Indians Are Entrepreneurial In Using IT: Dell EIU Survey

Managers in the world’s fastest-growing economies place a very high value on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in business and its effect on operational efficiency. However, some perceive high technology costs along with skills shortages, poor telecommunication infrastructure and lack of central government ICT strategy as obstacles to their firms’ effective use of ICT.

Those are the main conclusions of research presented by Dell and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) at the Economist Emerging Markets Summit 2008 held recently in London. The research, commissioned by Dell and completed by the EIU in September, polled 537 senior-level executives and managers in the four BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries; the United Arab Emirates and five other Gulf nations; and Mexico, South Africa and Vietnam. It focused on four topics: the impact of ICT, barriers to ICT use, skills and training, and policy factors.

The research’s key findings include:

• Among firms, who have been unable to obtain the technology they need, 41 percent of respondents say its high cost has been the primary obstacle;
• 45 percent cite insufficient national and local telecoms and Internet infrastructure as hindrances to better ICT use; and
• 36 percent state that a lack of adequate technology skills among employees prevents the effective use of ICT.

Key Country Observations in the Research

“National variations that emerge in the survey suggest that Brazilian, Indian and Mexican managers provide a particularly positive assessment of the impact of ICT in their businesses and – in the case of Indian executives – their future ability to access key resources such as skilled staff,” says Carla Rapoport, managing editor, Technology, with the EIU.

Other observations include:

• Despite universal concern about skills shortage, 65 percent of emerging country managers expect to be able to hire the people they need with the right technology skills. The most optimistic response came from India, the least optimistic from South Africa.
• Four out of 10 people (39 percent) surveyed believe that, to supplement local recruitment of ICT staff, they’ll also hire people from abroad. Countries where most executives don’t share that belief include Russia, Brazil and India.
• While 89 percent of those surveyed believe that ICT has boosted their organisations’ performance, the figure rises to 93 percent in Mexico and 95 percent in India.
More than six out of 10 people say they have put ICT to greatest use in improving operating efficiency. This rises to 88 percent in Qatar and 74 percent in Mexico, but drops to 25 percent in Kuwait.
• The question, “Are individuals in my country entrepreneurial in using IT?” received an average 61 percent ‘yes’ responses. That figure climbs to 74 percent in India and Qatar but drops to 40 percent in South Africa.

The complete results are available at www.dell.com/eiusurvey