BANGALORE: A set of recommendations pertaining to the strategies to sustain
the 50 per cent growth in the Indian IT industry, was presented by Gartner
analysts at the Gartner Summit 2001 in New Delhi.
While identifying applications development integration as a core competency,
that accounts for almost 75 per cent of the total IT Services revenues, Gartner
analysts prescribed 'demonstrated capability' in product application development
and business process outsourcing as key imperatives to drive India's IT services
growth engine.
Gartner Dataquest (Asia Pacific) group vice president, Craig Baty said
"It is indeed surprising that while Indian IT&T firms have been
successful in developing indigenous applications to run their own companies,
India is yet to produce a single successful branded product. The challenge for
Indian IT companies is to combine their core competency in the area of
application development with a sustained marketing initiative targeted at both
the domestic and international markets to create additional value."
Sujay Chohan, Head of Research, India, said, "Inevitably high value and
credible brands always emerge on top following an economic downtrend. The
'India' brand has made its mark in the US IT markets as a reliable and credible
source of high quality IT services at significantly attractive costs. This will
continue to stand us in good stead as the US economy improves."
The strategy recommendations for the Indian IT vendors are:
- Use more sophisticated segmentation techniques - focus on psychographic
not demographic details. - Adjust marketing communications content to the changed economy - Focus on
tangible benefits in the short term. - Invest in relationships with CEOs and CXOs as this will help translate
into higher value and greater stability. - Focus on projects with short-term payback.
- Extend your market in Europe and Asia Pacific.
Gartner Dataquest (IT Services) Asia Pacific regional director and chief
analyst Rolf Jester said: "Indian IT Services firms selling into the US
market should recognize that the opportunity is significant but buying behavior
has changed. This is because US enterprises are more likely to deal with
providers they are familiar with and those with proven record and vertical
domain expertise in business process outsourcing."
What is imperative for India is the need to build on its existing
infrastructure for call centers and data centers to provide value added services
such as accounting and other business services that are both IT-enabled and also
require English speaking trained personnel, he said.
"In this period of transition in the global IT scenario, the composition
of the Indian IT services revenue is slated to evolve. The markets we serve will
change, as will the end products and services that we offer customers. Indian
companies will need to remain agile so as to make the most of this opportunity
and continue to dominate the global IT professional services market,"
stated country manager (sales), India Partha Iyengar.