Avoiding the Twenty20 Syndrome

The recently concluded gladiator sport that passed off as
cricket has been lapped up by millions of young folk in their quest for instant
gratification in front of their television screens, but shunned by the true
cricket connoisseurs who balk at the prospect of bowlers and fielders being
relegated to looking up the skies to watch the trajectory of the ball on its way
into the stands. The paradox of thrills versus incredulity could never have been
more pronounced than in the charade of an ill conceived "shootout"
which saw part-time bowlers hitting undefended stumps as "India beat
Pakistan Three Nil", a bemused captain Dhoni pronounced after the game.

Whats the message for the readers of this column in Indias
premier IT magazine? The fact is that if there are declining quality standards
in our industry, as Mckinsey has been repeatedly pointing out in their
360-degree studies, the search for shortcuts to success has a large portion of
the blame to shoulder. Singer Elton John in his memorable song "Candle in
the wind", written for Marilyn Monroe and later adapted for Princess Diana,
used the phrase "set you on a treadmill" which is what has happened to
many firms, employees, and even aspirants to the IT and BPO industry. The
treadmill for the firms has been the need to succeed and post better results
every quarter while employees bear the brunt of unrealistic deadlines for
projects, and students suffer from peer pressure.

Nothing wrong in all that if you are on the Dhoni and Uthappa
side of cricket where ungainly paddle shots, slashes over slips and heaves over
the mid-wicket fence are the innovations that are required to succeed rather
than the powerful cover drives and late cuts with the ball rarely skimming more
than two inches above the ground. The artisan professor whose lectures on
philosophy and engineering made him the academician of the nineties may well
have to stand back when the young academic teaches the new students tricks of
the latest version number of a new software package. Or when a certified quality
analyst grimaces in dismay as a project is pushed through the gate in spite of
inelegant design and weak architecture as a patchwork of spaghetti code to meet
the deadlines of the client.

So is this column only going to rant and rave, or are there
systemic solutions we can find to the rot that is beginning to set in. It has to
start with a revamping of the education process in all well meaning academic
institutions in the country. Management education globally is seeing successful
partnerships. A well designed finishing school program in India aimed at
producing thoughtful business and technology analysts can enable partnerships to
evolve and flourish between Indian IT and BPO firms, and their clients.

In the context of the firm itself, investments in architecture
and design skills all over the world and the development of a technology-based
platform, where these skilled professionals can participate in IT development
and migration projects, business process optimizations and offshore transitions
can ensure that the SEI CMM journey is a reward rather than a punishment.

A long-term view can and should be taken without succumbing to
inordinate pressures of stock market analysts. If one looks at the goals set by
Nasscom and the industry for this decade, we are already well above the asking
rate with a 30% plus growth in the first six years, having relieved the pressure
of later years in the bid to reach a $60 bn export target. The time may have
come to pause for breath and ensure that the next wave of industry growth is
built on much stronger foundations of quality people, processes and purpose!

The author is deputy chairman
& MD of Zensar Technologies and an Executive Council member of NASSCOM for
2007-09.

He can be reached at ganesh@cybermedia.co.in