Pegasys MD at IMT
By Pulkit Sharma

India's dominant role in ITeS services is slowing fading. Brazil, Philippines and Sri Lanka are giving tough competition to India. We have become very expensive. And they are offering services cheaper than India, said Mr. Ramesh Bhandari, MD of Pegasys Information Technologies while addressing first year management students of IMT Hyderabad. He was the Chief Guest on the 5th Day of the 12-Day Business Orientation Program that IMT Hyderabad has embarked on.

Addressing 120 gathering of students and faculty, he spoke on ITeS & Cloud Computing. Indian IT BPO industry has grown by 6.1% in 2010 and is expected to grow by 19% in 2011, added Ramesh Bhandari. ITeS is contributing to the economical growth accounting for around 5.66% of the country's GDP and provides direct employment to about 2.3 million people and indirect employment to many more, he said.

He further added that emerging trends in service delivery like Cloud Computing and Platform BPO are likely to remodel the industry by creating new business opportunities for the IT / ITeS vendors and driving changes in the traditional service offerings.

Cloud Computing is the next BIG thing to happen, Mr. Bhandari told the students. It is the next big thing after internet in modern IT era. Cloud Computing applications can be up and running in weeks. It is low cost. Just a browser and log in.  When Cloud Computing has been established on a large scale, IT managers need not lose jobs, he said. 

About 85% of the ITeS-BPO revenues come from exports. Total ITeS revenues reached $14.7 billion in 2009-2010 from $2 billion in 2004. While IT services continue to be the largest contributor, the ITeS segment has grown faster over the last five years, he said. During 2009-2010, IT / ITeS distribution out of the 73.1 billion revenue is 36.2% is from IT, 14.7% from Software Products and Engineering Services, 12.8% from ITeS-BPO and 9.4% from Hardware, he informed.

The emerging trends in 2011 include Cloud Computing, Platform BPO, Emergence of Ties 2 Cities as IT / ITeS destinations, growth of Indian Software Product industry.

He also added that many Indian IT companies are setting up shops in China. 

At the end, he told the management students to be people manager. The business leader is always a people manager. In IT industry, people are their assets. He told them to have focus and carve a niche for themselves. Choose your path correct.  Your first step has to be correct even if it is not paid well, he said. 
 
The ITeS industry has lost its charm. He told students to be doubly sure about this sector before they plunge. He also told them not to get into Entrepreneurship unless they are passionate about it. He advised them to change with trends and keep innovating. He also told if you stay long in one job... beware you will be overrun by the competition.