Indian IT industry booming despite global challenges

Ahmedabad : Technology companies saw explosive growth in the two years following the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, but have recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Even global digital heavyweights like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Dell, Amazon, IBM, and many others have announced thousands of job losses as part of the tsunami of mass layoffs that has slammed the industry. There have already been over 3 lakh layoffs in the industry, and that number is anticipated to grow rapidly. Of course many Indians are among the jobless.

As a result of the global economic slowdown, the Indian IT industry is facing a number of challenges. Although difficulties are anticipated over the coming months and quarters, the industry is also benefiting from many positive trends.

India’s technology services sector could generate $300-350 billion in annual revenue by 2025 if it seizes on rapidly emerging business opportunities in cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, etc., as stated in a report co-authored by industry body NASSCOM and global consulting firm McKinsey.

Riding the wave of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, is India’s information technology sector. Businesses in India and elsewhere want to get their digital transformations started or sped up by using cutting-edge technology. To boost efficiency and productivity and to stay competitive, businesses are adopting cutting-edge technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and analytics, and many more.

As a result of Industry 4.0, India’s industrial sector is undergoing a profound change. Future digital enterprises and their underlying technological platforms will need backing from a reliable digital network that places special emphasis on users’ final devices. The Indian IT industry is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this massive potential thanks to the exceptional knowledge and skill it has amassed over the course of several decades.

India’s economic performance – the country is expected to be among the fastest-growing major economies globally in 2022-23 – also augurs well for the IT industry.

With everything moving at breakneck speed, time is limited, and consumers don’t have the time to learn how to use a product. With new technologies evolving and businesses getting more digitised with every passing day, data and information are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Already, since the Covid-19 pandemic, cyberattacks have been on the rise. The pandemic ushered in work from home and remote working, but it also fuelled cybersecurity challenges, including cyberattacks, ransomware, phishing and many more. Managing remote workplace infrastructure is another new challenge for businesses, and according to some studies, data breaches and cyberattacks have gone up manifold in the last four years. The average loss suffered by businesses because of data breaches is reported to be $2,00,000 – approximately Rs. 1.60 crore. Cybersecurity solutions is another great opportunity for the IT industry as it can focus on developing new tools and systems for clients to help them safeguard their data and digital assets by staying one step ahead of cyber attackers.

Cloud Computing too is another huge opportunity for the IT industry of India. A growing number of businesses are using the cloud to perform a wide variety of tasks like data backup, disaster recovery, email, virtual desktops, software development and testing. Rather than investing in physical data centres and servers, businesses are choosing to access various services such as computing power, storage and databases from the cloud provider. By addressing issues and concerns associated with clouds such as cost, service provider reliability, downtime, data overload, password, security issues and data privacy, the industry can enhance its offerings.

One of the biggest strengths of India’s IT industry is its vast talent pool. Indian IT professionals have made a name for themselves not only in IT and technology hubs like Silicon Valley but across the globe. The knowledge, skills, experience, exposure, and delivery of Indian IT professionals are unlike any. A career in IT is considered a highly rewarding one, and not surprisingly, the field of IT is among the most preferred ones in India. Of course, there are some challenges right now when it comes to IT professionals. A recent news report showed how an Indian software giant has offered to hire professionals at half the package they were originally offered. That said, few Indian IT companies have resorted to job cuts or mass layoffs, which suggests that they are comfortable with the current and future business projections. As demand for automation goes up, so will the demand for IT professionals with specialised skills. Maybe this is what the Indian IT industry is also expecting.

I said in the beginning that technology is evolving rapidly. The demand for new technology systems, robust infrastructure networks, and evolving needs of businesses globally are among the factors that will continue to drive the growth of the Indian IT industry.

(This article is written by Sunil Rajdev, CFO of Danube Industries, a leading IT hardware engineering company that serves customers, system integrators, enterprises, and others)