Information Technology

November 16, 2006
The IT show goes on and Bangalore is set to get the act right, all over again!

Sufia Tippu

BANGALORE -- Around 300 Indian and MNCs including Texas Instruments, Lenovo, Xerox, WEP, Infosys, Cognizant, Reliance and Wipro among others had taken part in the show where for the first time SMS was used to send information on Bangalore IT to visitors and delegates. Similarly, to register for participation at the seminars -- the HR and SME conferences -- one had to punch reghr/ regsme and send the same to a designated number and the registration number and bar-coded ticket would be sent instantly.

Aircel Business Solutions (ABS) and Microsense had also got together to provide Worldwide Interoperable Microwave Access – popularly known as the WiMax, so that delegates and visitors could access the Internet without wires.

For the first time, the IT show had a focused pavilion for developers of IT parks to exhibit their projects. Top players such as K. Raheja Constructions, Shapoorji Pallonji, Skyline, Panchsheel, Purvankara, Adarsh and Prestige were some of the well-known participants.

CM’s promise

Providing a promising start to the proceedings was the youthful and proactive Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy unveiling the plans of a Knowledge City between Bangalore and Mysore and Bidadi near Ramanagar, besides five townships and the icing in the form of WiMax seamless broadband connectivity to the City come January, which would usher in telecommuting and other facilities for the cyber citizens.

Further, Kumaraswamy, vowed that all efforts would be made to ensure that the state retained its numero uno position in the IT sector and the government would strive hard to remain in the forefront by unfurling new initiatives.

The chief minister said the government, on its part, would encourage, promote and development of nanotechnology, micro electronics, chip design, semi-conductor and IP.

The Software Technology Park of India (STPI) – Bangalore and Hyderabad director B.V. Naidu said that the BangaloreIT.in would be the launch pad for promoting and projecting Bangalore as the hub for creating IP. Sure enough, one of the theme pavilions of this year’s IT.in was the IP Zone, which was the cynosure of the curious visitors as also the genX crowd where nearly a dozen companies showcased some of the trailblasing products created by Brand Bangalore bandwagon.

IP Zone and the brave new world of sleek gizmos

The IP Zone was a crowd puller – where on show were a mixed baggage of old and new products, which had a steady stream of visitors, specially, the young college and engineering graduate crowd making a beehive at each of the company’s stalls.

This pavilion was to highlight the fact that India has evolved not only in delivering IT services but also in creating IP that enables India to compete with other developed countries in creating high-end technology products for global markets.

The theme of the “IP Zone” was “Innovative India.” The participating companies were Ittiam Systems, Encore Software, NetDevices, NXP Semiconductor, Rambus, SemIndia, SiRF Technology, Tata Elxsi, Tejas Networks, and Xora Software Systems.

The digital gizmos on display were a kid-tracker – a basic mobile with GPS, showcased by chipmaker SiRF Technology. The device, as the name suggests, enables the tracking and locating one’s child in an emergency. The device has five buttons, four of which can be pre-programmed and set to important contact numbers such as parents, guardians, schools, et al.

Besides, through the gadget’s GPS, parents can get real time updates on the precise location of their child. It is being retailed by SK Telecom in Korea under the brand iKids.

Likewise, Xora’s GPS TimeTrack is akin to iKids, expect that this is a mobile workforce management solution where companies can inexpensively track their staff by giving them GPS-enabled mobiles. It can keep track of when they clock in for work, start/end of a job, and chooses the optimal route from one in the city to another and offers voice instruction. It is expected to hit the market in a year’s time.

SiRF is expected to push into the market in 2008 a camera that will tag one’s photos with the location where it was shot. A GPS-integrated digicam it can also interact with Google Earth to graphically zoom in where the snap is taken. Also, on offing is a GPS-enabled watch that tells you your speed, altitude and even how much calories one has burnt as also a smart job zone wherein when the user crosses the zone, the administrator is alerted.

Tata Elxsi’s IP set-top boxes, NXP Semiconductor’s digital hybrid TV, and NetD’s services gateway solutions were other wares on show at the pavilion.The newly anointed State IT Secretary M.N. Vidyashankar chipped in that infrastructure was being seriously addressed and was on the high priority list of the state government.

Vidyashankar said providing infrastructural facilities was an ongoing process and the government was committed to provide necessary infrastructural facilities to the IT sector.

Fizz lacking

However, despite the postures, promises and pronouncements, Brand Bangalore’s flagship mega tech event lacked the fizz and fervour of the yore. From the heady heights of IT wave of late ‘80s the signature event had reached its plateau in mid-90s and has now virtually its nadir.

An event that once wow-ed the ordinary mortals and the best in business alike when they swarmed the historic Bangalore Palace in droves, BangaloreIT.in today though seems to have lost its Midas Touch. Is the goose (read BangaloreIT.in) that laid the Golden Egg nine summers ago pitch forking Bangalore and its IT bandwagon of legion companies onto the global centre stage, still at IT?

Well, the state government and the official satraps still think so.

Although footfalls have been falling by the year, closer networking was being done behind the scenes and many smaller companies were meeting up with other smaller firms to engage in niche development activities.

Yes, the proverbial resplendent red carpet was rolled out. The pleasing and eye catching rainbow hued hangers were all there waiting to invite the prospective business crowds, the eager-beavers, the general diaspora. Despite the sincere efforts of the state government, the officials and the participants, there was something lacking, and a sense of somnolence, listlessness, and lethargy seemed to have descended on the sylvan setting which once provided a fitting façade for the marquee congregation.

It just seemed that new overseas companies knew where exactly to head towards – talk to other players in their relevant field and get the business going without any hype or major fanfare. For instance, Claes Adolfsson, CEO, Abonnir, a Swedish company was full of praise for some companies he had met at the show. “I am meeting them over the next one week and will be tying with a couple of them to do some development work for us,” he said.

States sales pitch

The mandatory pavilions e-Nation, STPI, e-States, IT Parks, e-Infocomm, e-Software, e-Hardware & Digital Utilities were there to pitch for business from their own backyard. Among the States those that had put up stalls were Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Orissa, Maharashtra promoting Pune and Tamil Nadu promoting Chennai and other smaller cities.

While Bangalore and Karnataka’s bete noire Andhra Pradesh was quite conspicuous by its absence, Tamil Nadu, though made a hard sales pitch for its Tier-II cities touting six destinations like Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli and Hosur as the next IT hotspots of that State. The collectors of these respective cities were at their collective best wooing Bangalore iconic companies to expand in those cities.

Likewise, West Bengal and Kerala too made the right noises to woo Bangalore’s best to come and set up shop in their cities. West Bengal, in particular, projected Kolkata as an ideal gateway to the entire South Asian market including that of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore. Likewise, Chandigarh too made a strong sales pitch for a piece of the IT pie.

Nations’ beckon

Among the overseas contingent, Sri Lanka, wooed Indian IT companies to invest in the Emerald Island and leverage on the IT skills of its talent pool. Lankan Science & Technology Minister Tissa Vitharana said his country wanted to benefit from the IT boom in India and prevent its talented engineers from leaving the shores to more greener pastures due to lack of strong technology base.

Even the global presence at the e-Nations pavilion, which was but a handful unlike earlier years saw Barcelona with a contingent of six companies gracing BangaloreIT.in for the first. Bavaria, Australia’s Victoria State, Germany’s Bavaria State, the United Kingdom, a regular, among others too made a pitch for IT investments into their respective countries.

The Republic of Malta, also welcomed Indian investors in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) to set up units in island nation, which was the gateway to the European Union and Africa. Sangeeta Dua E Sullivan, Director of Sullivan Mediterranean Group

observed that Malta, which mainly depended on trade, had a highly educated population and was just 40 minutes by air to both Libya and Rome while it took about two hours to Frankfurt.

Incidentally, the Malta team had discussions with officials of Wipro, State IT Secretary M N Vidyashankar and STPI Director B V Naidu. Dubai Internet City is setting up 'Smart City Malta' in the island at a cost of ten million Euros to set up units for value adds for its clients, Sullivan said.

Education-based SEZs

The mandatory conclaves were an altogether different cake. The conferences held both at the Palace Grounds and Hotel Grand Ashok saw rather token attendance but threw up interesting issues on various subjects on hand. At the Human Resources Conclave on Evolution of HR in India, Union Additional Secretary (IT) Madhavan Nambiar, said the Centre planned to set up separate education based SEZs in smaller cities in the country to reduce the growth pressure being witnessed in metros.

Stating that though the country produced a large number of engineering graduates, only 30 percent of them proved fit for jobs, he said, we are the youngest work force in the world, with an average age of 24 years, compared to China’s 30 years. However, only 30 percent of the youth, who take up jobs undergo vocational training as against the 68 percent in developed countries. Hence, the center is planning to set up finishing schools to improve the employability of the Indian youth, he added.

The special session on ‘What CEOs expect from Human Resources’, attended by large number of HR fraternity, provided interesting insights into the sea change witnessed in the HR department. Job hopping among IT professionals was becoming a major hurdle resulting in the attrition rate climbing up steadily in the IT industry. This was proving to

be a threat to the growth of the industry in the country, CEOs of major IT players felt.

Datacore Technology COO and founder of HR in India R. Raghav was of the view that

with the advent of IT revolution in the country, the genesis of HR has seen a sea change. From a small office in the factory, it had now entered the board room. From carrying out the main task of preparation of pay rolls, the HR department has assumed a strategic role.

Tata Consultancy Services Director N.G. Subramaniam said the CEO and HR fraternity helped shape revolutionary performance of employees. HR was no more an entity that distributed pay slips or simply dealt with the labour or industrial disputes, but had become an expert in man management that was vital for an organisation to grow in the global scenario.

“The job of the HR director is to create agents of change. The culture in an organisation is developed because of this person. He will have to squeeze more out of the clock. Growth in IT industry has brought tremendous challenges in management scale. The new HR fraternity needs courage. It should not see people as commodities. There is a need to touch the hearts and minds of the people,” he said.

Dell Computers country manager Vivek Mansingh said the new challenge IT companies faced was not that of technology or market, but “how to create people who can be leaders.”

“HR fraternity has to understand the global rule to improve the standard of HR, employee performance and the overall administration of the company. We have to globalise HR, otherwise we will not be able to produce globally competitive companies. Our youth should understand that excellence comes only with experience and not by mere job hopping. They should understand the difference between a job and a career,” he said.

ISA sees manpower problem

India Semiconductor Association (ISA)’s conference on ‘the future of semiconductor industry in India – Is HR Ready & Engaged?’ while highlighting the specific HR related areas in the semiconductor domain, had experts state that the semiconductor industry was staring at an acute shortage of manpower with the talent crisis looming large over the industry. According to representatives from semiconductor firms while plenty of engineers were graduating, the issue was one of competence. The industry faces a huge supply and demand gap of competent professionals they felt.

SMEs demand Parks, sops

The small and medium enterprises (SMEs), were exhorted to go in for innovation, value-added growth strategies and that funds will automatically come to them as a lot of money bags were chasing good business. Presenting the E&Y Report on the SME sector at the session on ‘Need for Balance Eco-system to support the SMEs’ at the SME Forum on ‘How SMEs can Succeed’, Ernst & Young vice president Vishal Goel said it was imperative to provide venture capital finance as also special funds, besides incubation facilities, in order to facilitate the structured growth of SMEs and help them file enough patents.

Stressing the need for creating a conducive business milieu through simplification of norms, putting in place right infrastructural facilities, creating product development cell as in Israel, Goel emphasised the need for development of IT and ITES park in Tier-III and Tier-IV cities.

Stating these were some of the demands of the SME players in the country, he said, the sector has also called for provision of interest subsidies to undertake Capex programme, attrition control policy, access to markets and investments, all of which can happen provided STPIs ensured comfort levels for the potential investors.

Observing that the SMEs were hesitant to set up shop in SEZs and other similar facilities because they believed they just act as training ground for the freshers who then migrate to larger companies. Among other constraints they face include cost of employee, lack of economies of scale and are forced to plough in 70 percent of their profits into the business.

Brickwork India chairman and CEO Vivek Kulkarni pointed out that the three main problems that the SMEs face are human resources, branding and marketing, and infrastructure. To overcome these, he said, the SMEs could shift to clusters like ITPL or

STPI, thereby reducing the land and other infrastructural costs. SMEs were not getting the cost advantages which large companies were deriving and the SMEs were incurring 25 percent higher cost on HR and land, he added.

Further, Kulkarni pointed out that the SMEs were contributing 40 percent of the Rs 100,000 crore IT-based exports the country had achieved last year. The exports stood at US $23 billion, which had to be scaled up to US $60 billion by the end of the decade.

While there were 800 large IT companies contributing US $13 billion in revenue, the SMEs amounted to over 4,000 in the country. However, SMEs had failed to match the growth rates of big companies. While big companies accounted for 30 to 31 percent growth, the growth rate of small companies remained at 17 percent. The profit after tax achieved by SMEs was also 30 to 40 percent less than the big companies, he said.

According to Goel, the overall contribution of IT industry to the country included creating of one million jobs, five percent of GDP and 10 percent of forex revenues. In this, the SMEs’ share was 42 percent. The SMEs were contributing greatly to the economies of various states, achieving disciplined growth even in non-IT hubs, thus helping development of urban centres other than metros. However, continuous rise in attrition had affected the SMEs badly. While the national average of attrition rate in SMEs was 15.4 percent, some suffered even up to 40 to 50 percent, he said.

Stating that cluster type of set up was best suited for IT-based SMEs, he said this would bring large scale advantages. SMEs badly need the tax holiday to be extended to sustain their profits, he opined.

Burnish Brand Bangalore & BangaloreIT.in

The CEOs on their part were unanimous in their opinion that while Brand Bangalore still holds its own it is, however, time to burnish the Brand Bangalore in a big way lest too much complacency and staleness sets in. According to them instead of a ritualistic rigmarole to be undertaken annually time the BangaloreIT.in became a bi-annual event. The show lately seems to go on come rain, sunshine, without much enthusiasm they feel.

With competition and similar conclaves being the order of the day in other states as well, the collective opinion among the cross section of people was that the organizers must give a serious thought to what best can be done in order to bring back bang into IT.in lest it is related into the realms of boredom.

Further, they pointed out that, this time around there was neither pomp nor pageantry, no ad blitz or road shows, no shrill sales shindig to sell the showcase event to the prospective audiences. Yes, as last year’s tagline read Inspire, Innovate and Empower IT, this must also become a new mantra of the powers that be in the government and the show organisers. It’s time to reboot IT.in and see the Team Bangalore can rekindle and recreate the magic and sparkle in IT.in. The time has indeed come for a reality check on IT.in.

Infosys chief operating officer S. Gopalakrishnan was quite blunt when he said Bangalore, is indeed, losing its sheen. We see the number of job creation coming down and companies looking at newer locations,” to set up shop.

Bangalore, which was once the coveted IT destination, for the biggies in business, to set up their roost, now has to contend with others like Hyderabad, Chennai, Kerala, et al.

IIIT-Bangalore director Prof. S. Sadagopan hit the nail on the head when he observed “we need to aspire for something higher. He observed that frequently a sense of not being wanted was being felt by people and investors.

State IT secretary M.N. Vidya Shankar, at the receiving end of the various brickbats, however, played a straight bat, when he said the government has plans to take care of the City’s requirement in the next 20 years. Indeed, a one long shot, that. !

Next year will mark the decade of BangaloreIT.in. Will it see a new dawn in the life of an event that rise like a Phoenix and match in scale, organization and attraction like a Cebit and the like. Well crystal gazers, soothsayers and tarot card readers can make their predictions. As ordinary mortals we can only await BangaloreIT.in Circa 2007 and take a up, close and personal look at it. Till then, adieu BangaloreIT.in 2006 and welcome Bengalooru.IT.in 2007.