Strategy

1. as services pie. So, whether it adopts a (and a living) for themselves in the
to succeed if it has a strategy to take on its competitors or process-Aadil Bandukwala, chief
evangelist, Leading Minds & Talent
clear understanding chooses the right space to be in, it
Onions; Gurudev R Goud, vice
ofart-up can markets
t its target only hope is important for a start-up to know
and challenges. In fact, president-business development,
whether its greatest challengers are
competition might prove to be one its Indian counterparts or overseas KTwo Technology Solutions; Nirmal
of the biggest stumbling blocks firms in China and emerging areas Shah, vice president, Global Delivery,
in its road to success. Given that like Brazil. Tescra; and Vihang Kathe, director,
IT start-
we live and work in a 'Bat' world, In a bid to help Indian International Business Consulting.
competition is no longer limited to ups navigate their way through
Who poses the greatest
what we see around us. It extends to intense competition and emerge
challenge?
IT start-ups and established
unseen winners, we present the view of
some panellists who have stood up
firms in other countries, battling for Kathe's experience suggests that
a slice of the global tech products/ to competition and made a name competition varies depending on each
41
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2. behind Indian and Romanian firms
quot;It is the overall
niche of the IT sector. For instance,
Q)
o he explains, quot;If you are competing in terms of talent, technology and
value that counts,
o for an ERP implementation for SAP, skills. He feels that these advantages
irresQective of.
'> quot;quot;'m~~~~.~~...~~quot;-~'-~~
'..~'-~quot;-~~'-
~~ 'S~~~~~~~~ quot;.~~~ ~~ quot;'-~~~~
,her you are
CD agencies in India and Romania bag
companies like Infosys, Wipro, TCS
competing against
or HCL. However, if you are looking 60 per cent of the work outsourced
by the US and the United Kingdom.
for niche storage solutions, expect
a fellow local player
Other countries rapidly catching up
competition from US companies
or an international
like EMC, HP or IBM. My firm is in this sector are Malaysia, Israel,
player/·
engaged in the storage, server and Bangladesh and Macedonia.
j,
According to Shah, Indian
.network security solutions sectors.
counterparts as well as firms in
The greatest competition we face is
Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Hungary and
from large MNCs operating in this
Mexico, comprise the competition
space-firms from countries like
the US, Israel and Russia that are faced by Indian tech endeavours.
Goud, however, is of the view that
strong in the security segment and
the biggest competition for Indian IT
companies like Dell, IBM and HP
that have a sound presence in storage/ start-ups comes from within India,
server, technology.quot; although some Chinese firms rule
Bandukwala seconds this. His the roost in the 'buy cheap, use and
throw' product category!
~nteractive Internet agenC:y,Leading Nirmal Shah, vice president, Global Delivery, Tescra
Minds, faces great competition from
Advantage India
similar firms in India and Romania. developers wouldn't mind clocking
in a few extra hours after their
Evidently, the challenge has two
This is because Internet start-ups in
dimensions and necessitates tech
China and Brazil, for instance, are far routine schedule to help design a
project. Web developers usually
start-ups to have eyes'in front as
quot;In order to cater well as at the back of their heads to code, and design is not their forte.
to larger volumes, However, in India, you will find a
make their presence felt in a tough
market. But do Indian techies have lot of Web developers who know
firms just need
, the inherent skills to help them deal their design like the back of their
to focus on offering with the intra-country competition hands. They don't mind working
products/services of an and price wars that Bandukwala feels late hours simply because they have
equivalent 'quality at a are becoming a frequent occurrence? the drive, the zeal and the passion
He himself believes that clients
oomDetitive price.quot; to create that magical product in the
promised timeline.
nowadays want a relial':>le,quick and
Against overseas competition,
efficient partner. quot;If a start-up can
Shah cites maturity, a better
build and leverage on these three
understanding of processes, delivery
core competencies (of being reliable,
models and technological depth and
quick and efficient) other than its
breadth as the major advantages
technological expertise, it will never
run out of business, no matter what that Indian companies possess.
quot;Barring (very) few examples,
price it quotes,quot; he advises.
IT vendors from other emerging
Further, Bandukwala points out
that India boasts of an abundance nations are really small players and
sometimes just a rag-tag bunch of
of 'flexible' talent and passion,
an otherwise scarce resource, as a techies running a garage operation.
Scale is definitely against them at
huge advantage. He elucidates his
Gurudev R Goud, vice president-business
this point in time,quot; he says.
point with an example: typical Web
development. KTwo Technology solutions
42 I www.itmagz.comli.
I quot;t.
DECEMBER 2008

3. Adding value to Brand India ''Tech start-ups need at a lower price, as being a key
CD
<
Goud believes Indian techies' factor for enabling starr-ups to
to develop world
o
survive in markets.
skills in Web 2.0, WiMAX,
o
class products that
embedded technology focusing
may be marketed Don't get bypassed by ,_
on the design of low-powered and CD
'local' companies ,,quot;
not only in India but
high-performance devices, and the
across the world.quot; No discussion about competition
convergence of automotive, medical
and consumer electronics, are far would be complete without
superior to the overseas competition. mention of the clients' perception of
Nevertheless, he stresses that Indian competing local and international
players. When an Indian tech firm is
IT professionals need training on
how to present and market their pitted against an overseas firm, which
skills. quot;We have it in us but need one is more likely to win by virtue of
world-class presentation, business its country of origin? Further, if two
communication and PR skills,quot; he local players compete, what are the
key factors that influence a potential
advises. On a larger scale, he feels
client?
the Indian IT industry should take
.Bandukwala feels that when it
inspiration from the Korean and
comes to the Internet platform,
the Swiss ecosystem, and organise
itself likewise to nurture talent and clients usually don't bother about
the location of an agency or partner.
promote innovation. Vihang Kathe, director, International Business Consulting
quot;They are only very particular about
Kathe mentions India's prioritising
the ability to understand, tweak,
value-based entrepreneurship as things up fast~rquot; A start-up can
customise, build and scale the
carve a niche for itself very quickly
its greatest strength, which should
technology they need and to deliver it
if it focuses in the right direction,quot;
ideally be nourished with government
in a decent timeframe. If these can be
advises Shah, as he shares how his
support. He says, quot;The Indian
matched, more often than not, even
firm co-exists with the big boys
management principles emphasise
of the Indian IT industry, and price is not a barrier,quot; he says.
providing value for money products/
solutions to end-customers. In Shah too stresses th(! importance
actually gets to do some cutting-
of delivering value. quot;It is the Qverall
edge work that they don't.
keeping with this tradition, tech
value that counts, irrespective of
Goud agrees. Citing Skype,
start-ups need to develop world class
YouTube and Orkut as the best whether you are competing against a
products that may be marketed not
examples of how starr-ups have fellow local player or an international
only in India but across the world.quot;
player,quot; he says. And what adds to a
given established biggies a run for
Expand your footprint their money, he says, quot;Every start- firm's value in this local versus foreign
If value-based entrepreneurship up's mantra must be to 'give value.' debate? Apparently, a lot of weight is
placed on the firm's local presence in
Don't worry if your way forward
is stressed, even a start-up can hope
is blocked by a big player because its potential clients' city of operations.
to gain a foothold in a market
Shah explains: quot;We are headquartered
where an older player is already well at the end of the day, people
in the US and some of our clients feel
established. quot;Start-ups must see respect the value they derive from
more comfortable when they know
value in not competing on price, a producr/service. Besides, market
we are a 'local' company. We have
but overall value. If you show value, leaders usually overlook a few key
lost some bids because we did not
you are bound to get more business points like service quality, customer
have a presence in a particular city
and take that bit away from the loyalty or price. A new firm can use
or state. The bias, if there is any, is
competition. In fact, although large these omissions to its advantage.quot;
for someone to be local to the client's
Kathe sees the ability to
companies drive the IT industry,
city. If they don't have that bias,
smaller start-ups are agile and have provide niche solutions modelled
they usually don't much care about
the advantage of being able to pick on the offerings of large players
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