It:An Exciting Period Ahead

Only a year ago Captain Padam Singh, or 'Paddy as in popularly known in the tourism industry, used to work in a cramped office of Jhandewalan in New Delhi. He would go home in the evening, often frustrated, in his inability to communicate properly and efficiently on either telex or fax. Just a year later, he is working from a location that many would describe as 'back of beyond and yet he is in touch with many parts of the world.

This is the manifestation of information technology. Today it is quite irrelevant of ones location as long as one is able to communicate and exchange information, exudes V.Krishnan, General Manager (Marketing), Hewlett Packard India Limited. Information Technology, or IT for short, has altered the very nature and rapidity in exchanging or communicating information.

 

As a result it is fashionable to talk about information technology. Disagrees Rahul Chopra, Assistant Editor of Information Technology magazine, it is the natural evolution that the world is witnessing today. It started with industrial revolution phase, then came large scale and intensive mechanization. And now it is the era of information technology. As per him IT is not a fashion, but a reality that would influence so many millions in the world.

For the uninitiated IT could be summed up as generation of information, storage and finally transmission or acquisition. Though each of these may appear compartmentalized, as each demands specialised inputs, but together these form the requisites and efficiency of IT. It is not as if there was lack of information in the past. The need for information had remained in the past and would grow in the future.

The volume of growth and the speed at which it would be accessed depends entirely on technology, averts Ramesh Chopra, Managing Director, EFY Enterprises Private Limited and an electronic buff.

Says Rahul Chopra, The rapid growth of software specialists in our country is indicative of the importance of IT. It would not be an exaggeration to mention that nowhere in the world has it spawned so much as it has in India. If there is rapid progress is one facet of IT, then there is corresponding growth in other facets too such as storage systems and transmission or communication systems too.

To handle this growth the hardware is becoming increasingly miniaturised without compromising either the quality or the capacity.

The enormous growth has necessitated in bringing out new products commensurate with the needs of the industry, opines Nobutomo Fujimori, General Manager, Sony India Private Limited. The multi-billion dollar Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation introduced 3.5 inch floppy disks, quarter inch cartridges, 4mm and 8mm tapes and now have come out with magneto optical (MO) disks for application in multi-media functions.

In a sense the IT has accelerated the growth and has revolutionised the technology, beams Ramesh Chopra. Now we have computers that have faster processing abilities, compact storage facilities and communication facilities that can handle enhanced traffic.

The moot point that still remains is how does a common man benefit from these technologies? To understand this we have to segment IY. First the needs of daily life of a common man and the second that of commerce or corporate life, averts Dipankar Sanyal, General Manager (Marketing), Oracle Software India Limited. The daily needs range from the mundane chores of a kitchen and shopping for the household to individual shopping to entertainment to education.

The latter category though deals in information that has far reaching consequences in the business world.

It would not be an exaggeration to mention that here is the biggest beneficiaries are people in the business world, aptly points out Rahul Chopra. He adds that through Internet the business community could transmit information and obtain information worldwide. The one-liner clich"�s the world is shrinking or the world is becoming a global village is becoming a reality with the Internet.

What Paddy does today from a remote place in Himachal Pradesh is a reality because of IT. The place or location of work place or work station is not a prime concern any more, mentioned Dipankar Sanyal. However, in Indian context it still does pose a problem because of our poor infrastructure. The weak links are out telecommunication links and poor quality power. Yes, Internet is an excellent way to be on the world map, easily accessible in any part. The crunch comes in when we have to access the information the power fails or the telecommunication link snaps, feels Dipankar Sanyal.

Contrary to the general belief Indian are not far behind in IT. Indians have contributed a lot for the growth of IT, be it Indian or elsewhere in the world, opines V.Krishnan. Concurs Sanyal, Infact the speed at which Indians can adopt and adept the technology is amazing. He provides the use of cellular telephones and pagers as an example. In statistical terms the growth of these two services in a years period in India would be far greater than in the Western countries in the first year of their introduction.

Avers Rahul Chopra, IT through Internet will benefit a developing country like ours. Today one can dispense with setting up of expensive offices abroad. These were unavoidable in the past for exchanging relevant information and the same can be achieved today through Internet. IT industry feels the beneficiaries are aplenty. To start with the IT professionals themselves.

Our Software development itself will get a boost. In the past, one required enormous financial backing for marketing software, perhaps millions or billions of dollars. Internet and Worldwide Web has changed that equation, points Rahul Chopra. Many multi-national companies realising the enormous potential available in our country have made India as their software development centres. Of course, Bangalore seems to be the favourite location is setting up the shops. Hewlett Packard does not hesitate to mention that development of software for their worldwide marketing will be based in India.

Yes, there is definite shift in thinking of MNCs. India would play a pivotal role in the years to come, opines Dipankar Sanyal. For the moment IT is clearly on an upward growth. and for IT professional it is a period exciting prospects.