Event

Innovation is the only way out

The Nasscom India Leadership Forum in Mumbai brought together industry stalwarts to talk about innovation and business growth

Lighting of the lamp by Thiru A Raja, Minister for Communications and IT

Former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, voicing his views in a special session at Nasscom 2008

With the confidence of having exceeded year-on-year projected growth, stalwarts of the Indian IT/BPO industry gathered for the 19th Nasscom India Leadership Forum held in Mumbai. Spread across three days, the event saw delegates and prominent speakers of the industry and government discuss various issues which the industry needed to deal with. This year the event focused on innovation, building talent and business growth.

The key to success

The first day witnessed discussions on existing opportunities in technology space which could be tapped with the help of innovation and the right strategy. Thiru A Raja, Minister for Communication and IT was present for the inauguration and he talked about the need for emphasis on R&D and product IPR out of India. “I appreciate the emphasis on innovation and we all know that it can give us a big edge in the global market. Today, with a large number of companies doing their R&D out of India, we can hope and expect that we will champion the new wave of innovation that will sweep the world,” said Raja in his speech. Apart from that, he stressed upon the need to develop tier-II and tier-III cities as investment destinations, which will not only help in the growth of these cities, but also provide manpower for growth. According to him, technology should reach all levels of society and there is a need to improve on cyber security for the industry. Strengthening the IT Act by giving it more teeth is on the ministry’s agenda.

Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, spoke about the need to diversify in terms of geography, service sectors and verticals covered. Speaking about the domestic IT market, he said, “In the past, we all have focused on exports but now we are seeing good growth in the domestic industry as well. The domestic market is becoming a big opportunity for the IT industry.” This domestic growth was backed by the fact that about 35% of the growth is coming from home in this predominantly export-driven market.

Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman, Nasscom, and Vice Chairman, Cognizant, mentioned the pressure on the industry and how it had to be tackled successfully. “Pressures will continue to remain in the industry in areas such as managing costs, innovating, and managing greater responsibility. In the current scenario, those who do not manage pressure will be thrown out by the competition,” cautioned Narayanan. In such scenario, innovation in all aspects of business becomes inevitable.

The session on the growth being witnessed in the country after 60 years of freedom also highlighted the need for innovation. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and MD, Mahindra and Mahindra focused on need for innovation and changes in the IT sector. “There is an immense need to reinvent to suit the circumstances. One needs to design business models to challenge traditional approaches, these are some of the lessons which organizations must learn,” said Mahindra. He felt that there was a need to reinvent, regroup and rethink for future success.

Talking about business models, Ginni Rometty, Senior VP, Global Business Services, IBM said, “A business model is the most sustaining thing which you can change. There is a need for centers of excellences (CoEs) and networking them is important.” In the same session, Nandan Nilekani, Co-Chairman of Board of Directors, Infosys Technologies, explained how IT has helped the country achieve things which would not have been possible otherwise and how it can further contribute towards the betterment of society.

Former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam focused on the need for non-linear growth using innovation as a key contributor. “The government and venture capitalists must propel innovation to compete globally. Further, we need a paradigm shift from an export-driven market to one that is driven by innovation,” said Kalam. Talking about the Indian domestic market, he suggested that Indian enterprises should have R&D in their DNA, create worldwide products and help the domestic market as well.

While serendipity and cross pollination act as the essential additions needed in the process of innovation, Ananth Krishnan, VP and CTO, TCS, classified the innovators into four different categories as the traditionalists, maintainers, adopters and explorers, along with the disruptors, people who think differently, also key members, in the journey from conceptualization to completion.

Sachin Pilot, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha mentioned that the IT sector made it possible for India to be in the same league as other nations. The sector has been a great asset for Indian education, as many Indian families want their children to be IT professionals.

CEO and CIO insights

Some of the Indian as well as global corporate leaders discussed the CEO and CIO agendas and the challenges being faced by these stalwarts. At a time, when the US economy is arguably heading towards recession and the confidence level of CEOs is dropping in corporate America, 90% of Indian CEOs were confident of growth, which is a good sign for our growing economy. Steve Rohleder, Chief Operating Officer, Accenture said, “One of the first challenges is that of operating with a truly global mindset. Today globalization is not only about competing but it has become the fabric of doing business.” He wanted CEOs to pursue opportunities, which are risky but far more rewarding. There is a need to work not only to meet customer requirements, but organizations need to anticipate customer needs.

B Ramalinga Raju, Founder and Chairman, Satyam Computer Services gave his insights into the need for a change in attitude amongst CEOs. He said, “We need definitive understanding about the opportunity around us and excitement is really an important factor going forward.” He urged participants to get away from the mindset of one country versus another and to work in a global environment. Explaining the need for change in mindset, Wim Elfrink, Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco said, “You have to step out-of-the-box in order to think out-of-the-box. There is a need for making a global innovation hub at the time when the world is going to be flat.”

Dr Christoph Kollatz, Group President, Siemens IT Solutions and Services revealed that most CIOs make use of IT language and talks about investments, but not how far an IT project can improve business. He said, “Responsiveness to change is more than a key driver for sustainable competitive advantage and driving this advantage requires people (recruiting and retaining key people), operational (managing operations) and innovation excellence (thinking out of the edge). From the IT perspective, sustainable competitive advantage requires a combination of efficiency and uniqueness.”

James Champy, Chairman, Consulting Practice, Perot Systems believed that in the long-term a business model will not be sustainable if it is based purely on the strength of employees; there is a need and opportunity to fundamentally change business. Drew Martin, Senior VP and CIO, Sony Electronics said, “A company should not outsource to simply save money but it should focus on bringing new ideas and new ways of thinking.”

Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto’s professor taught him that business starts when a customer says “no”, as it is the customer’s demand that shapes and develops the market. He said, “We are not pushing products out but pulling customers in. It is important that a company finds a segment, becomes a leader in that segment and then keeps on expanding it.”

Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies pointed out that leaders are neither born nor trained. There is a leader in everyone, one has to just give him an environment where he can identify his leadership quality. He said, “Next generation leaders should create a collaborative environment.” According to him the mantra for tomorrow is not hierarchy but collaboration with the environment—customers, partners, employees, etc.

Lastly, the Nasscom Innovation in IT Awards 2007 was announced. From the 21 companies that were shortlisted, eight winners were felicitated and recognized for their outstanding contribution to the Indian IT sector at the Nasscom 2008 India Leadership Forum.

The Nasscom Innovation in IT Awards aims to honor those companies who have instilled innovation into existing knowledge and have come up with new ideas, products, processes or technologies that enable greater and better margins to be ploughed back into the business.