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Working Abroad -
Small players,
big problems
Outsourcing
has not translated into big returns for small players. It is the Big Ten that
use their marketing muscle to land plum projects from the biggest international
clients, writes MOHAN BABU as he recounts his recent trip to India’s IT
capital
During my recent
trip to Bangalore, I was prepared to expect a dynamic, buzzing software industry
and I wasn’t disappointed. With dozens of multinationals and hundreds of small
IT companies, it is definitely a vibrant place. There is a definite drive and
enthusiasm here that I could feel while attending the TiE (The Indus
Entrepreneurs) conference. I also got to meet a cross-section of people from the
industry and media, and enjoyed the discussion with Prashant Rao and Akhtar
Pasha, Bangalore Bureau representatives of Express Computer. A few random
thoughts on my observations follow.
Nasscom, a
big-boy’s club? Although industry bodies like Nasscom and CSI are active in
issuing press releases and publishing regular industry surveys, there is a
general feeling that these bodies are like a “big boys” club. This feeling might
be stemming from the lack of co-ordination bet-ween the big players and the
others in the industry. Another reason could be that Nasscom is trying to emerge
from the shadows of its charismatic leader, late Dewang Mehta. The model of
international bodies like ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) could be
studied by powers-that-be to extend Nasscom’s offerings. Professionals and
companies in the US find that ACM provides the platform for interaction and
assistance with publication of technical white papers, journals and interaction
among SIGs (Special Interest Groups).
Outsourcing has
not translated to big returns for small players. A common refrain among smaller
consultancies and IT shops is that the Big Ten, including the likes of Infosys,
TCS, HCL, Wipro, et al, use their marketing muscle to land plum projects from
big name clients. Given their lack of marketing expertise, the smaller players
are unable to make inroads in the international marketplace. There is probably
an explanation for this: During the heyday of Y2K and dotcom, it did not take
much to start a micro-consulting company. With just one or two marketing
representatives in the US, UK or elsewhere, even small companies could find
talent in Bangalore and Hyderabad, sponsor their work visas, ship them abroad
and start billing the client. This model has all but vanished although some of
the erstwhile body-shoppers tried to morph into outsourcers. Without high-end
project management skills and delivery capabilities, many fell flat leading to
consolidation in the Indian IT industry. Interestingly, ru-mours of EDS’s bid
for Satyam Computers were fuelled by just this kind of trend in the industry.
Where are the
jobs? Not a week goes by without an article from a big company in India
announcing that they are ramping up recruitment. This sometimes leads to a flood
of resumes landing at the desk of the HR people at these companies. How they
sift through thousands of resumes before zeroing in on a few hundred candidates
is anyone’s guess. However, the high intake in engineering and professional
colleges during the past few years is leading to an equally high number of
graduates coming out, many without any firm offers finding the barriers to entry
extremely high. Those lucky (and talented) enough to be selected in a round of
campus interviews escape this drudgery, content to switch jobs after a few years
experience under their belt.
Youth are still
enthusiastic about technology. The movement of outsourcing and BPO jobs to
Indian shores is creating a renewed interest in technology among the next
generation graduating out of technical schools and universities. This trend,
fuelled by offshore outsourcing is expected to continue for sometime in the near
future. However, this also means that the young professionals joining the IT
industry should not expect to be shipped to foreign shores anytime soon. The
reason multinationals are moving to India is to capitalise on the low cost of
operations here which will be negated if they start sending people overseas.
Added to this is the increased restriction on visa issuance to foreigners in the
US, UK, etc, due to the slowdown in their economies along with a renewed
security consciousness. Therefore, an increasing number of jobs are moving to
India making Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai technology hubs.
These trends and
others make for an interesting environment for the Indian software industry that
is hardly over a decade old. Considering the young age of the industry, we can
and should expect some turbulence and at least for now the Indian IT industry
seems to be weathering the global downturn with its characteristic zest.
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