install anything on premise as you get all your IT services on demand.

While on the moot point of expanding IT usage, you need to achieve higher PC penetration before you get there. The costs of system hardware is still too high for our folks to own and that’s why we still find cyber cafes and browsing centers servicing customers that walk in to post a resume or to surf a job/marriage portal. In such an environment, the so called `mass market’ is a misnomer.

Then comes enterprise demand. But the hitch there is most companies negotiate package software `free’ with their hardware vendors including maintenance, upgrades and the like. Now where is the question of ISV’s picking up the slack?

That’s why I stressed on innovation. Simple, smart innovations are possible even with startups. What it needs is a mindset that is marked not just on tech evangelism but to identify a market need, go ahead and solve it. It need not be by way of disruptive innovation with cutting edge tech, it can be something that eliminates wastage or reduces complexity for the customer to see value and place an order.
Posted by Krishna Mony

I learnt this from a kid (well practically one, at least from my point of reference).
Having something called IT industry based only on consuming knowledge, and not producing it, will never work. So the basic work-to-do is to produce knowledge.
The next step is to spread awareness to non-IT industries of the exact benefits, quantified, contractual, and penalizable. Else conventional industry, which is used to sensible engineering practices that support all these, will never bite.
The third is to start small, in local arenas, and build what works there, build to excel global standards. Without this effort, there is no real capability created to do offshore work, which will become more demanding day by day.
It is ridiculous to talk of cloud computing when its very definition has been distorted by jargonists. A true cloud environment can only be open to all and not private; otherwise it is just a rented data-center with some mumbo-jumbo of rented APIs. Yes, you can continue to build CRUD apps on those. Do not count too much on SaaS either, my sales instincts tell me that a market cannot be built on lies for too long. Too much jargon, without substance, is what the market is really put off by. The opportunities will come in areas that can provide measurable improvements.
Posted by Kinshuk Adhikary

The biggest opportunity is in developing high end cloud computing tech, System Integration, remote data center applications and gradually move away from typical Applications Development Management (ADM) contracts that has been the mainstay of India’s IT vendors. It is tough to soar with eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys.
But for this, we need to reform ourselves fundamentally. For starters, recognize our illusions and shed the hubris of technology stalwarts even as we are mice in our own backyard. Then genuinely invest in innovation and R&D – not spray paint or incremental innovation but something more organic and original. Today if you look at R&D spend (as a % of revenues) in any IT company balance sheet, you could mistake it for a rounding error. Individually we may have the talent, but the real effect can be seen only if we learn to bunch together for some clear purpose.
I have always been a heavy opponent of huge costs of on-premise ERP applications. There is no reason why one should pay those millions of $$ in license fee and then back it up by 22% in AMC. Then, there is the cost of SI’s, consultants, upgrades and revisions. It’’s time we have our own version of SFDC style on-demand apps that beat the hell out of bulge bracket ERP mongrels like SAP, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and deliver some real value to customers on a pay per drink basis.
Posted by Krishna Mony

Opportunities are of two kinds in any market
1. Need based opportunity- larger market and many players
2. Niche / Unknown / Concept Opportunities – smaller market and few players

One has to decide where they want to play
Govt and opportunities – Govt is possibly one of the largest provider of opportunities in any country. India being on the growth path and govt waking up to the benefits of Information Age has given way to many opportunities.

Global market changes affect services industry mostly. Product industry typically is not as affected. But having said that, if spending reduces so will supply and affects the supplier directly, be products or services. But the quantum of change depends on the market segment being addressed.
Posted by Ramesh Meda

A good opportunity is where Indian IT companies are moving up the value chain, and into IT business consulting and software designing.

Another one is of new European IT firms diversified and emerged into Indian market, and this is also changing the paradigm for IT market as they seek growth through collaboration and mergers with Indian firms.
Posted by Faraz Shafiuddin

Government and public sector opportunities:
1) Process of procurement is not clear as this is being handled by people who are eminently not suited to the job. Hence committees get appointed.
2) Committees consist of retired professors who have no interest or have too many dogmas to facilitate an open minded view of what is required. Alternatively, a consultant is appointed and this consultant has to prove ‘worth’ by making outrageous specifications.
3) Thus, requirement specifications are not clear
4) In addition, multiple software vendors demonstrate software, adding to the confusion in requirements
5) Starting with bad requirements, other steps of procurement process begin to disintegrate as well
6) Then, outrageous conditions of turnover are imposed
7) Bids with 5000% variance are common as there are no technical qualifications imposed, only business qualifications.
Most software companies are excluded from bidding for any public sector banks for example. Take a look at turnover constraints
9) People specify SEI CMM Level 5. Genuinely, it is never understood that this is a self certification, aided by some people in CMM. This restricts firms eligible to bid.
10) Since requirements are not clear, profitable delivery is a big issue

Posted by Prahlad

Globally recognized Indian talent can anytime collaborate, join hands and build superb products and generate billions.
- Even at the time of recession, Indian IT cos have emerged as worrier, and now its the time to convert our efforts into lucrative business engagements, leveraging our globally recognized expertise and talent.
- Some industries like healthcare etc. are booming up these days, we can pitch them for business.
- Enterprise in Domestic Indian Market are a good target, although only big ones are investing good amount in IT and commissioning projects to IT giants only but at the same time small/ mid size Enterprise in India are also looking to invest in IT and that is an option for Indian Services companies to gain business from there.
Posted by Sudeep bhatnagar

In My Perspective,
- Increasing demand for IT professionals despite the ensuing slowdown
- Rapid proliferation of the Internet in the domestic and global markets
- Shift in the business model from the brick-n-mortar to the click-n-mortar one
- Shift in the global markets from legacy systems to more of web-based systems
- Indian government’s thrust towards increased computerization of offices, banks etc
- Global outsourcing market is all set to boom (especially under the current
circumstances)
- IT enabled services in the country and across the globe is forecasted to explode
- Shift in focus towards other markets such as Europe, Japan, Australia etc
Posted by Vishal Bhatia