ICT factors play pivotal role for economic prosperity: AMI Partners

KOLKOTA: While traditional parameters like GDP growth, job creation, and revenue earnings can be used to gauge the economic health of a nation, ICT-related factors such as technology adoption, IT/telecom usage and spending trends also play a vital role and must be taken into account. According to New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., currently, telecommunications and IT create the strongest multiplier in an economy.






Small and medium businesses (SMBs) constitute one of the most important segments of India's industrial economy, a new survey shows, accounting for approximately 95 percent of the total industrial units and contributing a substantial amount to India's GDP. Indian SMBs are forging strong links in business value chains as their processes become digitized and information flow becomes less manually or paper driven. Adoption of computers, usage of software, and the updating of Web sites have brought SMBs increasingly to the fore.





In the present context, more and more SMBs are viewing IT as an essential strategic tool for their business instead of just another technology investment. In India, MBs have already crossed the first wave of IT & technology adoption. SBs, on the other hand, are still in the first wave, primarily focusing on basic computing needs.





According to AMI, demand for IT products and services on a roll with spending CAGR over the next five years being predicted at 28 percent. The survey by AMI Partners shows that India was among the top five IT markets in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan). Among India SBs, IT spending was close to $3.5 billion in 2004, with computing hardware (computers, printers, peripherals and servers) accounting for over half of expenditures.





India SBs spent almost $six billion on local and long-distance telephony services, reflecting that usage is still basic and they will likely access more advanced telecom services in due time. However, the entry of new operators and the introduction of novel services are contributing to growth in this segment. The majority of India SMBs are inclined towards buying both local and long-distance services from a single service provider. Over two fifths of India MBs are likely to shift to providers who offer service packages that include local, long-distance and high-speed Internet access.





- CyberMedia News