|
NASSCOM, presented a ten point call for action for the Government and Industry to help India emerge as a sustainable hub for IT Enabled Services. A panel of leading International and Indian experts drafted the action plan based on discussions and debates over the two-day NASSCOM IT Enabled Services 2001 conference held in Chennai. NASSCOM will present the Action Plan to members of the IT and Telecom ministry next month in New Delhi.
The Call for Action to make India a sustainable hub for IT Enabled services include steps to be taken by the Government and Industry such as:
https://www.nasscom.org/it_industry/action_plan.asp
Speaking on Issues facing MT- and how to get it back to growth, Anthony Hales, CEO, HeathScribe India Ltd. pointed out the common mistakes of the Indian MT Industry:
� Copied America
� Small scale � Hundreds of small operations
� Indifferent quality & customer service
� But compounded these issues by
� Selling based on low cost
� No marketing operations in America
� No control or understanding of end customer
� Indifferent management
According to him, today the India MT Industry is seen as:-
� Having a poor reputation in America
� Low skilled
� A job but not a profession or career
� Under technological threat
� Low margins & value
� Poor Investment vehicle
� A missed opportunity
He had the following to suggest, for it to get back to growth:
� Invest in Marketing operations in the US
� Set up office and legal entity
� Acquisition
� Joint Venture with US Company
� Copy the software industry
� Compete on quality , at reasonable cost
� Do not compete with rock bottom prices
� Low prices means no funds to invest in the future
� Invest in Training
� At least 6 months training
� It is expensive but it is the foundation
� Continuous staff training
� Invest in Quality
� 98% accuracy is not good enough
� Aim for 100% quality, 100% of the time
� Set high standards
� Large scale
� At least 500+ transcriptionists
� Exploit scale and the flexibility of the workforce
� Management must understand
� Quality & Customer needs
� Process &Technology;
� Large scale operations
� World Class HR practices
� Staff are the only asset, exploit them at your peril
� Invest in staff e.g.training, careers, environment
� Must build management capability as you grow
� Be different � attrition kills
� Capital
� Must be adequate
� Must be equity based
� You always need more than you think.
The MT Industry performance at a glance:
Year 1999 � 2000
Employed------Revenue (Rs. Crores)
5,000 --------- 120
Year 2000 - 2001
Employed-------Revenue (Rs. Crores)
6,000 ---------- 160
Reflecting on the progress made at IT Enabled services 2001, Mr. Arun Seth said �The discussions over the last two days have made it clear that we need to start looking at this industry as a profession, rather than a part time activity. In order to build India into a globally competitive and sustainable destination for IT Enabled Services, it is going to be critical for the Industry and Government to work together to overcome the challenges in areas such as Standards, Infrastructure, Quality and Human Resources that we have discussed over the last two days. As a first step in this direction we will work with the government and educational institutes to introduce structured courses and certifications for employees in this sector as that will provide them with the requisite skill sets to make the most of this opportunity and help ensure that India achieves its projected target of generating 1 million jobs by 2008 in the IT Enabled sector.�
Special Correspondent
|
