The Indian IT industry is going through one of the toughest times since the IT boom of the late 1990s. Until recently, we were proud of our IT capabilities and revenue generated through software exports as a nation.
Things have changed drastically in the last few months, and we are seeing various international issues snowball into major crises for the Indian Information Technology sector. We are witnessing job cuts, cost-cutting measures, companies looking to hire abroad, bleak projections, and a lot of pessimism overall.
I believe we should closely analyze what has led to such a situation. Why are Brexit and Trump’s new regulations sending shockwaves through our country? Personally, I believe the fundamentals of the industry are very strong and in the long run, the world will definitely need our skills.
Having said that, there are certain core issues we need to address. The most important concern is that we don’t have strong ‘Made In India’ IT products. We have always been a bunch of engineers providing cheap IT labor. Even after 20 years of IT boom, we don’t have an “Indian Microsoft” or “Indian Oracle” yet, which is where we are lagging behind. Indian IT companies should think of strong, innovative products that can penetrate global markets. We have to transform ourselves from a cheap labor destination to a premium IT product hub, where ideas are transformed into innovative products. A lot of transformation has to happen at the university and college levels. Major surveys have indicated a huge skill gap, which is a cause for concern, especially considering the rapid rate at which newer technologies are evolving. Furthermore, the Indian IT industry is dependent on the US market for 60% of its revenue. Relying too much on a single market has put us in a lot of trouble. To sum it up, I think the long-term solution to avoid such a situation in the future would entail:
- The emergence of strong Indian IT Product companies and products.
- Rapid Skill Upgradation.
- Reducing single market dependency and exploring new geographies.
- Generating more opportunities in the domestic market.
- Encouraging and supporting start-ups in IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
I am proud of the product what we have created at Agile Labs over the last 16 years. Axpert RAD Platform is a “Made In India” product that can compete with any low coding/no coding rapid Application Development platforms in the world. With a client base spread across 4 continents and many mission-critical projects, I believe we are on the right path to be the strongest Indian IT product company.
