For Whom the Bell Tolls

As a passionate Indian cricket fan (emotion I share with millions of other Indians), I am extremely pained at the sorry state of affairs of the Indian team down under. It was also galling for me to see their meek capitulation in the Old Blighty a few months back. The euphoria following the World Cup victory earlier in the year completely got dissipated following the twin debacles. What was worse was the prevailing sense of helplessness and a tacit admission that a ‘tame surrender' is a fait accompli. Without going into a detailed cricketing analysis, there was a common observation that while it was a relatively young team thriving on younger legs that lifted the World Cup, the two series abroad had witnessed the capitulation of the older brigade in Indian cricket. And while this group surely comprised some of the all time greats, the results of the last few months seemed to confirm the sneaking suspicion that most of them are past their sale by date.

There is a strong possibility of a similar scenario getting repeated amongst the Indian IT channel partner and solution provider diaspora, though a few initiatives in the recent months indicate that they might be better prepared than Indian cricket administrators in heralding the arrival of new blood. Many of our partners and solution providers have already put succession planning programs in place-Rashi, Neoteric, Artek, Lalani Infotech, Targus to name a few. Though I am not implying that the current heads or owners have become geriatrics overnight and are incapable of running their businesses, the advent of younger generation obviously brings with it fresh ideas, new innovations, and newer approaches. And most importantly, these ideas are more likely to be in sync with today's thinking.

So, even if the old guard is able to change with times, they would never be able to match the thinking and perspective which the Gen Y will bring to the table. Another common trend was that most of the Indian IT channel players were either first generation entrepreneurs or they ventured into technology from other businesses like electronics, textiles, or real estate. And the growth of the Indian local IT market is a testimony to how well these guys have coped over the years and manage to grow their businesses. However, today most of them find themselves at the crossroads when they need newer marketing initiatives, financial plannings as well as HR initiatives to take their businesses to the next level. And this is exactly where the typical Gen Y armed with swanky management degrees with exposure to modern business methods and practices followed across the world, fit the bill. The market needs excellence in Excel rather than proficiency in calculators or old-style ledger books.

Even the nature of the businesses is undergoing a near 360 degree transformation. From days when partners were mere box pushers dealing in desktops and printers to businesses in cloud and analytics, both Indian IT and its channel ecosystem has come a long way. Even the mode of doing business has gone more high-tech from traditional; probably the reason why most solution providers and channel partners have till now shied away from doing businesses online. With internet and cloud now more than pervasive, this lacuna needs immediate redress and it can only be the next- en who are best suited to welcome the transition. It's high time the entire fraternity realizes the need to introduce the succeeding generation (could be their progenies or external professionals) unless they too do not want to suffer the same fate as the Indian cricket team. Sachin, Dravid, Laxman are legends; so are the Pansaris and Guptas and Singhs. The difference is some realize it better for whom the bell tolls and when.

(rajneeshd@cybermedia.co.in)