IT industry to grow at 8.6% in current fiscal: NASSCOMM

The Indian technology industry is growing on the transformation path to become a digital technology industry by developing its digital capabilities and reorganising itself to make the most of this opportunity. These and many other industry trends were discussed at start of the 25th edition of the annual NASSCOM India Leadership Forum.

Sharing their views, CP Gurnani, Chairman, NASSCOM, Raman Roy, Vice Chairman, NASSCOM and R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said that with companies actively exploring new engagement models, there is a growing need for the companies to restructure and focus on capacity development to address the digital opportunities.

On the industry’s performance in FY2017, NASSCOM said that amidst continuous technology disruptions, political upheavals, and slowdown in IT-BPM global spending, the Indian IT-BPM industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8.6% (in constant currency) to reach over USD 155 bn in FY2017. IT-BPM exports from India is expected to reach USD 118 billion. India’s domestic IT-BPM market is expected to grow by 12% YoY to reach INR 2,545 bn.

The industry currently employs over 3.86 mn people, growth of 5% and addition of 1.7 lakh people over FY2016. In terms of the markets, US and APAC are fastest growing at 7.8% with gradual stabilization in the growth of the European market. Retail, healthcare and travel & transportation have been the key verticals for the Indian IT-BPM industry, growing at the rate of 8%.

Sharing his views, CP Gurnani, Chairman, NASSCOM, and MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “The digital tsunami is reshaping our industry the priority is to reimagine businesses and unlock new opportunities. The Indian IT-BPM Sector is emerging as a digital solutions partner for global corporations and we are excited to work across stakeholders – customers, start-ups, academia and others to build this exciting future”.

R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “while there are some uncertainties in the short term, the initial data from global analysts on tech spending in 2018 is promising, We are initiating deeper interactions with all stakeholders – global customers and industry providers – to get a more reliable and clear perspective on the projections for FY2018 and will give the guidance in the next quarter”.

India is positioning itself as the digital transformation partner for global businesses. The new emerging technologies will open up multiple areas of work for the industry and will have a significant impact on existing service lines. To brace the impact, one of the most important imperatives for the industry will be to skill / reskill the talent to gear them up for the digital opportunity. It is also important to build an industry-wide collaborative model and shape a learning ecosystem that is primed for the future. While the existing service lines will be re-imagined, newer and deeper soft-skills will be needed with increased autonomy, empowerment, and data enablement of frontline teams.

The future skills work group at NASSCOM, in partnership with BCG, is working together with the industry on a two-pronged approach to enhance the skills ecosystem - Skills vs ‘Job-specific’ Curriculum and Tech enabled Learning Ecosystem. The skills vs job-specific curriculum will mean blended job roles of the future with focus on skill based learning and certification. The Tech-enabled Learning ecosystem will be aimed at leveraging technology for building the skills that is scalable & agile with focus on mobility and analytics to provide reach and efficiency. The initiative aims to skill / reskill 1.5-2 million people to be skilled over the next 4-5 years. This is a unique collaborative model in partnership with leading industry players.