Avinash Vashistha, co-founder and managing director, neoIT, and one of the key speakers at IIW spoke to Express Computer about his idea on what the Net can offer a country like India. He also outlined the top technology trends to watch out for

What is your assessment of the dotcom bust and general IT downturn?
Internet technology is definitely here to stay. However, most dotcoms did not have a good business model, particularly a revenue model that was based on delivering core value. Surviving dotcoms that plan to make it through to the next phase will have to create a business model that delivers core value, and do not rely solely on advertising, banners and click-thru.

The downturn in the US economy is putting pressure on IT budgets. This is only a brief phase and IT budgets will again see a higher growth rate. However, this IT downturn is resulting in increased offshore outsourcing. These projects will take 6-9 months to come to a contract stage. We should see exceptional growth for IT in India next year.

What can the Net offer a country like India?
The Net can do wonders for India by making information available to the public at large. It can help in e-governance, education and even agriculture.

What are the top challenges facing IT services firms in the business technology sector?
Technology spending is under immense pressure for the short term. The trend is to move IT offshore, and companies that did not build a core offshore capability will find it harder to address this market need. There is a need for increased domain knowledge buildup, and again if IT companies do not have deep domain knowledge then getting business will be difficult.

What kinds of services does neoIT provide today? How are they structured?
Our goal behind founding neoIT was to emerge as the leading services value chain solutions provider in the world. Our technology consists of four patent-pending technology components--neoRFP, neoMatching, neoSelection and neoCollab--which form an end-to-end supply chain solution that facilitates the entire IT outsourcing process, from RFP through project delivery. The technology streamlines and automates a complex buying process, generating significant cost savings and providing end-users with visibility into the complete IT outsourcing process and increased speed to market.

For clients, we act as a neutral party to assist in provider selection, pricing and project management for outsourcing. We broker complex development jobs to the global marketplace. The growth of the Application Service Provider (ASP) market has made globalisation of the IT services market possible. That possibility is being matched abroad: the global availability of IT talent and sheer volume of graduates produced is increasing sharply in countries such as India, Singapore, Israel, and the Philippines. The result is that technology companies are looking beyond their borders to get the job done. And they like what they see--provided they can find it. neoIT.com is designed to let them do that.

Our online platform is based on a proprietary technology which simplifies the IT outsourcing process, beginning with the Request for Proposals (RFP) and ending with final delivery of software development and related consulting services. Within 100 days of its launch, neoIT attracted over 500 providers and 20 buyers.

What are the Top Three technology trends that we should be looking out for in cyberspace over the next few years?

1) Wireless access, terminals and delivery
2) Integration with enterprise systems
3) Intelligent agents will help users get more out of the Internet.