Last year I was part of the team that selected 8 companies for NASSCOM 2005 Innovation Awards. The idea behind these Awards is to highlight different facets of IT innovation in India – process, business models and products. The cycle for the 2006 Awards is now getting underway. I am again on the panel and this will give me chance to assess how much progress we are making in India on product innovation. Product innovation is an idea dear to my heart.
I am cautiously optimistic. As Anand Parthasarthy’s article in The Hindu points out things are looking up a little. But there is a long way to go. Alok Mittal highlights this in his post on TiECon Delhi. The product ecosystem is still young and immature. In fact our uniquely Indian problem has been that IT services companies have sucked out the oxygen from product companies. Their success has not only drained away talent, but has created an instruction-led and risk-averse mindset. They have turned our smart guys into mental coolies!
There is some change in the air. Entrepreneurship is being embraced more enthusiastically by students as well as by people who have spent 10-15 years in captive MNC R&D centers in India. But the real reason for optimism for me is that there is a vibrant market for hi-tech products that is opening up in India itself. India’s industry structure is tilted towards mid-tier companies (like in other parts of Asia). This means that India could be an ideal laboratory to debug a product or its go-to-market strategy for the global mid-tier segment. It could play a role similar to what the Japanese market played for consumer products in the mid-80s. We finally have companies like Tejas Networks that showing that the “start local, then go global” model can work here as well. I think after many fits and starts the time for product innovation from India is coming.
Hi Sharad,
Good article. Apart from TiECon and NASSCOM, I believe there are local events happening in (smaller) cities that is also showing the product innovation happening in India. One such event is called BarCamp. I was at BarCamp Pune, and I thought there were some really smart and young entrepreneurs at the “unconference”. What is missing was a guidance from experienced entrepreneurs, and industry experts.
Thanks,
Mukul.