Som Mittal

Now that industry veteran Som Mittal, who has managed not just software
operations, but even hardware and peripherals, is going to be at the helm of
affairs at Nasscom, I thought it might be a good idea if I bring everyone's
attention to the basic objectives of this IT industry association. It is an apt
time for the industry to give him new and fresh ideas for taking forward the
legacy of Dewang Mehta and Kiran Karnik.

The Nasscom website does not mention, if the current set of objectives, said
to be updated in March 2006, is in any order of priority. Therefore, I will take
up here, in the same order as they appear on the website.

The first objective before Nasscom is maintaining close interaction with the
government of India in formulating national IT polices with specific focus on IT
software and services. I think this is one area where not just the industry, but
also the entire nation will benefit, if Nasscom plays a more involved role.
India needs to move faster on its e-governance plan, and there are lots of big
issues that the industry is facing here. The second is to maintain a
state-of-the-art information database of IT software and services-related
activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested
companies overseas. My personal view is that Nasscom does not have the
wherewithal to handle this, and should drop it from its agenda, or at best,
outsource this. Nasscom's databases are old and outdated.

Thirdly, to encourage members to provide world-class quality products,
services and solutions in India and overseas, and help build brand equity for
the Indian IT software and services industry. This is very important I agree,
but lots of small players feel that they are ignored. Nasscom must take smaller
players along. The fourth objective is to take effective steps to campaign
against software piracy. I would like to add that ideally it should not be a
campaign against software piracy, but a campaign to promote license and help
bridge the software-vendor small user gap. The fifth is to provide an ideal
forum for overseas and domestic companies to explore the vast potential
available for JVs, strategic alliances, marketing alliances and joint product
development. I would suggest that the stress here should be on encouraging
innovation and also on taking on taking more Indian companies overseas, and on
product development, which is said to be the final goal.

The sixth objective is to work actively with overseas governance, embassies,
to make the visa and work permit rules 'India industry friendly'. I believe that
vice versa, Nasscom should also enlighten the Indian government to make business
visa more accessible for other countries, including those in the SAARC.

Objective number seven that the Nasscom has set for itself is to disseminate
various policies, market information and other relevant statistic by sending
more than 200 circulars (annually) to all members. It's a great thing, but I am
sure that Nasscom could increase and improve its reach, especially to cover
smaller companies, and also CIOs. They are as of now low on Nasscom's radar.

The last objective at Nasscom is to involve membership participation in
various forums of Nasscom on subject such as HRD, technology, export, domestic
market, e-governance, IT-enabled services, IPR, finance government policies, and
quality. I strongly believe that beyond all this Indian software industry needs
lectures on process, entrepreneurship, corporate discipline, industry
co-operation and nation building.

Ibrahim ahmad

ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in