Braving the odds in IT

Despite the present economic slowdown, the IT industry is open to those who constantly sharpen their skills and update themselves with emerging technologies, say experts.

Testing times: Innovative IT solutions at low cost is the need of the hour.

With global stock markets groaning under the financial crisis, these are uncertain times. Newspapers blaze with headlines of retrenchment and recession. The campus recruitment figures in the IT industry paint a gloomy picture. What does this scenario mean to a student aspiring for a career in the IT industry? Education Plus spoke to those involved with the industry to find out.

“In the long-term perspective, the outlook for the IT industry is very much positive. We as an industry are very much matured,” assures Viswanathan Venkatasubramanian, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition from Wipro Technologies. “It is a temporary phenomenon,” he says.

But the slowdown will change things in the industry. Customers of the IT industry will expect more, which means, employees will need to perform better. “Those who can make a difference, those who come out with more innovative solutions developed at low cost will provide the customer more value. So, we need to be more productive and provide more value,” he says.

Srinivas Kandula, Global Head-HR, iGATE, concurs. “Given the current slowdown scenario, organisations will take bold steps to weed out inefficient people. However, there is no need to worry or panic. There is an assured long-term career in the IT industry as long as they [students] are sharpening their skills and are in touch with emerging technologies,” he says.

What this implies is that the industry will focus sharply on quality, instead of quantity. So, good software engineers are assured of a seat in the industry. But what makes a good software engineer?

“The real problem in the industry is the general apathy or inability of the people to upgrade their skills,” says Mr. Kandula. “A large percentage of the people in the IT industry do not take proactive interest in their own learning and growth. Given that the software tools get revised and change every year, it is important for them to focus on improving their skills, on an ongoing basis,” he says.

This translates to a lifelong commitment to learning.

Mr. Kandula says, “Employees should plan their work and career not just for the present but also for the future and that they should have a long-term career perspective. It is important for them to understand the kind of skills they need to acquire and the ways in which they can acquire those relevant skills in their area of expertise.”

Go that extra mile

One mantra that always works during tough times is hard work. Karthikeyan Vijayakumar, a young entrepreneur who started his own firm, Excedos Market Services, says that companies will definitely work with someone who is willing to go that extra mile. He adds, “Not getting a job in a big company is definitely not the end of the road. You can join a smaller firm. But, make sure that the company has enough revenue to sustain the downturn.”

He says, “In a small firm, you get a lot of freedom. If you put in a lot of time and effort, then at the end of two years, you would have built the skills to negotiate a higher salary. And, working in a smaller firm means you get to interact with people at the top closely, who have more experience. So, you learn more. But, you need to be passionate about what you do.”

So, a deep-seated interest in what you do will hold you in good stead, which makes it important to ensure that your choice of career coincides with the area of your interest.

“There is always a mass phenomenon,” says Mr. Viswanathan. “Everyone takes up engineering, so others take up engineering. You should understand whether you have the attitude and the aptitude. So, what it means is you should have interest, instead of just following everyone else. This is because, only those who have the attitude and the aptitude will survive.”

Ref : THE HINDU,Monday, Oct 20, 2008

Don’t lose grip

With India slipping further in the global IT industry competitiveness index this year despite its offshore IT prowess, Forrester has said that stepping up human capital investment, technology usage in rural areas, and addressing the existing talent crunch will be critical in raising the global competitiveness of India’s tech economy.

India dropped from 46th to 48th position in “The Economist’s global IT industry competitiveness index 2008”, which measures the environment for IT producers to thrive. “India’s worrying demotion is due to its dismal IT infrastructure, acute talent shortage, and unproductive R&D environment,” Forrester Research said in its recent report titled ‘How can India boost its tech economy’s global competitiveness.’

The just-released IT industry competitiveness index compares 66 countries on how well they support the competitiveness of IT firms. India, at 48th position, ranks way below East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, but marginally better than China, which has ended 50th in the pecking order.

‘Strengthen the demand side’

Forrester says Government and captains of IT industry will immediately need to focus on strengthening the demand side.

“The reason why countries such as the US, South Korea, and Japan top the index is not because their tech firms crank-out dozens of patents per day but because they boast a very tech-savvy customer base….What makes a region’s IT industry competitive is smart customers, not smart engineers,” it says.

India — which is still attempting to drive corporate and societal innovation by wielding policy instruments such as R&D investments and science parks — should instead strengthen institutional capacity to drive customer-focused and market-driven innovation. “Government must spur adoption across India. It must recognise that in today’s knowledge economy, IT infrastructure such as Internet access is more critical than physical infrastructure such as roads and ports. With good connectivity in place, the Indian government can then partner with tech providers such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and TCS to bring IT applications such as tele-education and telemedicine to Indian villages, where 70 per cent of the population lives,” Forrester says.

Ruing that Indian public agencies have been slow in digitising public-service delivery to citizens, Forrester says it is imperative for Government to work with state-level politicians to appoint CIOs at the federal and regional level who can collaboratively drive an IT-enabled innovation agenda. Besides this, there is a need to revamp science and engineering education curriculum — with the help of the National Knowledge Commission — to produce multidisciplinary engineers capable of brokering connections between Indian technology inventions and global business opportunities.

Forrester says Indian tech CEOs too need to overcome their export orientation and focus on India as the next big IT market, particularly now that the domestic spending is slated to rise by 18 per cent this year, the second-fastest-growing tech market after China.

“Tech suppliers such as Infosys, Satyam, TCS, and Wipro must beef up their corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments — by contributing more to teacher training programmes and new learning models.

Such a programme will allow their most experienced employees to teach part time or even full time in their local communities,” it adds.

Ref : THE HINDU, Monday, Oct 20, 2008