'There is a huge market for e-learning products abroad and in India'

Can you tell us about the activities in your centre of
excellence?

With the e-learning sector buzzing with activity, it has also thrown open a
homogeneous community. We are in the process of building physical infrastructure
in two phases in Pune. When we setup the center of excellence, we were 100 in
number and have grown two-fold, resulting in business growth.

What are the skills taught through e-learning?

With four million graduates passing from colleges every year, e-learning
sector opens the gate for those who can create GUI, design support sets, ability
to design and describe a product, write user documentation, have product
engineering skills and programming knowledge. Training is also a very important
aspect, as one needs to understand the business processes for developing a world
class product and solution for the industry.

How is the market for the products abroad and specifically in
India?

There is a huge market for e-learning products abroad and in India it is at
a nascent stage offering scope for many players to tap the $20 mn through new
product development. Though we have no real challenge in the country, there is
barely a small market (Rs 90 crore) for e-learning products for consumption and
expect a reasonable double-digit growth. The country is a major exporter of
e-learning product and solution and the reasons being:core competencies centered
on programming, lot of animation and graphic talent, huge advantage in English
language, and project management skills.

How do you plan to tap the Indian market?

Earlier, there was some resistance among the teachers to such tools and that
has reduced considerably due to awareness. But the major pain point is
allocation of budget for such tools in education sector. But one can tap the
market by creating a product, making the right buzz and reaching out to
universities and government through direct contact.

While players like NIIT, Tata Interactive have presence as
outsourced content developers, Harbinger is into product development offering a
range of products and solutions in the area and we are concentrating on IT and
BPO companies. Harbinger's strategy is to reach out to the potential customer
through direct market selling, conferences, webinars and online presence.

AC Ganesh, CIOL

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in