Another scorching summer, another scorching DQ Top20

No telling you how living in the scorching summer heat in the capital region
will be harsh. Add to it another hot event in Dataquest, and the chances of
survival seem very low.

Well, a few of us have survived the tension of the 'life-is-full-of-stress
DQ Top20' and the hot summer for quite some time now. But, at the end of every
DQ Top20, there is immense satisfaction that the mega issue will become a
reference point till the next one's out.

The importance of DQ Top20 dawned on me quite early in my career with
Dataquest-way back in 1999, my first year in Dataquest! I got a call from
someone in DG&SD asking for a meeting. During the meeting they 'grilled'
me on the processes, rankings and on just about everything on the DQ Top20. A
little taken aback (I used to do the grilling), I went on to ask them the reason
for their interest in the DQ Top20. As it turned out, they wanted to use the
rankings as a criterion for their tenders. An IT rookie, I was certainly
surprised at the DQ Top20 impact. Since then I have answered a lot of queries
about the DQ Top20, most of them coming from CIOs and the government-of course
from the industry as well. Talking to CIOs, I realize that they use the DQ Top20
extensively to whet vendors. And these are not just CIOs of top 100 companies.
Queries come in from CIOs of smaller companies as well. The issues, which looks
at over 25 segments across the IT industry, is the only one of its kind in the
country and talks about the top vendors in each of these segments. For the CIOs,
it is the first level where they get to look at who the top vendors are in those
particular segments. So, if your company is out of the ranking, it will become a
tough task to convince your CIO why your company is not part of the DQ top20.

And
yet I find some companies not wanting to participate. I don't see any
hesitation from listed companies, the problem seems to be only with a few MNCs-and
the usual reason cited for non-participation is "due to global corporate
policies". I think that's all hogwash. The best example I can think of is
HP India. Pre Compaq merger, we would get just one page from HP, of the
revenues. Just the revenues, period. The reason given: "global
policy". After the merger, with Balu Doraisamy at the helm, HP has become
one of the most transparent companies in terms of giving numbers. I was amazed
at the high level of transparency demonstrated by HP immediately after the
merger. My first thought was: What happened to their global policy of not
sharing the numbers? I guess it had more to do with Balu than HP's global
policies. After various interactions with Balu, and experiencing the high level
of transparency that he shows, I am sure he would have taken a firm stand about
HP India sharing numbers to help its business in the long run.

So, participation in the DQ Top20 will help us understand the segment and
present it better, and will help companies get better mileage. Think about it.

The other aspect of the DQ Top20 saga is the Best Employer Surveys, including
the salary survey. I am amazed at the kind of requests for participation I have
got from companies across the software and hardware segments. The process has
already been initiated and I hope that the companies will participate and help
us present the trend in the IT and BPO industry.

Yograj Varma
Associate Editor, Dataquest