The demand continues. Last year, India’s IT training and
education market grew 33%, crossing Rs 1,500 crore. But half that figure came
from the top two players, and 70% from the top ten.
The Calcutta-based Globsyn Technologies is not in that top
10. Promoted by Bikram Dasgupta, former chief of PCL, the three-year-old
training and software company now ranks #17, with Rs 7.5 crore in IT training
revenues last year. While IT education and training constituted about 60%,
software exports accounted for the balance. In the IT education and training
segment, it grew at over a 40%, thanks partly to its focus on a gap it
identified: software "finishing schools" that combine business
education with focused software area skills.
Now, in addition to partnering with the West Bengal
government for an IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology), it’s
eyeing bigger volumes, with "KnowledgePubs". The objective: to cater
to more segments of the market, from first-time learners to students, with an
eye on serious IT careers, scaling up to professionals seeking specific skill
updates.
Pubs for all
Globsyn’s core product stays at the high end of the
spectrum: TechnoCampus, its finishing-school concept blending software training
with business education. The programs have built in managerial modules to equip
software professionals with business savvy. Currently, Globsyn has seven
TechnoCampus Centers. For the IIIT, it’s a corporate partner of the West
Bengal government, and will provide IT training at the under-graduate and
post-graduate levels as part of the university system in eastern India. The IIIT
campus located at Globsyn’s Technocampus in Salt Lake, Calcutta, has commenced
two courses–Bachelor’s Diploma in IT and Master’s
Diploma in IT–from August 2000.
Top Training Vendors |
||
Rank | Vendor | Revenue (Rs lakh) |
1,2 | Aptech*, NIIT | 71,485 |
3 | SSI | 13,565 |
4 | LCC Infotech | 4,921 |
5 | Tata Infotech | 4,098 |
6 | CMC | 4,018 |
7 | Datapro | 3,763 |
8 | STG International | 2,743 |
9 | CMS | 2,190 |
10 | IIHT | 2,112 |
11 | Boston Education |
2,004 |
12 | Jetking School | 1,857 |
13 | IBM Global Services | 1,781 |
14 | IIS Infotech | 1,504 |
15 | SQL Star International | 1,329 |
16 | Edutech Informatics | 1,100 |
17 | Globsyn Technologies | 743 |
18 | CADD Center | 382 |
19 | Gebbs Infotech | 203 |
20 | Maars Software | 190 |
At the lower end but with an eye at the mass market are the
KnowledgePubs. These ‘Pubs’ or centers are providing all the three modes of
IT skills instruction under one roof–instructor-led, computer-based and
Web-Based training. The focus is shifting from technical certification courses
to overall IT and professional skills. Launched in August this year, the company
intends to set up about 100 KnowledgePubs across the country over the next two
years with an estimated investment outlay of Rs 30 crore. Globsyn chairman
Bikram Dasgupta says that the KnowledgePubs are designed as all-age learning
centers where almost the entire family can find a suitable course of study–from
the first-time learners to students with an eye on serious IT careers. They are
positioned as an "integrated learning concept blending all the three
aspects of IT training". Conventional IT training centers offer only
instructor-led training, which is today failing to keep pace with the frenetic
pace of technology changes and the consequent need for rapid changes in
curricula and instructor skills. The other extreme, the Web-based model also
leaves the student groping for guidance, and is also severely limited by low
Internet penetration under 2% today.
Will it succeed?
The company’s software exports business seems to be growing
faster and with higher margins. In this business, one is not sure about the
long-term focus of the company. So while in 1999-00, IT education and training
accounted for over 60% of revenues, its overall 85% growth was primarily from
software business, about 380%. So in the long term, whether the company will
focus on the high-margin software business or the low-margin, heavy-competition
IT training and education business remains to be seen. Also, unlike the
TechnoCampus finishing schools concept, the KnowledgePubs do not appear to be
bringing much that is new in the market. The "pubs" description may
even be seen as frivolous by some, or confused with cyber cafes. Globsyn
believes the KnowledgePubs will bring it volumes, and big revenues. But here in
the mass market, it will compete with the heavyweights: NIIT, Aptech, SSI and
LCC. Sure, the market demand is huge, but in the long run, Globsyn’s success
in the mass training market will depend on its ability to develop the brand to a
bigger extent than it has managed with TechnoCampus–and to reach an audience
many times bigger.
SUPRABUDDHA SANYAL
in New Delhi