Discovering New Horizons!

Its been a year of discontent and yet a year of great satisfactionfor the
country, the industry, and for me personally. Taking over the reins as the
chairman of Nasscom at a time when there were just a few clouds on the otherwise
blue skills (or sky??) of the Indian IT and services industry, it has been
interesting to see the constant word growth being quickly replaced by
recession, slowdown, protectionism, and layoffs as the repetitive lexicon of the
times.

The discontent has been stirred by all the negative trends and aggravated by
the almost compulsive negative reporting, a practice gleefully followed by most
members of the press in our country. This has resulted in a transformation of
the feel good sentiment in the industry to one of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and
doubt) and a Keynesian Depression of Sentiment that is not a good sign at the
beginning of a new fiscal year.

What we could and should take satisfaction from is the fact that the country
will still grow at 7% and most of the significant players in our industry are
still recording double digit growth. This is no mean achievement in a year where
declines are predicted for almost all the global economies and customers for all
exporters are finding it difficult to put even quarterly investment plans
together. The outlook, however, is still positive given how well we are
entrenched in the value chain of global corporations.

And while the industry has shown resilience to swim through the perfect
storm, Nasscom has also demonstrated time and again why it is a role model for
industry associations, not just in India but all over the world. The focus on
key initiativesinnovation, industry-academia partnerships, security, global
trade development, and green IThave enabled the reputation of Indian offshore
service providers to be enhanced. Quick actions taken in the case of Satyam
fraud revelations and how to mitigate the impact of visa curbs that are expected
to hit the US Congress floors this session have established Nasscom as a trade
body that means business and helps business to succeed. The outstanding
leadership provided by Som Mittal and the experienced Nasscom team has kept the
industry flag flying proudly in fair weather and foul.

There are new horizons that the industry and the association must recognize
and conquer. New overseas geographies like Japan and Latin America, new focus
segments like engineering services and gaming, and new services like SoA and
SaaS will take priority for companies. Moreover, the association along with the
support of all ecosystem partners including, governments, companies,
individuals, and academia must implement its laudable fifty-locations plan, so
that the growth of the industry can be spread to all corners of the country.

Here is a specific appeal to readers of this column to put Srinagar on their
travel map; not just to do a Shikara ride on the famous Dal lake, but also to do
their bit to help the Kashmiri youth find their place in the IT and BPO sun. A
recent Nasscom delegation visit to the state, mounted in three weeks at the
invitation of the young and dynamic CM Omar Abdullah, demonstrated that all
aspects of the ecosystem are prevalent there. Devender Rana, the CMs advisor;
Dr Ahmad and Dr Rasool of Kashmir University; Dr Haseeb Drabu, chairman of J&K
Bank; sons of the soil like filmmaker Ashok Kaul; CEOs Ishan and Anjali Raina;
well-meaning individuals and groups in the city; and even our cab driver Haneef,
who lectured us passionately on the potential of Kashmir youthare all examples
of a passion that is waiting to be unleashed. Its possible, if only all of us
can lend a helping hand, not from a CSR perspective, but as a matter of
enlightened and clairvoyant self-interest. For all of us and me personally, it
would be both a responsibility and a privilege to make these locations buzz with
economic activity in the years to come!

Ganesh Natarajan

The author is Chairman of NASSCOM and Vice Chairman & MD of Zensar
Technologies. He can be reached at
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in