BITS & BYTES

Day 3 @ NASSCOM 2008: INDIA LEADERSHIP FORUM

wowed the audience with his witty dialogues. When he was introduced at Nasscom as the youngest elected member of the Indian Parliament, Pilot was quick to respond: "More than half the people in this country are younger than me and hence I am not that young." He also credited the IT industry in helping the Indian youngsters aspire for a global career.

On the fast track
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, had the audience in splits when he apologised for his casual attire. "Yesterday, at the summit, someone whistled when a lady acquaintance was passing by. Hence, I took care to dress down."

The bike maker had a piece of advice for IT companies. Asked "What if you were the owner of an IT company in current times?" pat came the reply: "Find your niche and expand, instead to trying to catch up with the competition."

Back to school
Jerry Rao, chairman, EDS Asia Pacific Advisory Board, and vice-president and general manager, EDS India, welcomed the idea of opening up the education sector for the benefit of the IT industry.

"We need to see a liberalisation of the education sector, allowing companies the freedom to breed talent at the PhD level," he said.

Presenting a realistic view of the situation, Rao warned that innovating on the manpower front would be critical to maintain the edge over cheaper outsourcing destinations.

Expect consolidation
Leo Puri, managing director, Warbug Pincus expects to see consolidation in the IT industry in the next 12 months. "These mergers would drive the industry to the next level and put an end to sloppy practices, elevating the businesses to the next level."

According to Puri, if a new value chain had to be built, consolidation would be the only way.

Whither women? Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and COO, Mindtree Consulting, is looking forward to seeing more women participate in the IT industry.

"In India only 18 per cent of the women hold white-collared jobs as compared with 50 per cent in developed countries. Expect this number to escalate in India, thanks to the the IT-BPO industry which will alone employs the largest number of women engineers and graduates in the next five years."