IT companies urged to fine- tune strategies

With the US economy up and running, domestic information technology companies must now tune in their strategies as per the changes in the requirements of their global clients, according to Pradeep Gupta, managing director, IDC (India).

Gupta was addressing the annual conference of IDC, a global technology consultancy, on Information Technology: The New Context at Directions, 2005, in Bangalore on Thursday.

"On the macroeconomics front, one good news is that the zip in the US economy is back. Stock markets are also in the pink and companies are giving brighter forecasts than ever."

"On the jobs front," said Gupta, "while 2.72 million jobs were lost between January 2001 and August 2003, about 3,54,000 jobs have been gained between August 2003 and February 2004. This indicates that one out of every seven jobs lost has been regained."

"If one were to look at the drivers ahead for the technology sector, they would be global macroeconomic variables, market management (knowing where the market is heading) and new technologies," he added.