An Eventful Journey...

The thought of an IT publication came into being in December 1981, in New

Delhi. After a year of planning, raising money, and hard work, on a chilly

December morning of 1982, the Dataquest magazine made its way to the newsstands-and,

the rest, as they say, is history

Quite by coincidence, a rather nice one at that, I get to pen a

piece on the Indian IT industry every few years. To be precise, I write when

there is a momentous occasion or when we, at CyberMedia, are celebrating an

event or an anniversary. The last time I had written a piece for Dataquest was

for the millennium issue in 2000. Those were momentous times; there was a fair

bit of excitement in the marketplace, the BPO industry was growing and the IT

industry was buoyed by the Y2K effect.

Much water has flown under the bridge since then; what was a

dream then, is a reality now. Way back then, we all hoped that the Indian IT

flag would fly high across the globe, and it has. We wished that the 'made in

India' brand would be a mark of distinction, and it is. In fact, at times it

is hard to believe that all this has truly happened.

But then, it had to, after all the seeds that were planted some

50 years ago. Here we are again, talking about those times, remembering and

celebrating the moment when it all started with a gift from the benign USSR 50

years back in 1956-a URAL computer, which was installed at the Indian

Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, marking the beginning of Indian

computing. In the mid '80s, we had carried a special issue: 'Thirty Years of

the Indian Computer Industry'. That time CyberMedia was only a few years old

and the industry 30 years old.

Now, the Indian IT industry is celebrating its 50th anniversary

and Dataquest is on the eve of its 25th. And, this time round, I would

like to touch upon this symbiotic association, of an industry on its tryst with

destiny and a media group steadfast on integrity.

The thought of an IT publication came into being in December

1981 in New Delhi. After a year of planning, raising money, and hard work, on a

chilly December morning of 1982, Dataquest made its way to the newsstands-and,

the rest, as they say, is history.

Not many had faith in the future of the computing industry, let

alone a computer magazine. We were India's first B2B publication. Besides

politics and movies, nothing used to work in the Indian magazine. No successful

sports magazines or children's magazine. But, we were planning a computer

magazine-that too when there were less than 2,000 computers in the country.

Yet, we had faith in the industry and more importantly, in ourselves. The

CyberMedia Group has been there through the thick and thin, starting from the

times when all the policies and decisions were made by a government body, the

Department of Electronics, or DoE, to the current state when Infosys stock is

included in the Nasdaq Index.

CyberMedia has played numerous roles through these times, much

like the 'hats' marketing guru Edward de Bono so frequently talks about. We

have been a chronicler of events in the IT industry, every single issue that has

been of significance can be found mentioned in some page of one of the

publications. In fact, researchers glean through Dataquest copies to

understand the hows and whys of Indian IT. We have also played an important role

in educating the market as well as the industry. PC Quest has played a pivotal

role in that regard; in its pages you can find explanations and practical ways

even for the most complicated IT issues. Dataquest's brand extensions-DQ

Channels & DQ Week-have helped develop the channel business in India.

Personally, I am most happy about the prophetic role played by

CyberMedia. We not only analyzed the events, but also predicted how they will

play out in the future. For instance, in the early '90s, IDC conducted a study

for the government of India funded by the World Bank, evaluating software

competency in India. Way back then, we had predicted that Indian IT had the

capability of joining the billion dollar club; at that time, software exports

were barely a hundred sixty million. The World Bank study gave the industry a

belief in its own competitiveness.

We have also played a formative role in policy making for the

industry. For instance, in 1984, we had carried a big article spanning 40 or

more pages on the New Computer Policy-a massive interview of Dr N Seshagiri,

the secretary of DoE. Additionally, our role in rationalizing duty structures,

piracy, e-Governance, bandwidth, etc has been there for the industry to see.

We have also played the role of scorekeeper for the IT industry.

From the second year, we have been coming out with the DQ Top 20 list. The idea

was to not only set a benchmark, but also to enthuse a competitive streak in the

industry players. Within a short span of time, DQ Top 20 became a standard well

accepted by the media and the industry at large. Companies highlight their

achievement by talking about their rank in the DQ Top 20. Today, the list spans

four volumes, covering the industry, players and verticals in extreme details.

In 1993, we instituted the Lifetime Achievement and the Person

of Year awards, the most respected recognition in the industry.

Why, one may think, have we been able to achieve this where many

else have failed? The answer lies in the value system at CyberMedia, starting

from the very top we have always worked in a transparent and honest fashion.

CyberMedia is renowned for its integrity and unbiased coverage of people and

events. We have supported and criticized the industry. The values that we held

dear in '82, are very much still there with us.

And now, when the industry has turned 50, it is time for us to

reaffirm our commitment. We will continue to be the mirror for the industry-the

trusting friend and the guiding light. Who knows how things will pan out in the

next 50 years? But, I am sure of one thing-Indian IT will be all the more

dominant and so will CyberMedia. Meanwhile, you go ahead and pop the bubby,

while I will catch you again, during another such celebratory juncture.