NASSCOM - The face of the Indian IT Industry. Review on Nasscom

Since this review is meant to answer the question posed by one of our friends “NASSCOM Is it worth all the hype created?”, I intend to stick to the same instead of rolling on & on about Dewang Mehta. Another question was whether the current incumbent would be able to successfully fill in the void created by the untimely demise of Dewang Mehta...i’ll attempt to answer that too. Formed in 1988, NASSCOM (National Association of Software & Service Companies) is the umbrella organisation of IT software & service organisations in. It is a non-profit organisation with over 850 member companies, as on March 31, 2001, that collectively contribute to more than 95 per cent of revenues of Indian software industry.

When the Nasscom was first set up as a break-away association from MAIT (Manufacturers Association of Information Technology), its initial charter was to lobby & obtain concessions from the government on tax matters. As the demands of the IT service companies were not being articulated by MAIT, Nasscom, with Mr Dewang Mehta as its first Executive Director, was expected to assume that role. Thanks to the vision of its founders, the active support of its members & the untiring efforts of Nasscom, the Indian software industry has now grown into a major powerhouse.

The following are the main objectives of NASSCOM –

1. Maintaining close interaction with the Government of India in formulating National IT policies with specific focus on IT software & services. 2. Maintaining a state of the art information database of IT software; services related activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested companies overseas. 3. Encourage members to provide world-class quality products, services & solutions in ; overseas & help build brand equity for the Indian IT software & services industry. 4. Taking effective steps to campaign against software piracy. 5. Provide members with opportunities to participate at all Major IT Events around the globe & organise IT events in .

   
   




2. Provide an ideal forum for overseas & domestic companies to explore the vast potential available for Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances, Marketing Alliances, Joint Product Development, etc., by organising Business Meets with delegations of various countries. 7. Work actively with Overseas Governments, Embassies to make the Visa & Work Permit Rules more ’’India Industry Friendly’’. 8. Disseminate various policies, market information & other relevant statistics by sending more than 200 circulars (annually) to all members. 9. Help actively in the development of human resources required for the software-driven IT industry. 10. Involve membership participation in various forums of Nasscom on subjects such as HRD, Technology, Exports, Domestic Market, E-Governance, IT Enabled Services, IPR, Government Policies, Quality, etc. (source: nasscom.org)

   
   

Over the last 12 years, NASSCOM, under the able leadership of Late Mr. Dewang Mehta was doing all this & much more. In fact, such was Mr. Mehta’s popularity, both within the Indian software industry & outside the Indian shores that he came to be recognised by all & sundry as the face of the Indian software industry. For long, the general impression both in our minds as well as in that of the world was that Indians have the resources (read human resources) to be successful in the field of Information Technology, but lacked the necessary leverage & unity to take advantage of the same.

For every year since 1992, Dewang Mehta spearheaded one campaign or the other for the industry, with the active support & encouragement from the various players. Starting with an active public awareness campaign against software piracy in 1990, Nasscom intensified its effort in 1994. It started work on an amendment to the copyright law in 1995 to make an attractive destination for the US Fortune 500/1000 companies.

During this period, Nasscom also became an early advocate of “Offshore Software Development’’, or “Smart Sourcing’’ as a strategy to provide the competitive edge in the global IT landscape. But for the relentless publicity campaigns conducted by Nasscom on outsourcing opportunities, India may not have emerged as a software powerhouse that it is today, with 266 Fortune 1000 companies (as on March 31, 2001) outsourcing their software requirements from our country.

As the industry started delivering growth rates of over 50 per cent year-on-year, by 1996 & through 1997, Nasscom started work on a plethora of tax concessions & removal of regulatory obstacles for the industry. During those years, Nasscom launched industry-wide efforts to broad-base the contribution of revenues from different geographies.

The Indian software & services exports have grown over the past 11 years at a scorching pace of almost 50 per cent every year, from $128 million in 1990-91 to $6.2 billion in 2000-01 which is quite an enviable & unmatched record. NASSCOM further estimates that the software & service exports for the second quarter (July-September) of the financial year 2001-02 aggregated Rs. 8,900 crore against Rs. 7440 crore for the corresponding period last year. The first half of 2001-02 witnessed an export growth of 33% reaching Rs. 17,500 crore in comparison to Rs. 13,040 crore last year. Expecting a slower growth in the second half, NASSCOM expects the industry to clock total export revenue of Rs. 37,000 crores for the financial year 2001-02 as compared to Rs. 28,350 crores last year. These figures (after factoring in the 11-9 attacks & the already-prevailing worldwide economic recession) certainly assure us that the Indian software industry IS on the right track & is well-set to build on its strengths in the future.(source:Nasscom.org)

That answers the first question – “NASSCOM is certainly worth every cent of the hype created after it”. It is anybody’s guess as to which direction the Indian IT industry would have been heading in today if not for NASSCOM.

Now for the second query...Mr. Kiran Karnik, current President of NASSCOM & successor of Dewang Mehta is no less accomplished as compared to his predecessor, having last worked as the Managing Director of Discovery Communications India (was responsible for the successful launch of Discovery Channel Animal Planet channels in. An IIM-A graduate, he also worked for the Atomic Energy Commission & Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) under the legendary Dr. Vikram Sarabhai in the past.

Though he once candidly admitted in an interview that he was “No nerd” when it came to IT, nor for the fact that he has no prior experience in the IT industry, he was selected as Dewang Mehta’s successor mainly on account of his track record of being a successful business lobbyist & for walking the tight rope between the Government & industry.

It is too early to look into crystal balls & predict whether or not he would do full justice to his current job. Given his experience & track record, it certainly looks like he’ll delight his admirers & disappoint his critics.

Finally, let us remind ourselves that one man does not constitute an industry worth billions of dollars...it is the collective work put in by all the member companies that has enabled NASSCOM to be where it stands today. Mr. Dewang Mehta, hats off to him for giving a sense of direction & playing a major role in the evolvement of NASSCOM, was only an office bearer who played his role to near perfection. It is now upto Kiran Karnik to take up from where Mehta has left off & continue the good work.