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August 6, 2001
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Great expectations from new Nasscom headBS ICE Bureaus As and when Kiran Karnik takes over as the Nasscom president, he will have his task cut out for him. As per a survey carried out by Business Standard, majority of Nasscom members expected to see an industry insider and not a space-scientist-turned-media honcho on the hot seat. What is more, they expected him to be as superbly networked as his predecessor, the late Dewang Mehta, was but at the same time wanted him to maintain a lower profile than him. About 70 per cent of the respondents felt that the new president should be from the software sector itself as he would then understand the issues better. "If the new president is from within the software sector, he will be able to become productive faster. Otherwise, he will have a lag of 3-6 months," says Pramod Khera, CEO of Aptech Education. But there are people also who feel it is better to have a president from outside the software sector. Reason: an outsider will not have conflicting interests and will generate and open-minded approach. "The person can be from anywhere as long as he is capable of addressing a $50 billion opportunity over the next decade. The person should be able to understand the potential of IT as a subject and should believe this is the century for services," points out one of the respondents to the survey, which elicited response from 20-odd companies. Nasscom executive council has approved the name of the former Discovery India chief Kiran Karnik, who has also been associated with ISRO, as the new president of the association. Nasscom would soon make an offer to Karnik. Some of the member companies of Nasscom would prefer the new president to maintain a lower profile than late Dewang Mehta. "In its infancy, Nasscom needed a dynamic personality like Dewang Mehta, and he acquired that image because of Nasscom and not vice versa," points out a senior executive of a leading Bangalore based software company. "Dewang's image was to our benefit but this need not necessarily be a parameter," feels V Chandrasekhar, chairman of Pentamedia. What is the most essential quality the Indian software industry is looking for in the future president of Nasscom? The majority opinion is: the new president should have excellent networking abilities, followed by an understanding of the sector. "The president should have great networking skill to build relationship with the government, industry, international organisations and companies. For example, he should help the industry and the government in framing the guidelines and policies for the industry," points out a participant. However, J A Chowdary, president of Hyderabad Software Exporters' Association and chairman of Portal Player, feels that apart from the networking abilities, the new president should be investor-friendly too. What are some of the toughest tasks ahead of the new president.? The toughest one would be to set aside skepticism that euphoric growth is over for the software industry. Besides, the industry feels that he will be compared to Dewang Mehta in everything he does. "I guess the first few weeks, the president will have to work in building his own image and authority in the job," points out a senior executive from a leading south Indian software company. According to a senior executive of a Delhi based software company who has been closely associated with Nasscom, points out that the software industry is looking for a person with ability to take further what his predecessor has initiated and the vision to predict trends of the future. He also agrees that the new president would be under great pressure to perform. India's software sector also feels that the president of Nasscom should be widely known. "The new president should be known widely in the potential markets. Like Dewang, he should bring a recognition to the Nasscom and the Indian IT industry," feels a senior executive of a Delhi based software company Powered by YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
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