Mr Atul Nishar, Founder of Hexaware Technologies, did the initial round of introductions as he addressed on the need to stand out in a crowd. All mid-sized companies live through this challenge, he said. No number 2 company ever became number 1 simply by imitating the market leader. The differentiators that we see today because of globalisation, can be in various forms: that of fiscal adaptation, in cost structures, addressing labour laws and in infrastructure management, Mr Nishar said. He then invited Prof Dipak Jain of Kellogg School of Management to take the dais: more

Mr Ashank Desai, the Chairman of Mastek and also the Chairperson for this session, introduced Lynda Gratton, the professor of Organisational Behaviour from London Business School. We are indeed lucky to have her address at the NILF, Mr Desai said. According to a recent survey conducted by FT, London Business School was ranked as the No 1 B School in the world and Prof Gratton was amongst the leading management thinkers of the world today. With an overall 18th rank and the highest in women, she certainly had all the right credentials. Prof Gratton has also authored several books, such as, Integrating the enterprise and Living Strategy. On a lighter vein, Ashank Desai shared a joke. A man had once gone to purchase a parrot and in one particular cage,  there were a dozen of them chirping away, but he caught one of them taking a nap. “Why is that’? enquired the man. “Oh, he is the Chairman”, shot back the seller. This had the crowd in splits. In this environment, no matter which strategy you adopt, ultimately it will be your employees who will drive business and deliver value, Mr Desai said. In a globalised and highly competitive environment, how much attention should you give to your employees? Their need is different from those of your customers , he said. With rising customer pressures, striking that vital balance becomes an imperative. Mr Desai spoke of some of the pressing challenges that employees face today: Commuting long distances and maintaining a work life balance is only a few of them. more

Mr Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman of CA Inc, also the Chairperson for the session wished the participants a very good morning and welcoming them for Day 2.”Hope you have enjoyed last evening and the food and drinks being served was good enough”, he began on a lighter vein. The business models of the future will be determined by partnerships, he said. The expectations of consumers in India has undergone a dynamic shift in the last decade or so. In this electronic age, everything is expected to happen on real time basis. The long wait, which consumers in the past were  accustomed to -  often running into months – is long over, as demanding consumers want products and services delivered faster, with better quality and at a cheaper rate. For instance, the same consumer who was wont to wait, now gets overtly worked up, if there is a call-drop. Such changes in behavioural pattern has put a lot of pressure on organisations to deliver. A value proposition, which needs to improve on a continuous basis. The margin of error is very low which necessitates the need to develop effective partnerships and complement on each other’s strength. For a linear growth in business we often concentrate on our core competence and vendors. For non-linear growth, we often need to develop partners, lest we miss out an opportunity. The communication channel also needs to be well oiled to stay relevant. Mr Srivastava talked about the NISG project where NASSCOM has a 51 % majority stake and the government, the balance 49 %. The UID project which is slated to change the lives of a billion people, is another example of how partnerships have the potential to make a difference. This project is a matter of national pride, driven by one of the luminaries of our industry and CA would be deploying human resources on secondment, he said. Mr Saurabh Srivastava also welcomed others to come forward and support this huge initiative. The project is mammoth in size and scope and needs to be rolled out very quickly. This is only possible when we are able to leverage on partnerships that support the entire ecosystem. The other advantage of building on partnerships, is the brand equity that it all adds up to, in terms of goodwill and reputation, he said. Islands may get washed away by Tsunami but continents don’t. We can choose to sit back and think – only as long as the clock is ticking – or choose to act on it. more

The first day was almost nearing an end. Despite the fact that the day was packed with sessions, meetings and other activities, the participants were all charged up and as keen to attend this session, as the inaugural. After all they had ample reasons to be. It’s not every day that you get to hear Adil Zainulbhai, Pramod Bhasin, Stephen Roach & Vineet Nayar – all at the same time. Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies and also the Chairperson for the session began on a rather humorous note. Out of four people at the top table, there were two intellectuals and a couple of others, he jocularly remarked. He also took a dig at his old friend Pramod Bhasin – excuse me, I am sorry but I forget your name – much to the mirth of all present. Having set the tone, he invited Stephen Roach to the dais. more

In an early session we heard McKinsey outline their view of long-term mega-trends.  These ranged from the impact of differing world demographics and economies that point towards eventual convergence between the GDPs of Asia and Europe in some 15 years time; the concomitant pressure on commodities and natural resources especially water as consumption rapidly grows; to trends that have a more direct impact on business.  Steria is already seeing and shaping some of these latter business changes, working with clients to redefine corporate boundaries and embrace extended supply chains – both organisationally and geographically. more

The NASSCOM India Leadership Forum has multiple tracks based on theme. I was asked to facilitate a session on the question, “Should CEOs and Executive Directors Use Social Media?” more

Ms Stephanie Moore, Chief Marketing Officer at UST Global and also the chairperson for the session on Clouds, was thrilled to be present at NILF. There were several positives, as well as negatives working around this new idea but in reality, IT executives were freed of mundane tasks and could now concentrate on the strategic interests of business. According to a research conducted by Forrester,  the challenges were related to which models to adopt, how much of control to give up and redefining the roles in the organisation, to map this change. The set of challenges also veered towards managing headcount and build an effective structure to address organisational needs. There was a thought on what to put in the cloud. It was generally felt that non differentiators, from an organisational perspective, could be leveraged, using the cloud computing model in order to capitalise on value. From the service providers angle, there was tremendous value in service aggregation and some of the best in breed service aggregators, featured as Global 500 companies, Ms Moore said. To embrace the cloud, it was important to adapt a “cloud strategy” and decide on a definitive model. For instance, if using a private cloud, role definition from the user and the vendor’s perspective needs to be clarified. She invited Mr William Bauman, senior vice president of CA Inc to take the dais. more

Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT Technologies: He was also the Chairperson for the session and was the first speaker who initiated the discussion. Government was emerging as the single largest customer in most countries and most service providers were working towards leveraging this opportunity to make a difference. There was enormous scope for growth but the challenge being, that in this case, the government would define the rules and set the perspectives. The government now had two distinct roles to play – one of the policy maker and the other of a customer, Mr Pawar said. He then introduced the two eminent speakers for the session, Mr R Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Ministry of Communication & IT, Government of India and Mr John Suffolk, CIO of the UK Government. more

(Source: CXOtoday.com) On the final day of the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2010, a separate track was conducted as part of the NASSCOM Foundation – the social development arm of of NASSCOM. more

Browse the typical I.T. company’s Web site and you’ll find a long list of tired, meaningless clichés in the “About Us” section. Something like: “We create value for clients with unique end-to-end solutions that streamline business processes and enhance operational efficiency.” Look depressingly familiar? more