Frost & Sullivan On Indian IT In 2013 And What To Expect In 2014

Nishchal Khorana, Head-Consulting, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan shares his perspective on what the Indian IT sector went through in 2013 and what to expect from it in 2014.

He feels that global economies continued to be volatile and Indian IT firms dealt with limited visibility to sales pipeline and growth. Despite this 2013 marked a year of innovation and transformation for the sector. New business models emerged to attract and retain customers as well as align to changing business dynamics.

Increasing adoption of cloud computing pushed Indian IT players to devise the core value propositions and delivery models. Global markets once again gained prominence over domestic and Indian SMB market opportunities for leading IT players. The lines demarking services and products clearly blurred with product companies offering solutions as-a-service and IT services providers developing products to further the nonlinear growth strategy.

In 2013, Mobility, analytics and social media created new revenue opportunities as well as business lines to build thought leadership and create differentiation in the commoditising market. Indian IT services as well as product companies invested significantly in developing ‘Centers of Excellence’ to showcase capabilities, building skill set and marketing initiatives to ride the next wave of growth.

“Going forward, in 2014, increasing operational costs will continue to negatively impact large and emerging Indian players. Ensuring competitiveness will be critical while contending with global players. The next year is expected to witness increased collaboration to drive business growth. IT players will need to form alliances and partnerships to augment existing capabilities with new technologies and adapt to the IT as a service model. As new participants enter the changing ecosystem, Independent Service Providers (ISVs), System Integrators and Telecom Service Providers would need to develop joint ‘Go to Market’ programs to create value for customers and drive greater margins,” he concludes.