PACIS Conference at ISB !!!

'PACIS conference was conducted for first time at ISB during July. Interesting set of events where Panel discussions were conducted among industry leaders from IT sector. I prepared a brief scribe of a panel discussion conducted by Mr. Bipin Paracha & Mr. Narsimha N'

On the third and the final day of PACIS conference, Professor Nishtha opened up the panel discussion introducing Mr. Bipin Paracha from Wipro & Mr. Narsimha N from Infosys. Professor Nishtha laid down the background of linear growth of employee count and revenues for Indian IT firms, an unsustainable business. Hence, the topic of the discussion was – Indian IT: Moving up the value chain.

Mr. Bipin Paracha (Wipro)

Mr. Bipin provided his insights into how the role of Indian IT is changing over time. He mentioned that IT has transformed from providing the ‘Mainframe’ oriented solutions to ‘helping businesses perform’ better. Prof. Nishtha then enquired about Wipro Consultancy and the acceptance of the same among the corporate. Mr. Bipin provided an excellent framework for Wipro Consulting position:-

Value Chain Progress path: - Provider > Contributor > Facilitator > Advisor > Change Agent

Further, Mr. Bipin emphasized the Wipro Brand has played a significant role in getting acceptance for Wipro Consultancy among clients. Along with Indian clients, Wipro Consulting is getting increased traction in Australia where bigger markets in US & UK still relate Wipro with only IT. However, Mr. Bipin was optimistic about a gradual diffusion process in these markets.

Mr. Narsimha N (Infosys)

To start with, Mr. Narsimha provided an account of gradual progression of Infosys. Initially, the company started as a cost arbitrage, with quality and quantity as its distinctions. However, the organization later realized the pivotal important to add more value to businesses and hence, moved from technology focus to Business solution provider. They focused o capturing the space before the execution stage that includes the elements of problem identification, problem solutions, and solution design.

Mr. Narsimha also mentioned that due to past success stories of solution implementation, Infosys holds an advantage over companies such as Accenture, as end-to-end solution implementers. He also suggested that within next 5-7 years, different Indian IT providers will differentiate in different capabilities and will offer a wide array of services.

Later, Mr. Narsimha also provided his insights about the growing trends in Industry due to emerging use of Profit revenue sharing model, where IT companies hold a stake in the game. For instance, TCS is conducting the Indian Passport project where TCS gets Rs.200 for every passport issued. These types of projects will bring more accountability and increased role of IT companies in various businesses.

Finally, before closing of the discussion, Mr. Narsimha reflected upon the opportunities provided by global recession. As industries change fundamentally and seek opportunities for cost reduction, it’s up to IT companies to up the ante and provide avenues for businesses to do so.