The Hindu Business Line : `IT industry has matured, expanded'

Going native
"Recently in collaboration with the Byrraju Foundation (set up in the memory of his father) we have started a rural BPO - GramIT - in Jalli Kakinada about 350 km from Hyderabad and that's a phenomenal success." With 100 employees it has proved that "geography is not very important; we're encouraging these youngsters to go back from the cities to their native villages."

Mr Ramalinga Raju

Chennai , April 7

IT and ITES have transformed India and given economic power to young Indians, but its benefits are largely confined to urban India.

A flip side of this booming sector is that the young men and women manning it are seen to flout traditional Indian values and moral norms. Do the head honchos in IT majors such as Infosys, Satyam or Wipro discuss such issues when they meet informally?

"Yes, we do," says Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, Chairman of Satyam Computer Services. "But we also have to realise that any industry is driven by self-interest and this one is no exception. Also, it has reached a certain level of maturity which has to be maintained."

In just 15 years, the country's IT industry has made phenomenal gains, "growing from a mere $100 million to more than $22 billion at present." By 2010 it is expected to cross $65 billion, "and all this in just 20 years."

In 15 years, the industry has changed and matured and its services expanded. "At one time it was just technology with code writing the most dominant part of the service. This has expanded phenomenally... from consulting at one end to the BPO, the lowest level of service, the entire spectrum is today covered by the Indian industry; some of these are good, others are still at a nascent stage, but I'm confident these will get elevated to global standards." In terms of IT's reach to smaller towns and rural areas, "many companies are going to Tier II cities; we've gone to Visakhapatnam and Nagpur and looking at more Tier II cities."

A rural BPO

But "coming to your query on rural India, recently in collaboration with the Byrraju Foundation (set up in the memory of his father) we have started a rural BPO - GramIT - in Jalli Kakinada about 350 km from Hyderabad and that's a phenomenal success." With 100 employees it has proved that "geography is not very important; we're encouraging these youngsters to go back from the cities to their native villages."

But why not recruit from the villages? Is educated talent not available there?

"It's a combination of both. Due to lack of opportunities people migrate to cities. We encourage them to go back to their native places by providing access to economic activity."

On replicating this example, because token measures cannot alter the reality of rural India, and if such centres can be profitable, Mr Raju says the initiative hopes to not only help rural India but also make "significant gains. In the virtual world in which the IT industry operates, it is possible to provide access to remote populations. Satyam has already outsourced its book-keeping activities to this rural BPO. Our experience so far has been very positive and we find that gradually some of the services can be outsourced from such centres."

Facing a challenge on margins, the IT industry has to cut down on costs. Satyam has 200 plus processes and some of them operate in a "standardised manner and require people with dedication, not necessarily of a high calibre. After retaining what is core to our business, routine stuff can be serviced by GramIT." This would reduce both cost and attrition levels.

Moral code

On the issue of the changing moral code of the Indian youth, and the charge that the IT/ITES sectors were "spoiling Indian culture," Mr Raju says any change brings with it both positives and negatives as well as new attitudes.

"Change by itself is not bad but the way we cope with that change matters and it throws up many connotations. The world talks a great deal about the future of terrorism and how it has changed many things. But unseen in a way and in a very subtle manner is an enormous change taking place on a day-to-day basis in our houses, bedrooms and living rooms and is related to how youngsters perceive the world "influenced by the Internet, by a globalised world, cable TV, etc."

More change

Within the IT business itself changes are taking place and "industry leaders have to grapple with those issues as well. But the Indian industry has shown much greater resilience and an ability to respond to the broader aspects of the economy, and hence there is more of philanthropy, environmental concerns, etc."

Today's world is more transparent with people/institutions sharing thoughts and experiences openly. Along with it "a certain amount of westernisation is taking place; technology has taken birth in such an environment and along with that some cultural experiences of that world are passed on. Some things are good, and some not necessarily good."

But he is gratified that Indian youth are responding to such traits with "a much greater confidence and an ability to customise things in our context; it's not a blind imitation but borrowing their practices and blending them with our own ethos. This is a positive."

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